Optimal control of salinity boundary condition in a tidal model using a variational inverse method

A variational inverse data assimilation scheme is developed to estimate the salinity boundary conditions in a three-dimensional tidal hydrodynamic and salinity transport model. In this paper, the maximum incoming salinity value and the recovery time from the outflow salinity to the maximum incoming salinity at model open boundaries are treated as poorly known model control variables, and estimated using a variational inverse data assimilation scheme. The variational inverse model is tested in an idealized estuary using identical twin experiments, in which observed data are generated from the same model. Model tests with different initial guesses of the model control variables are conducted to evaluate the capability of the inverse model. A penalty technique is used to eliminate oscillations in the solution during the minimization process. The effects of preconditioning and penalty terms on the convergence rate are investigated. Model results demonstrate that the variational inverse model can be used to efficiently determine the optimal salinity open boundary conditions and improve the model state when there are no observed data available to specify the proper salinity open boundary conditions in a tidal model.