scholarly journals An Estimate of Inflation Factor and Analysis Sensitivity in Ensemble Kalman Filter

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guocan Wu

Abstract. The estimation accuracy of forecast error matrix is crucial to the assimilation result. Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is a widely used ensemble based assimilation method, which initially estimate the forecast error matrix using a Monte Carlo method with the short-term ensemble forecast states. However, this estimate needs to be further improved using inflation technique. In this study, the forecast error inflation factor is estimated based on cross validation and the analysis sensitivity is also investigated. The improved EnKF assimilation scheme is validated by assimilating spatially correlated observations to the atmosphere-like Lorenz-96 model. The experiment results show that, the analysis error is reduced and the analysis sensitivity to observations is improved.

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guocan Wu ◽  
Xiaogu Zheng

Abstract. The ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is a widely used ensemble-based assimilation method, which estimates the forecast error covariance matrix using a Monte Carlo approach that involves an ensemble of short-term forecasts. While the accuracy of the forecast error covariance matrix is crucial for achieving accurate forecasts, the estimate given by the EnKF needs to be improved using inflation techniques. Otherwise, the sampling covariance matrix of perturbed forecast states will underestimate the true forecast error covariance matrix because of the limited ensemble size and large model errors, which may eventually result in the divergence of the filter. In this study, the forecast error covariance inflation factor is estimated using a generalized cross-validation technique. The improved EnKF assimilation scheme is tested on the atmosphere-like Lorenz-96 model with spatially correlated observations, and is shown to reduce the analysis error and increase its sensitivity to the observations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guocan Wu ◽  
Bo Dan ◽  
Xiaogu Zheng

Assimilating observations to a land surface model can further improve soil moisture estimation accuracy. However, assimilation results largely rely on forecast error and generally cannot maintain a water budget balance. In this study, shallow soil moisture observations are assimilated into Common Land Model (CoLM) to estimate the soil moisture in different layers. A proposed forecast error inflation and water balance constraint are adopted in the Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter to reduce the analysis error and water budget residuals. The assimilation results indicate that the analysis error is reduced and the water imbalance is mitigated with this approach.


2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (7) ◽  
pp. 2918-2936 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Hoteit ◽  
D.-T. Pham ◽  
M. E. Gharamti ◽  
X. Luo

Abstract The stochastic ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) updates its ensemble members with observations perturbed with noise sampled from the distribution of the observational errors. This was shown to introduce noise into the system and may become pronounced when the ensemble size is smaller than the rank of the observational error covariance, which is often the case in real oceanic and atmospheric data assimilation applications. This work introduces an efficient serial scheme to mitigate the impact of observations’ perturbations sampling in the analysis step of the EnKF, which should provide more accurate ensemble estimates of the analysis error covariance matrices. The new scheme is simple to implement within the serial EnKF algorithm, requiring only the approximation of the EnKF sample forecast error covariance matrix by a matrix with one rank less. The new EnKF scheme is implemented and tested with the Lorenz-96 model. Results from numerical experiments are conducted to compare its performance with the EnKF and two standard deterministic EnKFs. This study shows that the new scheme enhances the behavior of the EnKF and may lead to better performance than the deterministic EnKFs even when implemented with relatively small ensembles.


2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (12) ◽  
pp. 4977-4995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunji Kotsuki ◽  
Steven J. Greybush ◽  
Takemasa Miyoshi

With the serial treatment of observations in the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), the assimilation order of observations is usually assumed to have no significant impact on analysis accuracy. However, Nerger derived that analyses with different assimilation orders are different if covariance localization is applied in the observation space. This study explores whether the assimilation order can be optimized to systematically improve the filter estimates. A mathematical demonstration of a simple two-dimensional case indicates that different assimilation orders can cause different analyses, although the differences are two orders of magnitude smaller than the analysis increments if two identical observation error variances are the same size as the two identical state error variances. Numerical experiments using the Lorenz-96 40-variable model show that the small difference due to different assimilation orders could eventually result in a significant difference in analysis accuracy. Several ordering rules are tested, and the results show that an ordering rule that gives a better forecast relative to future observations improves the analysis accuracy. In addition, the analysis is improved significantly by ordering observations from worse to better impacts using the ensemble forecast sensitivity to observations (EFSO), which estimates how much each observation reduces or increases the forecast error. With the EFSO ordering rule, the change in error during the serial assimilation process is similar to that obtained by the experimentally found best sampled assimilation order. The ordering has more impact when the ensemble size is smaller relative to the degrees of freedom of the dynamical system.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1116-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kuhl ◽  
Istvan Szunyogh ◽  
Eric J. Kostelich ◽  
Gyorgyi Gyarmati ◽  
D. J. Patil ◽  
...  

