source: branches/dev_1784_doc/DOC/TexFiles/Chapters/Chap_OBS.tex @ 2284

% ================================================================
% Chapter observation operator (OBS)
% ================================================================
\chapter{Observation and model comparison (OBS)}
\label{OBS}

Authors: D. Lea, K. Mogensen, A. Weaver, M. Martin ...

\minitoc


\newpage
$\ $\newline    % force a new line

The OBS branch is a diagnostic branch which reads in observation files (profile temperature and
salinity, sea surface temperature, sea level anomaly and sea ice concentration) and calculates the
an interpolated model equivalent value at the observation location and nearest model timestep.
This is code with was originally developed for use with NEMOVAR. 

In the case of temperature data from moored buoys (TAO, TRITON, PIRATA) which in the
ENACT/ENSEMBLES data-base are available as daily averaged quantities the observation operator
averages the model temperature fields over one day before interpolating them to the observation
location. For SST and altimeter observations, a 2D horizontal  interpolator is needed. For {\em in
situ} profiles, a 1D vertical interpolator is needed in addition to the 2D interpolator.

The resulting data is saved in a ``feedback'' file or files which can be used for model validation
and verification and also to provide information for data assimilation. This code is controlled by
the namelist \np{nam\_obs}. To build with the OBS code active \np{key\_diaobs} must be set.

There is a brief description of all the namelist options provided. 


% ================================================================
% Example
% ================================================================
\section{Running the observation operator code example}
\label{OBS_example}

This section describes an example of running the observation operator code using
profile data which can be freely downloaded. This shows how to adapt an existing
run and build of NEMO to run the observation operator.

First compile NEMO with \np{key\_diaobs} set.

Next download some ENSEMBLES EN3 data from the website http://www.hadobs.org.
You should choose observations which are valid for the period of your test run
because the observation operator compares the model and observations for a
matching date and time. 

You will need to add the following to the namelist to run the observation
operator on this data - replace \np{profiles\_01.nc} with the observation file you
wish to use (or link in):

\namdisplay{namobs_example}

The option \np{ln\_t3d} and \np{ln\_s3d} switch on the temperature and salinity profile
observation operator code. \np{ln\_ena} switch turns on the reading on ENACT/ENSEMBLES type
profile data. The filename of the ENACT/ENSEMBLES data is set with enactfiles. Not this can be
array of multiple files. The observation operator code needs to convert from observation
latitude and longitude to model grid point. This is done using the grid searching part of the
code. Setting \np{ln\_grid\_global} means that the code distributes the observations evenly
between processors in a round-robin. Alternatively each processor will work with observations
located within the model subdomain. The grid searching can be expensive, particularly for large
numbers of observations, setting \np{ln\_grid\_search\_lookup} allows the use of a lookup
table. This will need to generated the first time if it does not exist in the run directory
however once produced it will significantly speed up future grid searches.

The next step is viewing and working with the data. The NEMOVAR system contains utilities to
plot the feedback files, convert and recombine the files which are available on request from
the NEMOVAR team.

\section{Technical details}
\label{OBS_details}

Here we show a more complete example namelist and also describe the observation files that may
be used with the observation operator

\namdisplay{namobs}

This name list uses the "feedback" type observation file input format for profile, sea level
anomaly and sea surface temperature data

