Mercè Vall-llossera

Mercè Vall-llossera is an Associate Professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), specifically in the Department of Signal Theory and Communications since 1997. She holds a Telecommunication Engineering degree (1990) and a Doctorate in Telecommunication Engineering (1994) from UPC. Her career includes a sabbatical at Concordia University (Montreal, 1996–97), where she applied FDTD methods to study mobile telephone effects on human bodies.

Her research focuses on remote sensing, initially in electromagnetics and antenna design, later transitioning to geophysical parameter retrieval (soil moisture/ocean salinity) and satellite data applications. She contributed significantly to the ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, launched in 2009. Current work emphasizes environmental monitoring using satellite data for drought/flood prediction, crop yield analysis, forest fire detection, and Arctic ice clustering to address climate change impacts.

Her technical expertise spans microwave radiometry, data fusion techniques, and algorithm development for high-resolution mapping. She collaborates on projects like the Remote Sensing Laboratory's SMOS validation efforts and CubeSat technology (UPCSAT-1). Her contributions bridge theoretical electromagnetics with applied environmental science, emphasizing interdisciplinary solutions for global environmental challenges.