Assimilating Lagrangian data for parameter estimation in a multiple-inlet system
Assimilating Lagrangian data for parameter estimation in a multiple-inlet system
Date
2017-04
Authors
Slivinski, Laura
Pratt, Lawrence J.
Rypina, Irina I.
Orescanin, Mara M.
Raubenheimer, Britt
MacMahan, Jamie
Elgar, Steve
Pratt, Lawrence J.
Rypina, Irina I.
Orescanin, Mara M.
Raubenheimer, Britt
MacMahan, Jamie
Elgar, Steve
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Keywords
Data assimilation
Modelling
Drag coefficient
Drifters
Tidal inlets
Modelling
Drag coefficient
Drifters
Tidal inlets
Abstract
Numerical models of ocean circulation often depend on parameters that must be
tuned to match either results from laboratory experiments or field observations. This
study demonstrates that an initial, suboptimal estimate of a parameter in a model
of a small bay can be improved by assimilating observations of trajectories of passive
drifters. The parameter of interest is the Manning's n coefficient of friction in a small
inlet of the bay, which had been tuned to match velocity observations from 2011.
In 2013, the geometry of the inlet had changed, and the friction parameter was no
longer optimal. Results from synthetic experiments demonstrate that assimilation
of drifter trajectories improves the estimate of n, both when the drifters are located
in the same region as the parameter of interest and when the drifters are located in
a different region of the bay. Real drifter trajectories from field experiments in 2013
also are assimilated, and results are compared with velocity observations. When the
real drifters are located away from the region of interest, the results depend on the
time interval (with respect to the full available trajectories) over which assimilation
is performed. When the drifters are in the same region as the parameter of interest,
the value of n estimated with assimilation yields improved estimates of velocity
throughout the bay.
Description
© The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ocean Modelling 113 (2017): 131-144, doi:10.1016/j.ocemod.2017.04.001.