Abstract In this paper, the spatiotemporally changing nature of predictability is studied in a reduced-resolution version of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS), a state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction model. Atmospheric predictability is assessed in the perfect model scenario for which forecast uncertainties are entirely due to uncertainties in the estimates of the initial states. Uncertain initial conditions (analyses) are obtained by assimilating simulated noisy vertical soundings of the “true” atmospheric states with the local ensemble Kalman filter (LEKF) data assimilation scheme. This data assimilation scheme provides an ensemble of initial conditions. The ensemble mean defines the initial condition of 5-day deterministic model forecasts, while the time-evolved members of the ensemble provide an estimate of the evolving forecast uncertainties. The observations are randomly distributed in space to ensure that the geographical distribution of the analysis and forecast errors reflect predictability limits due to the model dynamics and are not affected by inhomogeneities of the observational coverage. Analysis and forecast error statistics are calculated for the deterministic forecasts. It is found that short-term forecast errors tend to grow exponentially in the extratropics and linearly in the Tropics. The behavior of the ensemble is explained by using the ensemble dimension (E dimension), a spatiotemporally evolving measure of the evenness of the distribution of the variance between the principal components of the ensemble-based forecast error covariance matrix. It is shown that in the extratropics the largest forecast errors occur for the smallest E dimensions. Since a low value of the E dimension guarantees that the ensemble can capture a large portion of the forecast error, the larger the forecast error the more certain that the ensemble can fully capture the forecast error. In particular, in regions of low E dimension, ensemble averaging is an efficient error filter and the ensemble spread provides an accurate prediction of the upper bound of the error in the ensemble-mean forecast.


2014 ◽  
Vol 919-921 ◽  
pp. 1257-1261
Author(s):  
Chao Qun Tan ◽  
Ju Xiu Tong ◽  
Bill X. Hu ◽  
Jin Zhong Yang

This paper mainly discusses some details when applying data assimilation method via an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) to improve prediction of adsorptive solute Cr(VI) transfer from soil into runoff. Based on this work, we could make better use of our theoretical model to predict adsorptive solute transfer from soil into surface runoff in practice. The results show that the ensemble number of 100 is reasonable, considering assimilation effect and efficiency after selecting its number from 25 to 225 at an interval of 25. While the initial ensemble value makes little difference to data assimilation (DA) results. Besides, DA results could be improved by multiplying an amplification factor to forecast error covariance matrix due to underestimation of forecast error.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 477-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Zang ◽  
P. Malanotte-Rizzoli

