Using Real-Time Ocean Forecast System's Adjoint Model to Compare the Performance of Data Observing Systems during the 2024 Hurricane Season

The Real-Time Ocean Forecast System (RTOFS) adjoint model quantifies how the assimilation of each data observing system’s observations impacts the error in the RTOFS model. The data observing systems in the analysis include, but are not limited to, satellite altimetry, gliders, Argo floats and expendable bathythermographs (XBTs). This project allows NOAA to evaluate the performance of each data observing system in specific spatial distributions and timeframes. Understanding how different data observing systems compare in performance during the timeframes of active tropical cyclones is of the utmost importance. By developing this understanding, NOAA develops its ability to predict which data observing systems should be deployed at specific areas and times. In this analysis, the investigated timeframe is the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. I expect that satellite altimetry will be the data observing system with the most beneficial impact on the RTOFS model due its relative abundance of good data.