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Selection of Momentum Variables For A Three-dimensional Variational Analysis

Abstract

Three choices of control variables for meteorological variational analysis (3DVAR or 4DVAR) are associated with horizontal wind: (1) streamfunction and velocity potential, (2) eastward and northward velocity, and (3) vorticity and divergence. This study shows theoretical and numerical differences of these variables in practical 3DVAR data assimilation through statistical analysis and numerical experiments. This paper demonstrates that (a) streamfunction and velocity potential could potentially introduce analysis errors; (b) A 3DVAR using velocity or vorticity and divergence provides a natural scale dependent influence radius in addition to the covariance; (c) for a regional analysis, stream function and velocity potential are retrieved from the background velocity field with Neumann boundary condition. Improper boundary conditions could result in further analysis errors; (d) a variational data assimilation or an inverse problem using derivatives as control variables yields smoother analyses, for example, a 3DVAR using vorticity and divergence as controls yields smoother wind analyses than those analyses obtained by a 3DVAR using either velocity or streamfunction/velocity potential as control variables; and (e) statistical errors of higher order derivatives of variables are more independent, e.g., the statistical correlation between U and V is smaller than the one between stream function and velocity potential, and thus the variables in higher derivatives are more appropriate for a variational system when a cross-correlation between variables is neglected for efficiency or other reasons. In summary, eastward and northward velocity, or vorticity and divergence are preferable control variables for variational systems and the former is more attractive because of its numerical efficiency. Numerical experiments are presented using analytic functions and real atmospheric observations.

Article / Publication Data
Active/Online
YES
ISSN
Print 0033-4553/Online 1420-9136
Volume
169
Available Metadata
Accepted On
March 22, 2011
DOI ↗
Fiscal Year
Publication Name
Pure and Applied Geophysics
Published On
August 01, 2011
Final Online Publication On
August 01, 2011
Publisher Name
Birkhauser Verlag Ag
Print Volume
169
Print Number
3
Page Range
335-351
Submitted On
December 11, 2010
URL ↗

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