Our GHRSST-centred practical objectives are to recommend to GHRSST-PP techniques
- for producers of SSTs (L2P products) to provide and estimate of the difference of their SST from foundation SST (and of the error in this difference estimate)
- for SST analysis that permit more optimum production of daily analyzed foundation SST and hourly analyzed skin SST (L4 products)
The DVWG tackles the underlying science by bringing together a hierarchy of models and selected observational data sets (both in situ and satellite-based).
We are largely operating on an unfunded, best-efforts basis, via international collaborations, co-ordinated by a series of 3-day workshops. Participants have a variety of scientific questions that motivate their involvement, from air-sea fluxes to operational oceanography.
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Models of DV include
- ocean turbulence closure models
- fast physical models (semi-empirical)
- statistical (satellite-specific fits of DV data)
The first scientific challenge is to learn enough to relate these models to each other and to real-world examples of DV. This "closure" needs to be achieved for both in situ ("point") measurements and across the horizontal scales of observation of satellites (1 km to 50 km, say). When observed in situ, DV is complex and highly variable in space. In contrast, satellite SSTs reveal spatial coherence of DV across the 10 km to 1000 km scales. How the amplitude and variance of DV depend on horizontal scale is crucial to understanding the inter-relationships of the various DV models.
The second scientific challenge is to understand the errors in our DV estimates, partitioned into those that are intrinsic (model error, unaccounted-for processes) and extrinsic (forcing field errors at inadequate temporal resolution).
At the GHRSST-PP 7th meeting (Boulder, CO), the DVWG initiated a series of working group meetings. DVWG1 was at Brest in November 2006, DVWG2 at Key Largo in March 2007, DVWG3 at Edinburgh in September 2007, and DVWG4 at Orlando in March 2008. The workshops are typically structured as:
- Day 1
- Science presentations (updates)
- Plan Day 2 & 3 studies
- Day 2 & 3 (morning)
- Do studies (in small, flexible groups)
- Day 3 (afternoon)
- Review study results
- Plan collaborative work until next DVWG
In this way, the group is well informed about each other's activities and actively work together at meetings, which gives good momentum to our collaboration between meetings.
The workshops are generally attended by a core membership, plus interested "local" scientists. Both forms of participation are open (but note, the group has no funding to support your involvement).
(Last Updated: 03-03-2009)