GIS/Remote Sensing and MRV Specialist
Organizational Context
FAO partners with the Indonesian government to enhance forest monitoring, inventory, and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems. This involves strengthening the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and National Forest Inventory (NFI 2.0), advancing geospatial and remote sensing technologies, and integrating field and remote data for better forest and land monitoring. The MERANTI Project specifically supports NFI 2.0 implementation, satellite-based land-cover assessment, and the integration of diverse data sources to improve the efficiency and quality of forest monitoring.
Job Purpose
The GIS/Remote Sensing and MRV Specialist will provide crucial technical support in geospatial data management, remote sensing, and spatial analysis. This role is vital for strengthening forest monitoring, the implementation of NFI 2.0, and the NFMS, including SIMONTANA. The Specialist will focus on integrating field and remotely sensed data for comprehensive forest and land-cover monitoring, biomass and carbon assessment, and MRV activities. The ultimate goal is to enhance data quality, ensure interoperability, and support evidence-based decision-making in forest management and climate change mitigation efforts.
Responsibilities
Manage and maintain GIS databases, spatial datasets, and thematic layers for NFMS, NFI 2.0, MERANTI, and FAO forestry activities, ensuring data quality, consistency, and accessibility. Provide GIS support for NFI 2.0 implementation, including cluster and plot management, sampling, field planning, mapping, and spatial analysis of results. Process and analyze satellite imagery and other remote sensing data for forest and land-cover monitoring, change assessment, biomass and carbon analysis, and MRV activities. Integrate NFI field data with GIS, satellite imagery, LiDAR, and other relevant datasets, promoting interoperability between NFI 2.0, SIMONTANA, and other forest monitoring datasets. Produce and quality-check maps, spatial analyses, and other GIS/RS outputs, documenting datasets and analytical workflows. Apply tools like SEPAL and Google Earth Engine for forest monitoring and MRV. Provide technical assistance and knowledge sharing to national consultants and government counterparts on GIS, remote sensing, and spatial data management, coordinating technical inputs with relevant project teams and stakeholders.
Work Experience
Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in GIS, remote sensing, spatial data management, or forest and land monitoring. Experience in processing and analyzing satellite imagery and geospatial datasets is essential. Experience in forest monitoring, forest inventory, land-cover classification, MRV, REDD+, or related applications is highly desirable. Experience working with government institutions, international organizations, or development projects is an advantage.
Skills
Proficiency in ArcGIS and/or QGIS and spatial data management. Practical experience with remote sensing and satellite image analysis. Working knowledge of Google Earth Engine, SEPAL, or comparable platforms is advantageous. Good understanding of spatial databases, geodatabases, metadata, and geospatial data standards. Ability to integrate and analyze data from different spatial and non-spatial sources. Knowledge of forest inventory, NFMS, and MRV is an advantage. Basic programming or automation skills using Python, JavaScript, or similar would be beneficial. Experience providing technical support to multidisciplinary teams and consultants is desirable.