\subsection{Profile feedback type observation file header}

\begin{alltt}
\tiny
\begin{verbatim}
netcdf profiles_01 {
dimensions:
   N_OBS = 603 ;
   N_LEVELS = 150 ;
   N_VARS = 2 ;
   N_QCF = 2 ;
   N_ENTRIES = 1 ;
   N_EXTRA = 1 ;
   STRINGNAM = 8 ;
   STRINGGRID = 1 ;
   STRINGWMO = 8 ;
   STRINGTYP = 4 ;
   STRINGJULD = 14 ;
variables:
   char VARIABLES(N_VARS, STRINGNAM) ;
      VARIABLES:long_name = "List of variables in feedback files" ;
   char ENTRIES(N_ENTRIES, STRINGNAM) ;
      ENTRIES:long_name = "List of additional entries for each variable in feedback files" ;
   char EXTRA(N_EXTRA, STRINGNAM) ;
      EXTRA:long_name = "List of extra variables" ;
   char STATION_IDENTIFIER(N_OBS, STRINGWMO) ;
      STATION_IDENTIFIER:long_name = "Station identifier" ;
   char STATION_TYPE(N_OBS, STRINGTYP) ;
      STATION_TYPE:long_name = "Code instrument type" ;
   double LONGITUDE(N_OBS) ;
      LONGITUDE:long_name = "Longitude" ;
      LONGITUDE:units = "degrees_east" ;
      LONGITUDE:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   double LATITUDE(N_OBS) ;
      LATITUDE:long_name = "Latitude" ;
      LATITUDE:units = "degrees_north" ;
      LATITUDE:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   double DEPTH(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      DEPTH:long_name = "Depth" ;
      DEPTH:units = "metre" ;
      DEPTH:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int DEPTH_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      DEPTH_QC:long_name = "Quality on depth" ;
      DEPTH_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      DEPTH_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int DEPTH_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      DEPTH_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on depth" ;
      DEPTH_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
   double JULD(N_OBS) ;
      JULD:long_name = "Julian day" ;
      JULD:units = "days since JULD_REFERENCE" ;
      JULD:Conventions = "relative julian days with decimal part (as parts of day)" ;
      JULD:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   char JULD_REFERENCE(STRINGJULD) ;
      JULD_REFERENCE:long_name = "Date of reference for julian days" ;
      JULD_REFERENCE:Conventions = "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" ;
   int OBSERVATION_QC(N_OBS) ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:long_name = "Quality on observation" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on observation" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POSITION_QC(N_OBS) ;
      POSITION_QC:long_name = "Quality on position (latitude and longitude)" ;
      POSITION_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      POSITION_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POSITION_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on position" ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int JULD_QC(N_OBS) ;
      JULD_QC:long_name = "Quality on date and time" ;
      JULD_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      JULD_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int JULD_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on date and time" ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX(N_OBS) ;
      ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX:long_name = "Index in original data file" ;
      ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX:_Fillvalue = -99999 ;
   float POTM_OBS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      POTM_OBS:long_name = "Potential temperature" ;
      POTM_OBS:units = "Degrees Celsius" ;
      POTM_OBS:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   float POTM_Hx(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      POTM_Hx:long_name = "Model interpolated potential temperature" ;
      POTM_Hx:units = "Degrees Celsius" ;
      POTM_Hx:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int POTM_QC(N_OBS) ;
      POTM_QC:long_name = "Quality on potential temperature" ;
      POTM_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      POTM_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POTM_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      POTM_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on potential temperature" ;
      POTM_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      POTM_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POTM_LEVEL_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      POTM_LEVEL_QC:long_name = "Quality for each level on potential temperature" ;
      POTM_LEVEL_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      POTM_LEVEL_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POTM_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      POTM_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags for each level on potential temperature" ;
      POTM_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      POTM_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POTM_IOBSI(N_OBS) ;
      POTM_IOBSI:long_name = "ORCA grid search I coordinate" ;
   int POTM_IOBSJ(N_OBS) ;
      POTM_IOBSJ:long_name = "ORCA grid search J coordinate" ;
   int POTM_IOBSK(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      POTM_IOBSK:long_name = "ORCA grid search K coordinate" ;
   char POTM_GRID(STRINGGRID) ;
      POTM_GRID:long_name = "ORCA grid search grid (T,U,V)" ;
   float PSAL_OBS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      PSAL_OBS:long_name = "Practical salinity" ;
      PSAL_OBS:units = "PSU" ;
      PSAL_OBS:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   float PSAL_Hx(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      PSAL_Hx:long_name = "Model interpolated practical salinity" ;
      PSAL_Hx:units = "PSU" ;
      PSAL_Hx:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int PSAL_QC(N_OBS) ;
      PSAL_QC:long_name = "Quality on practical salinity" ;
      PSAL_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      PSAL_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int PSAL_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      PSAL_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on practical salinity" ;
      PSAL_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      PSAL_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int PSAL_LEVEL_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      PSAL_LEVEL_QC:long_name = "Quality for each level on practical salinity" ;
      PSAL_LEVEL_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      PSAL_LEVEL_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int PSAL_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      PSAL_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags for each level on practical salinity" ;
      PSAL_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      PSAL_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int PSAL_IOBSI(N_OBS) ;
      PSAL_IOBSI:long_name = "ORCA grid search I coordinate" ;
   int PSAL_IOBSJ(N_OBS) ;
      PSAL_IOBSJ:long_name = "ORCA grid search J coordinate" ;
   int PSAL_IOBSK(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      PSAL_IOBSK:long_name = "ORCA grid search K coordinate" ;
   char PSAL_GRID(STRINGGRID) ;
      PSAL_GRID:long_name = "ORCA grid search grid (T,U,V)" ;
   float TEMP(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      TEMP:long_name = "Insitu temperature" ;
      TEMP:units = "Degrees Celsius" ;
      TEMP:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;

