--- MITgcm_contrib/articles/ceaice/ceaice_intro.tex 2008/06/28 15:44:39 1.6 +++ MITgcm_contrib/articles/ceaice/ceaice_intro.tex 2008/07/18 19:09:20 1.7 @@ -1,49 +1,47 @@ \section{Introduction} \label{sec:intro} -In recent years, oceanographic state estimation has matured to the -extent that estimates of the evolving circulation of the ocean constrained by -in-situ and remotely sensed global observations are now routinely available -and being applied to myriad scientific problems \citep{wun07}. Ocean state -estimation is the process of fitting an ocean General Circulation Model (GCM) -to a multitude of observations. As formulated by the consortium for Estimating -the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO), an automatic differentiation -tool is used to calculate the so-called adjoint code of a GCM. The method of -Lagrange multipliers is then used to render the problem one of unconstrained -least-squares minimization. Although much has been achieved, the existing -ECCO estimates lack interactive sea ice. This limits the ability to -utilize satellite data constraints over sea-ice covered regions. This also -limits the usefulness of the derived ocean state estimates for describing and -studying polar-subpolar interactions. This paper is a first step towards -adding sea-ice capability to the ECCO estimates. That is, we describe a -dynamic and thermodynamic sea ice model that has been coupled to the -Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model -\citep[MITgcm][]{mar97a} and that has been modified to permit efficient and -accurate automatic differentiation. +In recent years, ocean state estimation has matured to the extent that +estimates of the time-evolving ocean circulation, constrained by a multitude +of in-situ and remotely sensed global observations, are now routinely +available and being applied to myriad scientific problems \citep[and +references therein]{wun07}. As formulated by the consortium for Estimating +the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO), least-squares methods, i.e., +filter/smoother \citep{fuk02}, Green's functions \citep{men05}, and adjoint +\citep{sta02a}, are used to fit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology +general circulation model +\citep[MITgcm;][]{marshall97:_finit_volum_incom_navier_stokes} to the +available data. Much has been achieved but the existing ECCO estimates lack +interactive sea ice. This limits the ability to utilize satellite data +constraints over sea-ice covered regions. This also limits the usefulness of +the derived ocean state estimates for describing and studying polar-subpolar +interactions. This paper is a first step towards adding sea-ice capability to +the ECCO estimates. That is, we describe a dynamic and thermodynamic sea ice +model that has been coupled to the MITgcm and that has been modified to permit +efficient and accurate forward integration and automatic differentiation. + +Although the ECCO2 optimization problem can be expressed succinctly in +algebra, its numerical implementation for planetary scale problems is +enormously demanding. First, multiple forward integrations are required to +derive approximate filter/smoothers and to compute model Green's functions. +Second, the derivation of the adjoint model, even with the availability of +automatic differentiation tools, is a challenging technical task, which +requires reformulation of some of the model physics to insure +differentiability and the addition of numerous adjoint compiler directives to +improve efficiency \citep{marotzke99}. The MITgcm adjoint typically requires +5--10 times more computations and 10--100 times more storage than the forward +model. Third, every evaluation of the cost function entails a full forward +integration of the assimilation model and multiple forwards (and adjoint for +the adjoint method) iterations are required to achieve satisfactorily +converged solutions. Finally, evaluating the cost function also requires +estimating the error statistics associated with unresolved physics in the +model and with incompatibilities between observed quantities and numerical +model variables. These statistics are obtained from simulations at even +higher resolutions than the assimilation model. For all the above reasons, it +was decided early on that the MITgcm sea ice model would be tightly coupled +with the ocean component as opposed to loosely coupled via a flux coupler. -The availability of an adjoint model as a powerful research tool -complementary to an ocean model was a major design requirement early -on in the development of the MITgcm \citep{marotzke99}. It -was recognized that the adjoint model permitted computing the -gradients of various scalar-valued model diagnostics, norms or, -generally, objective functions with respect to external or independent -parameters very efficiently. The information associtated with these -gradients is useful in at least two major contexts. First, for state -estimation problems, the objective function is the sum of squared -differences between observations and model results weighted by the -inverse error covariances. The gradient of such an objective function -can be used to reduce this measure of model-data misfit to find the -optimal model solution in a least-squares sense. Second, the -objective function can be a key oceanographic quantity such as -meridional heat or volume transport, ocean heat content or mean -surface temperature index. In this case the gradient provides a -complete set of sensitivities of this quantity to all independent -variables simultaneously. These sensitivities can be used to address -the cause of, say, changing net transports accurately. -References to existing sea-ice adjoint models, explaining that they are either -for simplified configurations, for ice-only studies, or for short-duration -studies to motivate the present work. Traditionally, probably for historical reasons and the ease of treating the Coriolis term, most standard sea-ice models are