Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation

<p>In sequential estimation methods often used in oceanic and general climate calculations of the state and of forecasts, observations act mathematically and statistically as source or sink terms in conservation equations for heat, salt, mass, and momentum. These artificial terms obscure the i...

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Main Authors: C. Wunsch, S. Williamson, P. Heimbach
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2023-08-01
Series:Ocean Science
Online Access:https://os.copernicus.org/articles/19/1253/2023/os-19-1253-2023.pdf
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author C. Wunsch
S. Williamson
P. Heimbach
P. Heimbach
P. Heimbach
author_facet C. Wunsch
S. Williamson
P. Heimbach
P. Heimbach
P. Heimbach
author_sort C. Wunsch
collection DOAJ
description <p>In sequential estimation methods often used in oceanic and general climate calculations of the state and of forecasts, observations act mathematically and statistically as source or sink terms in conservation equations for heat, salt, mass, and momentum. These artificial terms obscure the inference of the system's variability or secular changes. Furthermore, for the purposes of calculating changes in important functions of state variables such as total mass and energy or volumetric current transports, results of both filter and smoother-based estimates are sensitive to misrepresentation of a large variety of parameters, including initial conditions, prior uncertainty covariances, and systematic and random errors in observations. Here, toy models of a coupled mass–spring oscillator system and of a barotropic Rossby wave system are used to demonstrate many of the issues that arise from such misrepresentations. Results from Kalman filter estimates and those from finite interval smoothing are analyzed. In the filter (and prediction) problem, entry of data leads to violation of conservation and other invariant rules. A finite interval smoothing method restores the conservation rules, but uncertainties in all such estimation results remain. Convincing trend and other time-dependent determinations in “reanalysis-like” estimates require a full understanding of models, observations, and underlying error structures. Application of smoother-type methods that are designed for optimal reconstruction purposes alleviate some of the issues.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-6df8a12f703e4d36abe514821a3eb6ef2023-08-21T15:09:25ZengCopernicus PublicationsOcean Science1812-07841812-07922023-08-01191253127510.5194/os-19-1253-2023Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimationC. Wunsch0S. Williamson1P. Heimbach2P. Heimbach3P. Heimbach4Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USAOden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAOden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAJackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAInstitute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA<p>In sequential estimation methods often used in oceanic and general climate calculations of the state and of forecasts, observations act mathematically and statistically as source or sink terms in conservation equations for heat, salt, mass, and momentum. These artificial terms obscure the inference of the system's variability or secular changes. Furthermore, for the purposes of calculating changes in important functions of state variables such as total mass and energy or volumetric current transports, results of both filter and smoother-based estimates are sensitive to misrepresentation of a large variety of parameters, including initial conditions, prior uncertainty covariances, and systematic and random errors in observations. Here, toy models of a coupled mass–spring oscillator system and of a barotropic Rossby wave system are used to demonstrate many of the issues that arise from such misrepresentations. Results from Kalman filter estimates and those from finite interval smoothing are analyzed. In the filter (and prediction) problem, entry of data leads to violation of conservation and other invariant rules. A finite interval smoothing method restores the conservation rules, but uncertainties in all such estimation results remain. Convincing trend and other time-dependent determinations in “reanalysis-like” estimates require a full understanding of models, observations, and underlying error structures. Application of smoother-type methods that are designed for optimal reconstruction purposes alleviate some of the issues.</p>https://os.copernicus.org/articles/19/1253/2023/os-19-1253-2023.pdf
spellingShingle C. Wunsch
S. Williamson
P. Heimbach
P. Heimbach
P. Heimbach
Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
Ocean Science
title Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
title_full Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
title_fullStr Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
title_full_unstemmed Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
title_short Potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
title_sort potential artifacts in conservation laws and invariants inferred from sequential state estimation
url https://os.copernicus.org/articles/19/1253/2023/os-19-1253-2023.pdf
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