// global attributes:
      :title = "NEMO observation operator output" ;
      :Convention = "NEMO unified observation operator output" ;
}
\end{verbatim}
\end{alltt}

\subsection{Sea level anomaly feedback type observation file header}

\begin{alltt}
\tiny
\begin{verbatim}
netcdf sla_01 {
dimensions:
   N_OBS = 41301 ;
   N_LEVELS = 1 ;
   N_VARS = 1 ;
   N_QCF = 2 ;
   N_ENTRIES = 1 ;
   N_EXTRA = 1 ;
   STRINGNAM = 8 ;
   STRINGGRID = 1 ;
   STRINGWMO = 8 ;
   STRINGTYP = 4 ;
   STRINGJULD = 14 ;
variables:
   char VARIABLES(N_VARS, STRINGNAM) ;
      VARIABLES:long_name = "List of variables in feedback files" ;
   char ENTRIES(N_ENTRIES, STRINGNAM) ;
      ENTRIES:long_name = "List of additional entries for each variable in feedback files" ;
   char EXTRA(N_EXTRA, STRINGNAM) ;
      EXTRA:long_name = "List of extra variables" ;
   char STATION_IDENTIFIER(N_OBS, STRINGWMO) ;
      STATION_IDENTIFIER:long_name = "Station identifier" ;
   char STATION_TYPE(N_OBS, STRINGTYP) ;
      STATION_TYPE:long_name = "Code instrument type" ;
   double LONGITUDE(N_OBS) ;
      LONGITUDE:long_name = "Longitude" ;
      LONGITUDE:units = "degrees_east" ;
      LONGITUDE:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   double LATITUDE(N_OBS) ;
      LATITUDE:long_name = "Latitude" ;
      LATITUDE:units = "degrees_north" ;
      LATITUDE:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   double DEPTH(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      DEPTH:long_name = "Depth" ;
      DEPTH:units = "metre" ;
      DEPTH:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int DEPTH_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      DEPTH_QC:long_name = "Quality on depth" ;
      DEPTH_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      DEPTH_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int DEPTH_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      DEPTH_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on depth" ;
      DEPTH_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
   double JULD(N_OBS) ;
      JULD:long_name = "Julian day" ;
      JULD:units = "days since JULD_REFERENCE" ;
      JULD:Conventions = "relative julian days with decimal part (as parts of day)" ;
      JULD:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   char JULD_REFERENCE(STRINGJULD) ;
      JULD_REFERENCE:long_name = "Date of reference for julian days" ;
      JULD_REFERENCE:Conventions = "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" ;
   int OBSERVATION_QC(N_OBS) ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:long_name = "Quality on observation" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on observation" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POSITION_QC(N_OBS) ;
      POSITION_QC:long_name = "Quality on position (latitude and longitude)" ;
      POSITION_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      POSITION_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POSITION_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on position" ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int JULD_QC(N_OBS) ;
      JULD_QC:long_name = "Quality on date and time" ;
      JULD_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      JULD_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int JULD_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on date and time" ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX(N_OBS) ;
      ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX:long_name = "Index in original data file" ;
      ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX:_Fillvalue = -99999 ;
   float SLA_OBS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SLA_OBS:long_name = "Sea level anomaly" ;
      SLA_OBS:units = "metre" ;
      SLA_OBS:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   float SLA_Hx(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SLA_Hx:long_name = "Model interpolated sea level anomaly" ;
      SLA_Hx:units = "metre" ;
      SLA_Hx:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int SLA_QC(N_OBS) ;
      SLA_QC:long_name = "Quality on sea level anomaly" ;
      SLA_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      SLA_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SLA_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      SLA_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on sea level anomaly" ;
      SLA_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      SLA_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SLA_LEVEL_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SLA_LEVEL_QC:long_name = "Quality for each level on sea level anomaly" ;
      SLA_LEVEL_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      SLA_LEVEL_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SLA_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      SLA_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags for each level on sea level anomaly" ;
      SLA_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      SLA_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SLA_IOBSI(N_OBS) ;
      SLA_IOBSI:long_name = "ORCA grid search I coordinate" ;
   int SLA_IOBSJ(N_OBS) ;
      SLA_IOBSJ:long_name = "ORCA grid search J coordinate" ;
   int SLA_IOBSK(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SLA_IOBSK:long_name = "ORCA grid search K coordinate" ;
   char SLA_GRID(STRINGGRID) ;
      SLA_GRID:long_name = "ORCA grid search grid (T,U,V)" ;
   float MDT(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      MDT:long_name = "Mean Dynamic Topography" ;
      MDT:units = "metre" ;
      MDT:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;

