Using satellite data to calibrate in-situ temperature measurements and to improve their assimilation into MODAS

The Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System (MODAS) creates temperature nowcasts in the world´s oceans based on climatological models, in-situ measurements, and satellite observations. MODAS-Lite is a pared-down version that assimilates in-situ measurements to increase the accuracy of local nowcasts and gives the user control over the resolution of the nowcasts created. However, MODAS was created specifically for use in deep water, and care must be exercised in shallow, littoral waters. The present work shows how satellite data can be used to better control the data assimilation process in MODAS and to provide calibration for in-situ BT data sets.