SEQUENTIAL OPEN-BOUNDARY CONTROL BY DATA ASSIMILATION IN A LIMITED-AREA MODEL

The feasibility of sequential open-boundary control by data assimilation in a regional ocean model has been investigated using a barotropic wind-driven ocean circulation model. A simple open-boundary scheme has been constructed based on the idea of optimal boundary control of a diagnostic equation and illustrated with the problem of modeling the subpolar gyre subject to an open southern boundary. The results show that use of such a scheme in conjunction with traditional radiation boundary conditions allows for a longer model integration that would otherwise be unstable when only the radiation boundary conditions are imposed due to presence of dispersive waves.