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1.2.7 Global state estimation of the ocean

An important application of MITgcm is in state estimation of the global ocean circulation. An appropriately defined `cost function', which measures the departure of the model from observations (both remotely sensed and in-situ) over an interval of time, is minimized by adjusting `control parameters' such as air-sea fluxes, the wind field, the initial conditions etc. Figure 1.11 shows the large scale planetary circulation and a Hopf-Muller plot of Equatorial sea-surface height. Both are obtained from assimilation bringing the model in to consistency with altimetric and in-situ observations over the period 1992-1997.

Figure 1.11: Top panel shows circulation patterns from a multi-year, global circulation simulation constrained by Topex altimeter data and WOCE cruise observations. Bottom panel shows the equatorial sea-surface height in unconstrained (left), constrained (middle) simulations and in observations. This output is from a higher resolution, shorter duration experiment with equatorially enhanced grid spacing.
\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth, clip]{s_overview/figs/globes.eps}
\includegraphics[width=.7\textwidth, clip]{s_overview/figs/ssh_sim_assim_obs}

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Next: 1.2.8 Ocean biogeochemical cycles Up: 1.2 Illustrations of the Previous: 1.2.6 Parameter sensitivity using   Contents
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