Workshop on Recent Advances in Data Assimilation for Ocean Prediction and Reanalysis.

Data assimilation (DA), where observations and models are merged, is a key part of modern prediction and reanalysis systems for both the atmosphere and ocean. In this workshop the focus will be on oceanic DA, which has unique challenges not found in atmospheric DA. In particular, the ocean is much more observationally sparse than the atmosphere, especially in the subsurface. Furthermore, the presence of land gives rise to complex boundaries, preventing the use of some techniques found in atmospheric DA. However, as the ocean evolves significantly more slowly than the atmosphere non-linearities tend to be less significant, making some aspects of the DA problem easier.

Over the course of this workshop, presentations will be given on recent and ongoing developments in ocean data assimilation that are taking place at many leading UK oceanographic institutions. The meeting will also be a forum for looking at future developments that could improve ocean (or ocean/atmosphere coupled) DA systems in the years ahead.