Ocean Modelling, Data Assimilation and Forecasting
Develop operational oceanography aiming at meeting research and societal needs related to monitoring and management of the marine environment, marine resources, marine safety, as well as weather and seasonal climate forecasts.
Description & Objectives
Research Description
The research comprises development and validation of modelling of ocean circulation, sea ice dynamics and the marine ecosystem. Advanced data assimilation methods, based on the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) and originally introduced at Nansen Center, are applied to realistic forecasts of ocean and sea-ice state variables. The main research activities relates to the development, validation and interpretation of the ToPAZ ocean forecasting system (http://topaz.nersc.no) covering the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
The ToPAZ ocean modelling system are transferable to other oceans and has also been implemented for Barents, Norwegian and Greenland Seas, the Indian Ocean, the Agulhas Current and the Southern Ocean, South China Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
The Nansen Center is co-organizing the yearly international EnKF workshop together with Uni Centre for Integrated Petroleum Research (CIPR) and International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS).
Specific Research Objectives
- To advance and validate the TOPAZ data assimilation and marine forecasting system for the North Atlantic, the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Oceans.
- To study past seasonal to interannual ocean variability by reanalyses of the TOPAZ assimilative system.
- To diversify the TOPAZ system for studies of coupled ocean, sea-ice and ecosystem processes, with joint assimilation of new types of satellite, ocean acoustics and in situ data.
- To implement and validate nested versions of the TOPAZ system in various oceans such as the Barents, Norwegian and Greenland Seas, the Indian Ocean, the Agulhas Current and the Southern Ocean, South China Sea and Gulf of Mexico, with special emphasis on meso-scale processes.
- To develop new data assimilation methods related to the Ensemble Kalman Filter, and apply the methods in new fields of applications.
Staff
| Name | Field of Research |
|---|---|
| Annette Samuelsen | oceanography |
| Ehouarn Simon |
computer science mathematics |
| Francois Counillon | oceanography |
| Geir Evensen | other scientific field |
| Hans Wackernagel |
geo-sciences statistics |
| Johnny A. Johannessen |
oceanography remote sensing |
| Jon E. Bergh | oceanography |
| Laurent Bertino | statistics |
| Patrick N. Raanes | mathematics |
| Pavel Sakov |
mathematics oceanography |
| Richard E. Danielson |
meteorology oceanography remote sensing |
| Sylvain Bouillon | sea ice |
| Timothy Williams | mathematics |
| Yongqi Gao | oceanography |
Projects
CarboChange
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CARBOCHANGE will provide the best possible process-based quantification of net ocean carbon uptake under changing climate conditions using past and present ocean carbon cycle changes for a better prediction of future ocean carbon uptake.
OC-CCI
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The ESA has initiated ClimateChange Initiatives for all Essential Climate Variables. the Ocean Colour CCI is the only one of them that related to a "living" variable.
WIFAR
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The conjunction of waves and sea ice represents a serious threats for the offshore activities in the Marginal Ice Zone. WIFAR is introducing the effect of waves into operational forecast models of the coupled ice-ocean system.
