Yves Govaerts has funded Rayference in December 2013 and is currently its managing director. He has 20 years of experience in the design of algorithm for the operational retrieval of geophysical products. He has in particular worked on the preparation of ATBDs, satellite data calibration, algorithm prototyping, product validation and documentation in the context of the retrieval of land surface and aerosol properties in an operational environment. He is familiar with radiative processes both at the surface and in the atmosphere. He has a wide experience in the management of international scientific projects, including budget preparation and monitoring. He has also been involved in the organisation of many operation readiness reviews. Finally, he has been involved in the generation of climate data record such as surface albedo from all available geostationary observations.