GNSS-R Professors and Supervisors in Spain

Luis MerinoView profile

Associate Professor

Pablo de Olavide UniversitySpain

Luis Merino is an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering, Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), Seville, Spain. He founded and leads the Service Robotics Laboratory and contributed to establishing the Systems Engineering and Automation division at UPO. He served as Vice-Dean for five years and currently coordinates the Computer Science degree program. Education: Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of Seville (2007), supervised by Anibal Ollero. Research: Focuses on cooperative robotic systems, human-robot collaboration, localization/navigation techniques, and machine learning in social robotics. His work includes leading 2 H2020, 4 FP7, 3 National R&D, and 3 Andalusian regional projects. Notable projects: MBZIRC 2020 (PI), collaboration with Honda Research Institute Japan, and EU-funded initiatives. He advocates for open-source code/datasets and industry technology transfer. Scientific Awards: ABB Award to the Best Doctoral Dissertation on Robotics (2007) Best Paper Award at ROBOT2019 Professional Roles: Associate Editor for Image and Vision Computing and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters . Serves on ICRA/IROS conference program committees. Grant reviewer for FONDECYT (Chile), SBIR (USA), and ERC.

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Raul OnrubiaView profile

Researcher

Polytechnic University of CataloniaSpain

Raul Onrubia is a researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), affiliated with the Passive Remote Sensing Group. He holds a PhD in GNSS-Reflectometry (2020) and specializes in radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation, antenna array calibration, and microwave radiometry. His work focuses on advancing passive Earth observation technologies, particularly with the SMOS satellite mission and the Microwave Interferometric Reflectometer (MIR). Education: BSc+5 in Telecommunications Engineering (2012), MSc+2 in Information and Communication Technologies (2014), both from UPC. His PhD research addressed RF hardware design for GNSS-Reflectometry instruments. He has contributed to airborne and spaceborne experiments, including the 3CAT-3/MOTS nanosatellite and the GEROS-ISS ocean altimetry project. Research interests include RFI detection in microwave radiometry, dual-frequency GNSS-R applications (e.g., soil moisture, vegetation height), and instrument development for future space missions. He collaborates with institutions like NASA and the European Space Agency, and his work integrates signal processing, antenna design, and environmental data analysis. Publications highlight innovations in RFI mitigation algorithms, interferometric techniques, and the retrieval of geophysical parameters from reflected GNSS signals. His contributions are critical for improving the accuracy of Earth observation systems amid growing RFI challenges.

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Hyuk ParkView profile

Assistant Professor

Polytechnic University of CataloniaSpain

Hyuk Park is an Assistant Professor at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC-BarcelonaTech), affiliated with the Castelldefels School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering. His research focuses on remote sensing, particularly passive microwave remote sensing, system design, modeling, and geophysical data analysis. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from KAIST (2001) and M.S./Ph.D. in Information and Mechatronics from GIST (2003/2009). Notable grants include a Korean NRF Grant (2011) and a Juan de la Cierva Grant (Spain). He currently leads the RSLab and CommSensLab, exploring applications like GNSS-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) for soil moisture, ionospheric scintillation, and disaster monitoring. His work integrates satellite data from missions like CYGNSS, FY-3E, and FSSCat to advance environmental monitoring. Recent studies include correlating ionospheric anomalies with earthquakes, improving flood water level estimation, and developing AI-driven agriculture systems. Awards include the Ramon y Cajal Fellowship, highlighting his contributions to sensor technology and Earth observation. Key projects involve instrument design (e.g., FMPL-2 dual payload), algorithm optimization for hyperspectral imaging, and mitigating radio-frequency interference. His research bridges theoretical modeling with practical applications in climate science, geophysics, and disaster response.

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David ChaparroView profile

Research Fellow

Polytechnic University of CataloniaSpain

David Chaparro is a Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), funded by the José Castillejo fellowship. His research focuses on remote sensing for Earth observation, particularly leveraging microwave radiometers and optical sensors to address environmental challenges such as forest decline, carbon stock analysis, fire risk assessment, and agricultural monitoring. He holds a PhD in Remote Sensing (Telecommunication Engineering) from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and has conducted research at the European Union’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). Education: Bachelor of Science in Biology (2011) M.Sc. in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (2012) M.Sc. in Terrestrial Ecology (2013) PhD in Remote Sensing (2018) from UPC Research Interests: Chaparro’s work spans microwave sensing applications in environmental research, including modeling drought impacts on forests, developing fire risk tools operationalized by Barcelona’s forest rangers, and analyzing carbon stocks in tropical forests. At MIT, he explores satellite data for studying vegetation water content and the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC). Awards: 2017 Remote Sensing Journal travel award José Castillejo fellowship (funding his MIT postdoc) Advising & Grants: Advised two master’s theses. His research is supported by grants from the Spanish government and MIT. Collaborates on projects like ESA-China GNSS-R workshops and the GEROS/GARCA-SIM initiative. Labs & Teams: Engaged with MIT’s environmental research groups and previously collaborated with the JRC’s Bioeconomy unit and CSIC on fire risk modeling.

