An extension of a data assimilation method based on the application of the Fokker-Planck equation

A data assimilation method based on the Kalman filter theory and on, the Fokker-Planck equation is extended to assimilate Atlantic Ocean data into a new version of the well-known Modular Ocean Model (MOM_3) from NOAA/GFDL. This extension enables assimilation of non-uniformly distributed data in space and time. Numerical experiments with Levitus atlas data are carried out with. the ocean model configured at a low resolution. Some results of these experiments as well as other possible expansions are discussed. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.