Data Assimilation for the Geosciences : From Theory to Application

Data Assimilation for the Geosciences: From Theory to Application brings together all of the mathematical,statistical, and probability background knowledge needed to formulate data assimilation systems in one place. It includes practical exercises for understanding theoretical formulation and presents some aspects of coding the theory with a toy problem.

The book also demonstrates how data assimilation systems are implemented in larger scale fluid dynamical problems related to the atmosphere, oceans, as well as the land surface and other geophysical situations. It offers a comprehensive presentation of the subject, from basic principles to advanced methods, such as Particle Filters and Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo methods. Additionally, Data Assimilation for the Geosciences: From Theory to Application covers the applications of data assimilation techniques in various disciplines of the geosciences, making the book useful to students, teachers, and research scientists.

• Includes practical exercises, enabling readers to apply concepts in a theoretical formulation
• Offers explanations for how to code certain parts of the theory
• Presents a step-by-step guide on how, and why, data assimilation works and can be used

Steven J. Fletcher is a Research Scientist III at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University, where he is the lead scientist on the development of non-Gaussian based data assimilation theory for variational, PSAS, and hybrid systems. He has worked extensively with the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey in development of their data assimilation system, as well as working with the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA)’s Environmental Prediction Centers (EMC) data assimilation system. Dr. Fletcher is extensively involved with the American Geophysical Union (AGU)’s Fall meeting planning committee, having served on the committee since 2013 as the representative of the Nonlinear Geophysics section. He has also been the lead organizer and science program committee member for the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation Summer Colloquium on Satellite Data Assimilation since 2016. Dr. Fletcher is the author of Data Assimilation for the Geosciences: From Theory to Application (Elsevier, 2017). In 2017 Dr. Fletcher became a fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.