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Adriano Jose CarmonaView profile

Professor

Polytechnic University of CataloniaSpain

Adriano Jose Carmona serves as Full Professor at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC-BarcelonaTech) within the Department of Signal Theory and Communications, College of Telecommunications Engineering. He holds dual affiliations with the Remote Sensing Lab (RSLAB) and NanoSat Lab, while also maintaining a visiting professorship at UAE University since 2022. His research spans microwave remote sensing , GNSS-reflectometry , RF interference mitigation , and nanosatellite development . Notable projects include the 3Cat series of CubeSats (3Cat-1 through FSSCAT), with FSSCAT producing the first scientific-quality Arctic soil moisture and sea ice maps using CubeSat technology. His work integrates signal processing innovations with practical Earth observation applications. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals dominant trends in High-resolution soil moisture mapping using neural networks Earthquake precursor detection through multi-sensor thermal anomalies Advanced RFI mitigation techniques for radiometers CubeSat constellation architectures for 6G networks Wildfire burned area prediction using causal models Honors include IEEE Fellow (2011), ICREA Academia Award (2009, 2015), and the IEEE GRSS Education Award (2021), alongside multiple technology transfer prizes like the ESA Sentinel Small Satellite Challenge (2017). As research advisor, he has supervised 29 completed PhD theses (with 9 ongoing), producing professionals now at NASA/JPL, University of Michigan, and founders of startups BALAMIS and MITICS. His leadership extends to directing the CommSensLab Research Center (2016-2020) and serving as past President of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society.

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Adriano CampsView profile

Professor

Polytechnic University of CataloniaSpain

Adriano Camps is a Full Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), leading the Remote Sensing Lab and UPC NanoSat Lab. He specializes in microwave remote sensing, GNSS-Reflectometry, and nanosatellite systems. His research contributed to ESA’s SMOS mission and innovative CubeSat projects like FSSCAT, the first CubeSat mission for the Copernicus System. Education and Career: Joined UPC in 1993 as Assistant Professor, promoted to Full Professor in 2007. Conducted sabbatical research at the University of Massachusetts (1999). Currently a Visiting Professor at UAE University since 2022. Research Interests: Focuses on microwave radiometry (e.g., MIRAS instrument), remote sensing using signals of opportunity, RFI mitigation, and nanosatellite applications. His work bridges academia and industry, with 12 patents and technology transfers to companies like BALAMIS and MITICS. Awards and Recognition: Holds an h-index of 58 with over 13,611 citations. Awarded IEEE Fellow (2011), ICREA Academia (2009/2015), and top 1% global researcher (Stanford, 2020). Recognized for educational innovation with the Jaume Vicens Vives Award (2012). Advising and Leadership: Advised 29 PhD students (9 ongoing) and over 150 engineering theses. Served as Scientific Coordinator of the CommSensLab (María de Maeztu Excellence Unit) and led major IEEE conferences like IGARSS 2020. Active in IEEE GRSS, serving as Chapter President and Editor of key journals. Labs and Projects: Directs the Remote Sensing Lab ( PRS Lab ) and UPC NanoSat Lab ( NanoSat ), overseeing CubeSat missions like 3Cat-1, 3Cat-2, 3Cat-4, and FSSCAT. These missions produced Arctic soil moisture maps and pioneered CubeSat-based Earth observation.

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José Miguel Juan ZornozaView profile

Professor

Polytechnic University of CataloniaSpain

Prof. José Miguel Juan Zornoza is a Tenure Full Professor of Physics and Senior GNSS Scientific Researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), BarcelonaTECH. He leads research in the gAGE group, focusing on GNSS data processing, high-accuracy navigation, and ionospheric studies. His work includes developing Wide Area RTK (WARTK) and Fast-PPP techniques, supported by 100+ peer-reviewed papers (50+ Q1 JCR) and 200+ publications. He co-authored 5 patents and three books on GNSS, including ESA-commissioned volumes. Education: Physics (Earth and Cosmos) degree from Universitat de Barcelona (1982); PhD in Galactic Dynamics (1993) His research emphasizes GNSS algorithms for multi-frequency systems (GPS, Galileo) and augmentation systems. He has led over 100 R&D projects as PI and co-founded spin-off gAGE-NAV S.L. (2009). Notable contributions include 12 patent entries linked to WARTK/F-PPP, and recognition through best paper awards. His work bridges academic research with industry applications in precision navigation and geomatics.

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