Data assimilation in a sparsely observed one-dimensional modeled MHD system

A one dimensional non-linear magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) system has been introduced to test a sequential optimal interpolation assimilation technique that uses a Monte-Carlo method to calculate the forecast error covariance. An ensemble of 100 model runs with perturbed initial conditions are used to construct the covariance, and the assimilation algorithm is tested using Observation Simulation Experiments (OSE's). The system is run with a variety of observation types (magnetic and/or velocity fields) and a range of observation densities. The impact of cross covariances between velocity and magnetic fields is investigated by running the assimilation with and without these terms. Sets of twin experiments show that while observing both velocity and magnetic fields has the greatest positive impact on the system, observing the magnetic field alone can also effectively constrain the system. Observations of the velocity field are ineffective as a constraint on the magnetic field, even when observations are made at every point. The implications for geomagnetic data assimilation are discussed

Data assimilation in a sparsely observed one-dimensional modeled MHD system

International audienceA one dimensional non-linear magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) system has been introduced to test a sequential optimal interpolation assimilation technique that uses a Monte-Carlo method to calculate the forecast error covariance. An ensemble of 100 model runs with perturbed initial conditions are used to construct the covariance, and the assimilation algorithm is tested using Observation Simulation Experiments (OSE's). The system is run with a variety of observation types (magnetic and/or velocity fields) and a range of observation densities. The impact of cross covariances between velocity and magnetic fields is investigated by running the assimilation with and without these terms. Sets of twin experiments show that while observing both velocity and magnetic fields has the greatest positive impact on the system, observing the magnetic field alone can also effectively constrain the system. Observations of the velocity field are ineffective as a constraint on the magnetic field, even when observations are made at every point. The implications for geomagnetic data assimilation are discussed

International Geomagnetic Reference Field: the eleventh generation

The eleventh generation of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) was adopted in December 2009 by the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy Working Group V-MOD. It updates the previous IGRF generation with a definitive main field model for epoch 2005.0, a main field model for epoch 2010.0, and a linear predictive secular variation model for 2010.0-2015.0. In this note the equations defining the IGRF model are provided along with the spherical harmonic coefficients for the eleventh generation. Maps of the magnetic declination, inclination and total intensity for epoch 2010.0 and their predicted rates of change for 2010.0-2015.0 are presented. The recent evolution of the South Atlantic Anomaly and magnetic pole positions are also examine

International Geomagnetic Reference Field: the eleventh generation

The eleventh generation of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF)was adopted in December 2009 by the International Association of Geomagnetism and AeronomyWorking Group V-MOD. It updates the previous IGRF generation with a definitive main field model for epoch 2005.0, a main field model for epoch 2010.0, and a linear predictive secular variation model for 2010.0–2015.0. In this note the equations defining the IGRF model are provided along with the spherical harmonic coefficients for the eleventh generation. Maps of the magnetic declination, inclination and total intensity for epoch 2010.0 and their predicted rates of change for 2010.0–2015.0 are presented. The recent evolution of the South Atlantic Anomaly and magnetic pole positions are also examined

International Geomagnetic Reference Field: the thirteenth generation

In December 2019, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) Division V Working Group (V-MOD) adopted the thirteenth generation of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF). This IGRF updates the previous generation with a definitive main field model for epoch 2015.0, a main field model for epoch 2020.0, and a predictive linear secular variation for 2020.0 to 2025.0. This letter provides the equations defining the IGRF, the spherical harmonic coefficients for this thirteenth generation model, maps of magnetic declination, inclination and total field intensity for the epoch 2020.0, and maps of their predicted rate of change for the 2020.0 to 2025.0 time period

Evaluation of a new middle-lower tropospheric CO₂ product using data assimilation