// global attributes:
      :title = "NEMO observation operator output" ;
      :Convention = "NEMO unified observation operator output" ;
}
\end{verbatim}
\end{alltt}

\subsection{Sea surface temperature feedback type observation file header}

\begin{alltt}
\tiny
\begin{verbatim}
netcdf sst_01 {
dimensions:
   N_OBS = 33099 ;
   N_LEVELS = 1 ;
   N_VARS = 1 ;
   N_QCF = 2 ;
   N_ENTRIES = 1 ;
   STRINGNAM = 8 ;
   STRINGGRID = 1 ;
   STRINGWMO = 8 ;
   STRINGTYP = 4 ;
   STRINGJULD = 14 ;
variables:
   char VARIABLES(N_VARS, STRINGNAM) ;
      VARIABLES:long_name = "List of variables in feedback files" ;
   char ENTRIES(N_ENTRIES, STRINGNAM) ;
      ENTRIES:long_name = "List of additional entries for each variable in feedback files" ;
   char STATION_IDENTIFIER(N_OBS, STRINGWMO) ;
      STATION_IDENTIFIER:long_name = "Station identifier" ;
   char STATION_TYPE(N_OBS, STRINGTYP) ;
      STATION_TYPE:long_name = "Code instrument type" ;
   double LONGITUDE(N_OBS) ;
      LONGITUDE:long_name = "Longitude" ;
      LONGITUDE:units = "degrees_east" ;
      LONGITUDE:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   double LATITUDE(N_OBS) ;
      LATITUDE:long_name = "Latitude" ;
      LATITUDE:units = "degrees_north" ;
      LATITUDE:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   double DEPTH(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      DEPTH:long_name = "Depth" ;
      DEPTH:units = "metre" ;
      DEPTH:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int DEPTH_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      DEPTH_QC:long_name = "Quality on depth" ;
      DEPTH_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      DEPTH_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int DEPTH_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      DEPTH_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on depth" ;
      DEPTH_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
   double JULD(N_OBS) ;
      JULD:long_name = "Julian day" ;
      JULD:units = "days since JULD_REFERENCE" ;
      JULD:Conventions = "relative julian days with decimal part (as parts of day)" ;
      JULD:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   char JULD_REFERENCE(STRINGJULD) ;
      JULD_REFERENCE:long_name = "Date of reference for julian days" ;
      JULD_REFERENCE:Conventions = "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" ;
   int OBSERVATION_QC(N_OBS) ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:long_name = "Quality on observation" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on observation" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      OBSERVATION_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POSITION_QC(N_OBS) ;
      POSITION_QC:long_name = "Quality on position (latitude and longitude)" ;
      POSITION_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      POSITION_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int POSITION_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on position" ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      POSITION_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int JULD_QC(N_OBS) ;
      JULD_QC:long_name = "Quality on date and time" ;
      JULD_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      JULD_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int JULD_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on date and time" ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      JULD_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX(N_OBS) ;
      ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX:long_name = "Index in original data file" ;
      ORIGINAL_FILE_INDEX:_Fillvalue = -99999 ;
   float SST_OBS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SST_OBS:long_name = "Sea surface temperature" ;
      SST_OBS:units = "Degree centigrade" ;
      SST_OBS:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   float SST_Hx(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SST_Hx:long_name = "Model interpolated sea surface temperature" ;
      SST_Hx:units = "Degree centigrade" ;
      SST_Hx:_Fillvalue = 99999.f ;
   int SST_QC(N_OBS) ;
      SST_QC:long_name = "Quality on sea surface temperature" ;
      SST_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      SST_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SST_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_QCF) ;
      SST_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags on sea surface temperature" ;
      SST_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      SST_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SST_LEVEL_QC(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SST_LEVEL_QC:long_name = "Quality for each level on sea surface temperature" ;
      SST_LEVEL_QC:Conventions = "q where q =[0,9]" ;
      SST_LEVEL_QC:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SST_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS(N_OBS, N_LEVELS, N_QCF) ;
      SST_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:long_name = "Quality flags for each level on sea surface temperature" ;
      SST_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:Conventions = "NEMOVAR flag conventions" ;
      SST_LEVEL_QC_FLAGS:_Fillvalue = 0 ;
   int SST_IOBSI(N_OBS) ;
      SST_IOBSI:long_name = "ORCA grid search I coordinate" ;
   int SST_IOBSJ(N_OBS) ;
      SST_IOBSJ:long_name = "ORCA grid search J coordinate" ;
   int SST_IOBSK(N_OBS, N_LEVELS) ;
      SST_IOBSK:long_name = "ORCA grid search K coordinate" ;
   char SST_GRID(STRINGGRID) ;
      SST_GRID:long_name = "ORCA grid search grid (T,U,V)" ;

