Interfacing an ensemble Data Assimilation system with a 3D nonhydrostatic Coastal Ocean Model, an OSSE experiment

This paper presents the integration of a data assimilation framework and a nonhydrostatic coastal ocean model for the study of turbulent processes and state variables. Interfacing our General Curvilinear Coastal Ocean Model (GCCOM) with NCAR's Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART), enable the integration of very high-resolution observations into the system. These results included observation system simulation experiments (OSSEs) for test cases using a very steep seamount, by using different observation error variances. Our results demonstrated that the DART-GCCOM model can assimilate high-resolution observations using as few as 30 ensemble members.