Talk of Chunxue YANG

(CNR-ISMAR, Roma, Italy)

“Ocean reanalyses and their use in support of climate and ocean dynamics”

Ocean reanalyses reconstruct historical ocean states by combining ocean circulation models with observational data through data assimilation algorithms. Their key advantage lies in providing temporally and spatially complete ocean coverage, enabling the study of ocean dynamical processes — such as large-scale circulation, heat transport, and long-term climate trends — that would otherwise be inaccessible due to observational limitations.

At CNR-ISMAR, we have been developing long-period ocean reanalyses extending back to the 1960s and 1870s, complementing reconstructions produced by other international centers. A distinctive aspect of our approach is the use of large ensembles, which allow us to systematically quantify uncertainties in our ocean estimates.

During this presentation, we will outline our ocean reanalysis development activities and showcase how these reconstructions are being used to advance our understanding of ocean dynamics.