Atmospheric CO2 retrievals with peak sensitivity in the mid- to lower troposphere from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) have been assimilated into the GEOS-5 (Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5) constituent assimilation system for the period 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2006. A corresponding model simulation, using identical initial conditions, circulation, and CO2 boundary fluxes was also completed. The analyzed and simulated CO2 fields are compared with surface measurements globally and aircraft measurements over North America. Surface level monthly mean CO2 values show a marked improvement due to the assimilation in the Southern Hemisphere, while less consistent improvements are seen in the Northern Hemisphere. Mean differences with aircraft observations are reduced at all levels, with the largest decrease occurring in the mid-troposphere. The difference standard deviations are reduced slightly at all levels over the ocean, and all levels except the surface layer over land. These initial experiments indicate that the used channels contain useful information on CO2 in the middle to lower troposphere. However, the benefits of assimilating these data are reduced over the land surface, where concentrations are dominated by uncertain local fluxes and where the observation density is quite low. Away from these regions, the study demonstrates the power of the data assimilation technique for evaluating data that are not co-located, in that the improvements in mid-tropospheric CO2 by the sparsely distributed partial-column retrievals are transported by the model to the fixed in situ surface observation locations in more remote areas

Nedelec, P.: Assimilation of SCIAMACHY total column CO observations; Global and regional analysis of data impact

[1] Carbon monoxide (CO) total column observations from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) on board Envisat-1 are assimilated into the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office constituent assimilation system for the period 1 April to 20 December 2004. The impact of the assimilation on CO distribution is evaluated using independent surface flask observations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/ESRL global cooperative air sampling network and Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In-Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) in situ CO profiles. Assimilation of SCIAMACHY data improves agreement of CO assimilation with both of these data sets on both global and regional scales compared to the free-running model. Regional comparisons with MOZAIC profiles made in western Europe, the northeastern United States, and the Arabian Peninsula show improvements at all three locations in the free troposphere and into the boundary layer over Arabia and the northeastern United States. Comparisons with NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory data improve at about two thirds of the surface observation sites. The systematic model errors related to the uncertainty of CO surface sources and the chemistry of CO losses are investigated through experiments with increased surface CO emissions over the Arabian Peninsula and/or globally reduced hydroxyl radical (OH) concentrations. Both model changes decrease mean CO errors at all altitudes in comparison to MOZAIC data over Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In contrast, errors in the assimilated CO are reduced by the increased emissions for pressures !800 hPa and by the reduced OH for pressures 600 hPa. Our analysis suggests that CO emissions over Dubai in 2004 are more than double those in the 1998 emissions inventory

Single-footprint retrievals for AIRS using a fast TwoSlab cloud-representation model and the SARTA all-sky infrared radiative transfer algorithm

One-dimensional variational retrievals of temperature and moisture fields from hyperspectral infrared (IR) satellite sounders use cloud-cleared radiances (CCRs) as their observation. These derived observations allow the use of clear-sky-only radiative transfer in the inversion for geophysical variables but at reduced spatial resolution compared to the native sounder observations. Cloud clearing can introduce various errors, although scenes with large errors can be identified and ignored. Information content studies show that, when using multilayer cloud liquid and ice profiles in infrared hyperspectral radiative transfer codes, there are typically only 2–4 degrees of freedom (DOFs) of cloud signal. This implies a simplified cloud representation is sufficient for some applications which need accurate radiative transfer. Here we describe a single-footprint retrieval approach for clear and cloudy conditions, which uses the thermodynamic and cloud fields from numerical weather prediction (NWP) models as a first guess, together with a simple cloud-representation model coupled to a fast scattering radiative transfer algorithm (RTA). The NWP model thermodynamic and cloud profiles are first co-located to the observations, after which the N-level cloud profiles are converted to two slab clouds (TwoSlab; typically one for ice and one for water clouds). From these, one run of our fast cloud-representation model allows an improvement of the a priori cloud state by comparing the observed and model-simulated radiances in the thermal window channels. The retrieval yield is over 90 %, while the degrees of freedom correlate with the observed window channel brightness temperature (BT) which itself depends on the cloud optical depth. The cloud-representation and scattering package is benchmarked against radiances computed using a maximum random overlap (RMO) cloud scheme. All-sky infrared radiances measured by NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and NWP thermodynamic and cloud profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) forecast model are used in this paper