Computational Aspects of Data Assimilation for Aerosol Dynamics^*

A. Sandu¹, W. Liao¹, G.R. Carmichael², D. Henze³, J.H. Seinfeld³, T. Chai², and D. Daescu⁴

¹Department of Computer Science Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24060.
sandu@cs.vt.edu
liao@cs.vt.edu

²Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52240.
gcarmich@cgrer.uiowa.edu
tchai@cgrer.uiowa.edu

³Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91152.
daven@caltech.edu
seinfeld@caltech.edu

⁴Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Portland State University, Portland, OR 97207.
daescu@pdx.edu

Abstract. In this paper we discuss the algorithmic tools needed for data assimilation for aerosol dynamics. Continuous and discrete adjoints of the aerosol dynamic equation are considered, as well as sensitivity coefficients with respect to the coagulation kernel, the growth rate, and emission and deposition coefficients. Numerical experiments performed in the twin experiment framework for a single component model problem show that initial distributions and the dynamic parameters can be recovered from time series of observations of particle size distributions.

^*The authors thank the National Science Foundation for supporting this work through the award NSF ITR AP+IM 0205198. The work of A. Sandu was also partially supported by the award NSF CAREER ACI 0093139.

LNCS 3038, pp. 709-716.