Mutual information forecasts for optimal adaptive sampling guidance

Analysis and Forecasts for 07 Apr 0000Z to 15 May 0000Z 2025, Issued 07 May 2025

We use our mutual information (MI) forecasts between candidate observation locations and future regional field or variables of interest (target or verification field/variables) to predict the most informative future data locations. We use our MIT MSEAS ensemble forecast to predict these MI fields.

For the MI fields that we show in the table below, the goal is to predict the location of candidate future glider observations (temperature and salinity profiles) on different days (00Z May 7 to 00Z May 14) that are the most informative about the target velocity, on 00Z May 15, 2025, in the region of the forecast LC and its uncertainty.

  • The candidate glider observations at each location in the domain occur at the times indicated in the headers of each MI plot. These glider temperature (T) and salinity (S) profiles are assumed taken at the 0m, 50m, 150m, 300m and 500m depths, unless these depths are below the topography, in which case the depths are equally redistributed.
  • The target (verification) variables are the velocity fields in the region of the forecast LC and its uncertainty at 00Z on May 15, 2025. These fields are defined by u and v profiles at all the locations shown by green stars taken together, at 00Z on May 15, 2025, at 150m, 300m, and 500m depths (in the region of the forecast LC and its uncertainty).

The locations with highest MI (bright yellow) on each day indicate where glider T and S profile observations are predicted to be most informative about the LC and its uncertainty at 00Z on May 15, 2025.

../Targets_May05e_head/row002300m_temp.png

00Z May 7 202500Z May 8 202500Z May 9 2025
MI_TS20250507000000_UV20250515000000.png
MI_TS20250508000000_UV20250515000000.png
MI_TS20250509000000_UV20250515000000.png
00Z May 10 202500Z May 11 202500Z May 12 2025
MI_TS20250510000000_UV20250515000000.png
MI_TS20250511000000_UV20250515000000.png
MI_TS20250512000000_UV20250515000000.png
00Z May 13 202500Z May 14 2025 
MI_TS20250513000000_UV20250515000000.png
MI_TS20250514000000_UV20250515000000.png