// global attributes:
      :title = "NEMO observation operator output" ;
      :Convention = "NEMO unified observation operator output" ;
}
\end{verbatim}
\end{alltt}

\section{Theoretical details}

\subsection{Horizontal interpolation methods}

Consider an observation point ${\rm P}$ with 
with longitude and latitude $({\lambda_{}}_{\rm P}, \phi_{\rm P})$ and the 
four nearest neighbouring model grid points ${\rm A}$, ${\rm B}$, ${\rm C}$ 
and ${\rm D}$ with longitude and latitude ($\lambda_{\rm A}$, $\phi_{\rm A}$),
($\lambda_{\rm B}$, $\phi_{\rm B}$) etc.
All horizontal interpolation methods implemented in NEMO
estimate the value of a model variable $x$ at point $P$ as
a weighted linear combination of the values of the model 
variables at the grid points ${\rm A}$, ${\rm B}$ etc.:
\begin{eqnarray}
{x_{}}_{\rm P} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & 
\frac{1}{w} \left( {w_{}}_{\rm A} {x_{}}_{\rm A} + 
                   {w_{}}_{\rm B} {x_{}}_{\rm B} + 
                   {w_{}}_{\rm C} {x_{}}_{\rm C} + 
                   {w_{}}_{\rm D} {x_{}}_{\rm D} \right)
\end{eqnarray}
where ${w_{}}_{\rm A}$, ${w_{}}_{\rm B}$ etc. are the respective weights for the 
model field at points ${\rm A}$, ${\rm B}$ etc., and 
$w = {w_{}}_{\rm A} + {w_{}}_{\rm B} + {w_{}}_{\rm C} + {w_{}}_{\rm D}$.

Four different possibilities are available for computing the weights.

