Data assimilation in quasi-geostrophic ocean models

Performs idealized data assimilation experiments with a nudging technique in a three-layer quasi-geostrophic model to assess the ability of altimeter or float data to control the evolution of a baroclinic flow. In a first series of runs, the authors check the sensitivity of assimilation to nudging parameters in a wind-forced, vertically coherent, reference simulation. In a second batch of experiments, the authors use a vertically strongly decorrelated flow to measure the information content brought by the assimilation of relative vorticity of deep Lagrangian floats