Assimilation of Scattered Ocean Observations Using the Localized Equivalent-Weights Particle Filter with Statistical Observations

Abstract Marine physical data are currently derived mainly from satellite remote sensing, sparsely distributed buoys, and mobile observation platforms. The buoys and mobile observation platforms are more suitable for acquiring deep ocean data. Traditional methods for dealing with such observations rely on linear and Gaussian assumptions in the assimilation of nonlinear marine characteristics, which may introduce bias in analysis and forecasting. The particle-filter assimilation method is of increasing interest because it has advantages in dealing with nonlinear assimilation problems, although it has limitations with sparsely distributed observations. To address this problem, we introduced inverse distance-weighted interpolation into the localization scheme of the localized equivalent-weights particle filter with time-distributed statistical observations method based on data from sparsely distributed buoys and mobile platforms. This improved the utilization rate of observations and increased forecast accuracy. Theoretical experiments were undertaken to highlight the characteristics of the improved method, using reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts as evaluation criteria in comparing the method with the localized weighted ensemble Kalman filter method—a hybrid particle-filter method. Results indicate that the method effectively improves assimilation and the accuracy of state estimation and forecasts of ocean temperature and salinity. Significance Statement This paper addresses the problem of assimilating sparsely distributed observations in processing ocean elements. We improved the localization scheme to deal with the sparse-observation problem based on the localized equivalent-weights particle filter with time distribution statistical observation (LEWPF–T–Sobs). This method can effectively handle the assimilation problem with sparse observations while retaining the advantages of traditional particle filtering assimilation, thus improving the accuracy of estimates of physical ocean data.