NRL Atmospheric Data Assimilation Science Strategy

Data Assimilation (DA) connects observations of the Earth system to the warfighter to enable accurate and timely decision-making using numerical weather prediction. The Marine Meteorology Division is committed to providing data assimilation solutions that leverage the intrinsic capabilities of Navy models and make optimal use of new, novel, and Navy-unique observations, as well as providing guidance to both developing and providing specifications for new observing systems that meet the emerging needs of NWP and DA. We aim to readily assimilate new observation types and rapidly adapt to a changing global observing system in terms of both satellite and conventional data. DA challenges unique to NRL include adapting to both observation-dense and communications-limited environments, optimally exploiting information provided by classified observations or observations of opportunity, operating within Navy time constraints and information assurance requirements, assessing risk to the warfighter associated with loss of observational information, and exploring forward-deployed prediction solutions. The Data Assimilation section of the Marine Meteorology Division is staffed with subject-matter experts on observations and data ingestion, instrument calibration and validation, quality control, bias correction, data-sampling strategies, data preprocessing, error statistics estimation including correlated error, satellite and ground-based measurements across the electromagnetic spectrum, and assimilation methodologies. Our internationally recognized team can rapidly provide unbiased, informative guidance on the impact of various observing systems and is poised to lead in this area. We actively participate in evaluation of next-generation sensors and commercial weather data for both NOAA and DoD programs and contribute to national and international working groups on observations.