Assessing impacts of observations on ocean circulation models with examples from coastal, shelf, and marginal seas
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Ocean observing systems in coastal, shelf and marginal seas collect diverse oceanographic information supporting a wide range of socioeconomic needs, but observations are necessarily sparse in space and/or time due to practical limitations. Ocean analysis and forecast systems capitalize on such observations, producing data-constrained, four-dimensional oceanographic fields. Here we review efforts to quantify the impact of ocean observations, observing platforms, and networks of platforms on model products of the physical ocean state in coastal regions. Quantitative assessment must consider a variety of issues including observation operators that sample models, error of representativeness, and correlated uncertainty in observations. Observing System Experiments, Observing System Simulation Experiments, representer functions and array modes, observation impacts, and algorithms based on artificial intelligence all offer methods to evaluate data-based model performance improvements according to metrics that characterize oceanographic features of local interest. Applications from globally distributed coastal ocean modeling systems document broad adoption of quantitative methods, generally meaningful reductions in model-data discrepancies from observation assimilation, and support for assimilation of complementary data sets, including subsurface in situ observation platforms, across diverse coastal environments.
Source: Frontiers in Marine Science
Authors: Christopher A. Edwards, Pierre De Mey-Frémaux, Bàrbara Barceló-Llull, Guillaume Charria, Byoung-Ju Choi, George R. Halliwell, Lars R. Hole, Colette Kerry, Vassiliki H. Kourafalou, Alexander L. Kurapov, Andrew M. Moore, Baptiste Mourre, Paolo Oddo, Ananda Pascual, Moninya Roughan, Chafih Skandrani, Andrea Storto, Vassilios Vervatis, John L. Wilkin
Institutions: University of California, Santa Cruz, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Laboratoire d’Études en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université de Toulouse, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, Ifremer, Laboratory for Ocean Physics and Satellite Remote Sensing, Chonnam National University, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, UNSW Sydney, University of Miami, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA National Ocean Service, Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System, University of Bologna, Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, National Research Council, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life below water
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,295
Awards: Advancing dynamical understanding in the East Australian Current: Optimising the ocean observation and prediction effort., An end-to-end ocean weather information system for the blue economy, Improving and Integrating European Ocean Observing and Forecasting Systems for Sustainable use of the Oceans, Next-generation ocean current forecasting to improve maritime safety , G434337789, G8165862242
OpenAlex ID: W4403772255