\begin{enumerate}

\item[1.] {\bf Great-Circle distance-weighted interpolation.} The weights
  are computed as a function of the great-circle distance $s(P, \cdot)$ 
  between $P$ and the model grid points $A$, $B$ etc. For example, 
  the weight given to the field ${x_{}}_{\rm A}$ is specified as the 
  product of the distances from ${\rm P}$ to the other points:
  \begin{eqnarray}
  {w_{}}_{\rm A} = s({\rm P}, {\rm B}) \, s({\rm P}, {\rm C}) \, s({\rm P}, {\rm D})
  \nonumber
  \end{eqnarray}
  where 
  \begin{eqnarray}
   s\left ({\rm P}, {\rm M} \right ) 
     & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & 
      \cos^{-1} \! \left\{ 
               \sin {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} \sin {\phi_{}}_{\rm M}
             + \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm M} 
               \cos ({\lambda_{}}_{\rm M} - {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P}) 
                   \right\}
   \end{eqnarray}
   and $M$ corresponds to $B$, $C$ or $D$.
   A more stable form of the great-circle distance formula for
   small distances ($x$ near 1) involves the arcsine function
   (e.g., see p.~101 of Daley and Barker~(2001); NAVDAS Source Book):
   \begin{eqnarray}
   s\left( {\rm P}, {\rm M} \right) 
     & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & 
      \sin^{-1} \! \left\{ \sqrt{ 1 - x^2 } \right\}
   \nonumber
   \end{eqnarray}
   where
   \begin{eqnarray}
    x & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & 
      {a_{}}_{\rm M} {a_{}}_{\rm P} + {b_{}}_{\rm M} {b_{}}_{\rm P} + {c_{}}_{\rm M} {c_{}}_{\rm P}
   \nonumber
   \end{eqnarray}
   and 
   \begin{eqnarray}
      {a_{}}_{\rm M} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & \sin {\phi_{}}_{\rm M}, 
      \nonumber \\
      {a_{}}_{\rm P} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & \sin {\phi_{}}_{\rm P}, 
      \nonumber \\
      {b_{}}_{\rm M} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm M} \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm M}, 
      \nonumber \\
      {b_{}}_{\rm P} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm P}, 
      \nonumber \\
      {c_{}}_{\rm M} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm M} \sin {\phi_{}}_{\rm M}, 
      \nonumber \\
      {c_{}}_{\rm P} & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & \cos {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} \sin {\phi_{}}_{\rm P}.
      \nonumber
   \nonumber
  \end{eqnarray}

\item[2.] {\bf Great-Circle distance-weighted interpolation with small angle
  approximation.} Similar to the previous interpolation but with the
  distance $s$ computed as
  \begin{eqnarray}
    s\left( {\rm P}, {\rm M} \right) 
     & \hspace{-2mm} = \hspace{-2mm} & 
      \sqrt{ \left( {\phi_{}}_{\rm M} - {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} \right)^{2} 
      + \left( {\lambda_{}}_{\rm M} - {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} \right)^{2}
        \cos^{2} {\phi_{}}_{\rm M} }
  \end{eqnarray}
  where $M$ corresponds to $A$, $B$, $C$ or $D$.

\item[3.] {\bf Bilinear interpolation for a regular spaced grid.} The
  interpolation is split into two 1D interpolations in the longitude
  and latitude directions, respectively.

\item[4.] {\bf Bilinear remapping interpolation for a general grid.} An
  iterative scheme that involves first mapping a quadrilateral cell
  into a cell with coordinates (0,0), (1,0), (0,1) and (1,1). This
  method is based on the Scrip interpolation package (Jones~2001).

\end{enumerate}

\subsection{Grid search}

For many grids used by the NEMO model, such as the ORCA family, 
the horizontal grid coordinates $i$ and $j$ are not simple functions 
of latitude and longitude. Therefore, it is not always straightforward 
to determine the grid points surrounding any given observational position.
Before the interpolation can be performed, a search 
algorithm is then required to determine the corner points of 
the quadrilateral cell in which the observation is located.
This is the most difficult and time consuming part of the 
2D interpolation procedure. 
A robust test for determining if an observation falls
within a given quadrilateral cell is as follows. Let 
${\rm P}({\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} ,{\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )$ denote the observation point,
and let ${\rm A}({\lambda_{}}_{\rm A} ,{\phi_{}}_{\rm A} )$,
${\rm B}({\lambda_{}}_{\rm B} ,{\phi_{}}_{\rm B} )$,
${\rm C}({\lambda_{}}_{\rm C} ,{\phi_{}}_{\rm C} )$ 
and 
${\rm D}({\lambda_{}}_{\rm D} ,{\phi_{}}_{\rm D} )$ denote
the bottom left, bottom right, top left and top right
corner points of the cell, respectively. 
To determine if P is inside 
the cell, we verify that the cross-products 
\begin{eqnarray}
\begin{array}{lllll}
{{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PA} \times {{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PC}
& = & [({\lambda_{}}_{\rm A}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm C}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )
    - ({\lambda_{}}_{\rm C}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm A}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )] \; \widehat{\bf k} \\
{{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PB} \times {{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PA}
& = & [({\lambda_{}}_{\rm B}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm A}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )
    - ({\lambda_{}}_{\rm A}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm B}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )] \; \widehat{\bf k} \\
{{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PC} \times {{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PD}
& = & [({\lambda_{}}_{\rm C}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm D}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )
    - ({\lambda_{}}_{\rm D}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm C}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )] \; \widehat{\bf k} \\
{{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PD} \times {{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PB}
& = & [({\lambda_{}}_{\rm D}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm B}   \; -\; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )
    - ({\lambda_{}}_{\rm B}\; -\; {\lambda_{}}_{\rm P} )
      ({\phi_{}}_{\rm D}  \;  - \; {\phi_{}}_{\rm P} )] \; \widehat{\bf k} \\
\end{array}
\label{eq:cross}
\end{eqnarray}
point in the opposite direction to the unit normal 
$\widehat{\bf k}$ (i.e., that the coefficients of 
$\widehat{\bf k}$ are negative),
where ${{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PA}$, ${{\bf r}_{}}_{\rm PB}$, 
etc. correspond to the vectors between points P and A, 
P and B, etc.. The method used is
similar to the method used in
the Scripp interpolation package (Jones~2001).

