COMET Faculty Multimedia Workshop

Source: COMET Module: "Understanding Data Assimilation"

Appropriate Level: Some graphics and concepts could be used in introductory classes but the core content is appropriate for upper division majors

Outline of Module

1. Data Assimilation Process. A yes/no question that can be skipped

2. Data Assimilation Wizard. Motivation for data assimilation that may appeal to some

3. Data/Observation Increment/Analysis. The core of the module is contained in these three sets of pages. Graphics and simple examples help to highlight critical concepts (a handful of busted links to NCEP operational resources in the Data section). Graphics shown below summarize the components of the data assimilation process.

Step 1. Observations received and processed


Step 2. Deviations between the observations and
background values are computed



Step 3. Observation increments are used to adjust
the background



4. Operational Tips/Juding Analysis Quality. Brief review on some issues associated with assessing analysis quality.

5. Exercise/Assessment. Ordering the steps involved in data assimilation leads to the resulting graphic of the end-to-end process (below).



Other relevant COMET resources:

Operational Models Matrix: Brief overviews of operational data assimilation systems are listed at the bottom.

Good Data/Poor Analysis Case Study: Very nice illustration of some of the issues associated with objective analysis/data assimilation.

WRF Model WebCast: Provides very useful information on the Gridded Statistical Interpolation (GSI) assimilation approach used in the NCEP NAM.