Improvements of Lagrangian data assimilation tested in the Gulf of Mexico

This study extends initial work by Sun and Penny et al. (2019, 2022) to explore the inclusion of path information from surface drifters using an augmented-state Lagrangian Data Assimilation based on the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF-LaDA) with vertical localization to improve analysis of the ocean. The region of interest is the Gulf of Mexico during the passage of Hurricane Isaac in summer 2012. Results from experiments with a regional ocean model at eddy-permitting and eddy-resolving model resolutions are used to quantify improvements to the analysis of sea surface velocity, SST, and sea surface height in a data assimilation system. The data assimilation system assimilates surface drifter positions, as well as vertical profiles of temperature and salinity. Data were used from drifters deployed as a part of the Grand Lagrangian Deployment beginning July 20, 2012. Comparison of experiment results shows that at both eddy-permitting and eddy-resolving horizontal resolutions Lagrangian assimilation of drifter positions significantly improves analysis of the ocean state responding to hurricane conditions. These results, which should be applicable to other tropical oceans such as the Bay of Bengal, open new avenues for estimating ocean initial conditions to improve tropical cyclone forecasting.