Abstract. The goal of this study is to compare the performances of the ensemble Kalman filter and a reduced-rank extended Kalman filter when applied to different dynamic regimes. Data assimilation experiments are performed using an eddy-resolving quasi-geostrophic model of the wind-driven ocean circulation. By changing eddy viscosity, this model exhibits two qualitatively distinct behaviors: strongly chaotic for the low viscosity case and quasi-periodic for the high viscosity case. In the reduced-rank extended Kalman filter algorithm, the model is linearized with respect to the time-mean from a long model run without assimilation, a reduced state space is obtained from a small number (100 for the low viscosity case and 20 for the high viscosity case) of leading empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) derived from the long model run without assimilation. Corrections to the forecasts are only made in the reduced state space at the analysis time, and it is assumed that a steady state filter exists so that a faster filter algorithm is obtained. The ensemble Kalman filter is based on estimating the state-dependent forecast error statistics using Monte Carlo methods. The ensemble Kalman filter is computationally more expensive than the reduced-rank extended Kalman filter.The results show that for strongly nonlinear case, chaotic regime, about 32 ensemble members are sufficient to accurately describe the non-stationary, inhomogeneous, and anisotropic structure of the forecast error covariance and the performance of the reduced-rank extended Kalman filter is very similar to simple optimal interpolation and the ensemble Kalman filter greatly outperforms the reduced-rank extended Kalman filter. For the high viscosity case, both the reduced-rank extended Kalman filter and the ensemble Kalman filter are able to significantly reduce the analysis error and their performances are similar. For the high viscosity case, the model has three preferred regimes, each with distinct energy levels. Therefore, the probability density of the system has a multi-modal distribution and the error of the ensemble mean for the ensemble Kalman filter using larger ensembles can be larger than with smaller ensembles.


2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
pp. 566-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Fuqing Zhang ◽  
Xiang-Yu Huang ◽  
Xin Zhang

Abstract This study compares the performance of an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) with both the three-dimensional and four-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVar and 4DVar) methods of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over the contiguous United States in a warm-season month (June) of 2003. The data assimilated every 6 h include conventional sounding and surface observations as well as data from wind profilers, ships and aircraft, and the cloud-tracked winds from satellites. The performances of these methods are evaluated through verifying the 12- to 72-h forecasts initialized twice daily from the analysis of each method against the standard sounding observations. It is found that 4DVar has consistently smaller error than that of 3DVar for winds and temperature at all forecast lead times except at 60 and 72 h when their forecast errors become comparable in amplitude, while the two schemes have similar performance in moisture at all lead times. The forecast error of the EnKF is comparable to that of the 4DVar at 12–36-h lead times, both of which are substantially smaller than that of the 3DVar, despite the fact that 3DVar fits the sounding observations much more closely at the analysis time. The advantage of the EnKF becomes even more evident at 48–72-h lead times; the 72-h forecast error of the EnKF is comparable in magnitude to the 48-h error of 3DVar/4DVar.


2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1303-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaogu Zheng ◽  
Guocan Wu ◽  
Shupeng Zhang ◽  
Xiao Liang ◽  
Yongjiu Dai ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (11) ◽  
pp. 3389-3404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Milewski ◽  
Michel S. Bourqui

Abstract A new stratospheric chemical–dynamical data assimilation system was developed, based upon an ensemble Kalman filter coupled with a Chemistry–Climate Model [i.e., the intermediate-complexity general circulation model Fast Stratospheric Ozone Chemistry (IGCM-FASTOC)], with the aim to explore the potential of chemical–dynamical coupling in stratospheric data assimilation. The system is introduced here in a context of a perfect-model, Observing System Simulation Experiment. The system is found to be sensitive to localization parameters, and in the case of temperature (ozone), assimilation yields its best performance with horizontal and vertical decorrelation lengths of 14 000 km (5600 km) and 70 km (14 km). With these localization parameters, the observation space background-error covariance matrix is underinflated by only 5.9% (overinflated by 2.1%) and the observation-error covariance matrix by only 1.6% (0.5%), which makes artificial inflation unnecessary. Using optimal localization parameters, the skills of the system in constraining the ensemble-average analysis error with respect to the true state is tested when assimilating synthetic Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) retrievals of temperature alone and ozone alone. It is found that in most cases background-error covariances produced from ensemble statistics are able to usefully propagate information from the observed variable to other ones. Chemical–dynamical covariances, and in particular ozone–wind covariances, are essential in constraining the dynamical fields when assimilating ozone only, as the radiation in the stratosphere is too slow to transfer ozone analysis increments to the temperature field over the 24-h forecast window. Conversely, when assimilating temperature, the chemical–dynamical covariances are also found to help constrain the ozone field, though to a much lower extent. The uncertainty in forecast/analysis, as defined by the variability in the ensemble, is large compared to the analysis error, which likely indicates some amount of noise in the covariance terms, while also reducing the risk of filter divergence.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document