ECMWF 2011 Annual Seminar

Seminar on Data assimilation for atmosphere and ocean,
6 - 9 September 2011

• Programme update 31.8.2011
• List of invited speakers and participants
• Useful links

• Presentations
• Proceedings

The subject of the seminar this year is Data assimilation for atmosphere and ocean, and will be held from 6 to 9 September 2011.

Data assimilation is at the core of ECMWF numerical weather prediction activities. Increasing the accuracy of the forecast relies on the provision of increasingly accurate initial states for the prediction system. Variational data assimilation has been successfully developed and used operationally at ECMWF, today the variational system is a pre-requisite for the assimilation of satellite data and effective use of conventional observations in the atmosphere. Ocean data assimilation is also an integral part of the monthly and seasonal forecast systems. An extension of variational techniques including longer assimilation windows and weak constraint methods to allow for inclusion of model error estimates are current research areas. Ensemble based assimilation systems are currently under development and combined with the variational technique to allow for a flow dependent estimation of background error variances and covariances. The Ensemble Kalman Filter method has been applied to operational NWP and Extended Kalman Filter methods have been developed for surface parameter assimilation. The development of ensemble based assimilation techniques implies that initial state perturbation methods and the representation of model error are essential elements of data assimilation systems thus providing close links with ensemble prediction methods.

The seminar will give a pedagogical review of the principles behind data assimilation techniques and provide detailed descriptions of the currently used assimilation techniques. An overview of the observation data sources and their intrinsic properties will be given. Outlooks on future developments in data assimilation such as ensemble based methods and weak constraint variational methods will also be included. Last but not least, challenges related to the design of efficient data assimilation schemes on future computer architectures will be addressed.

Speakers

The following invited and ECMWF speakers will take part in the seminar:

• Sue Ballard (Met Office, University of Reading)
• Dale Barker (Met Office)
• Massimo Bonavita (ECMWF)
• Carla Cardinali (ECMWF)
• Patricia De Rosnay (ECMWF)
• John C. Derber (NOAA/ NCEP)
• Gerald Desroziers (Météo-France, CNRM/GMME/RECYF)
• Mike Fisher (ECMWF)
• Keith Haines (BMT Professor of Marine Informatics ESSC)
• Lars Isaksen (ECMWF)
• Andrew Lorenc (Met Office )
• Jean-François Mahfouf (Météo-France / CNRM/GMME)
• Andrew M Moore (Ocean Sciences Department, University of California )
• Saroja Polavarapu (Environment Canada)
• Paul Poli (ECMWF)
• Florence Rabier (Météo France CNRM/GMAP)
• Michele Rienecker (NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office)
• Adrian Simmons (ECMWF)
• Chris Snyder (UCAR)
• Peter Jan van Leeuwen (Dept. of Meteorology, Univ. of Reading)
• Jeffrey S. Whitaker (NOAA/OAR/PSD  R/PSD1)

Useful information on ECMWF web site:

• http://www.ecmwf.int/about/location/
• http://www.ecmwf.int/about/location/hoteldetails.html
• http://www.ecmwf.int/newsevents/meetings/