Introduction to Data Assimilation for Scientists and Engineers

The analysis minimizes a combination of distances :

where the "observation operator" \(\cal G\) and the metrics \(B\) and \(R\) will be defined in the following.

The model provides a forecast from which the observation operator extracts quantities which are compared to actual data observation. The analysis is a field that combines these observations with the model forecast. It is then used as an initial condition for the next forecast. This adjustment is repeated at fixed time intervals.