LASP Science Seminars

Remember the saying “All models are wrong, but some are useful”. Well, some of the useful models can be made realistic by ingesting experimental measurements through data assimilation. This presentation will show examples of how Global Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission observations played a crucial role in improving a whole atmospheric reanalysis. The NSF-NCAR Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere-ionosphere eXtension (WACCMX) model is used as the forecasting model and Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) ensemble adjustment Kalman filter is used for the assimilation. In addition to assimilation of GOLD disk temperature and O/N2 observation, lower atmospheric meteorological observations and temperatures from NASA-SABER and Aura-MLS are also assimilated to improve the atmosphere of the Earth from surface to the thermosphere-ionosphere altitudes. The addition of the GOLD observations in the assimilation improved the thermosphere-ionosphere in the whole atmosphere reanalysis. This presentation will demonstrate the great potential of the GOLD data to improve satellite drag and forecasting, which is becoming very crucial for space traffic control.