In order to speed up the grid search, there is the possibility to construct 
a lookup table for a user specified resolution. This lookup
table contains the lower and upper bounds on the $i$ and $j$ indices
to be searched for on a regular grid. For each observation position,
the closest point on the regular grid of this position is computed and
the $i$ and $j$ ranges of this point searched to determine the precise
four points surrounding the observation. 

\subsection{Parallel aspects of horizontal interpolation}

For horizontal interpolation, there is the basic problem that the
observations are unevenly distributed on the globe. In numerical
models, it is common to divide the model grid into subgrids (or
domains) where each subgrid is executed on a single processing element
with explicit message passing for exchange of information along the
domain boundaries when running on a massively parallel processor (MPP)
system. This approach is used by the NEMO ocean model (Madec~2008).

For observations there is no natural distribution since the
observations are not equally distributed on the globe. 
Two options have been made available: 1) geographical distribution;
and 2) round-robin.

\subsubsection{Geographical distribution of observations among processors}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=10cm,height=12cm,angle=-90.]{./TexFiles/Figures/Fig_ASM_obsdist_local}
\end{center}
\caption{Example of the distribution of observations with the geographical
distribution of observational data.} 
\label{fig:obslocal}
\end{figure}

This is the simplest option in which the observations are distributed according 
to the domain of the grid-point parallelization. Figure~\ref{fig:obslocal}
shows an example of the distribution of the {\em in situ} data on processors 
with a different colour for each observation
on a given processor for a 4 $\times$ 2 decomposition with ORCA2. 
The grid-point domain decomposition is clearly visible on the plot.

The advantage of this approach is that all
information needed for horizontal interpolation is available without
any MPP communication. Of course, this is under the assumption that 
we are only using a $2 \times 2$ grid-point stencil for the interpolation 
(e.g., bilinear interpolation). For higher order interpolation schemes this
is no longer valid. A disadvantage with the above scheme is that the number of
observations on each processor can be very different. If the cost of
the actual interpolation is expensive relative to the communication of
data needed for interpolation, this could lead to load imbalance.

\subsubsection{Round-robin distribution of observations among processors}

\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=10cm,height=12cm,angle=-90.]{./TexFiles/Figures/Fig_ASM_obsdist_global}
\end{center}
\caption{Example of the distribution of observations with the round-robin
  distribution of observational data.}
\label{fig:obsglobal}
\end{figure}

An alternative approach is to distribute the observations equally
among processors and use message passing in order to retrieve 
the stencil for interpolation. The simplest distribution of the observations 
is to distribute them using a round-robin scheme. Figure~\ref{fig:obsglobal}
shows the distribution of the {\em in situ} data on processors for the
round-robin distribution of observations with a different colour for
each observation on a given processor for a 4 $\times$ 2 decomposition 
with ORCA2 for the same input data as in Fig.~\ref{fig:obslocal}.
The observations are now clearly randomly distributed on the globe.
In order to be able to perform horizontal interpolation in this case, 
a subroutine has been developed that retrieves any grid points in the 
global space.

\subsection{Vertical interpolation operator}

The vertical interpolation is achieved using either a cubic spline or
linear interpolation. For the cubic spline, the top and
bottom boundary conditions for the second derivative of the 
interpolating polynomial in the spline are set to zero.
At the bottom boundary, this is done using the land-ocean mask.