Summary
Variational assimilation provides a more natural framework for the assimilation of observations
4D-Var
- Initial conditions are determined iteratively by examining the impact of changes to the initial conditions on the adjustment to observations
- precursors elements to synoptic development
- extract information from a time series of observations
- (e.g., wind information is obtained from a time series of ozone measurements)
- time series of surface pressure
- Implicitly takes into account the internal balances of the model