The Need for a National Data Assimilation Education Program

Abstract

|he major progress made over the last two decades in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate change research can be attributed to advances in three areas: modeling, observing methods, and, very importantly, the improved utilization of observations, a new discipline known as data assimilation. As new technology for observing the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface—ranging from submersible buoys to multispectral satellite observations—is implemented, a significant challenge will be to optimally process large volumes of this new information. This challenge implies that data assimilation methods should advance alongside modeling and modern observing. Serafin et al. (2002) review current and future weather information technology, emphasizing that training and education are integral to technology development and transfer. We propose that education and training should also be extended into the domain of data assimilation.