Comparison of different sequential assimilation algorithms for satellite-derived leaf area index using the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (version Lanai)

The leaf area index (LAI) is a crucial parameter for understanding the exchanges of mass and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. In this study, the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) has been successfully coupled to the Community Land Model with explicit carbon and nitrogen components (CLM4CN) by assimilating Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) LAI data. Within this framework, four sequential assimilation algorithms, including the kernel filter (KF), the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), the ensemble adjust Kalman filter (EAKF), and the particle filter (PF), are thoroughly analyzed and compared. The results show that assimilating GLASS LAI into the CLM4CN is an effective method for improving model performance. In detail, the assimilation accuracies of the EnKF and EAKF algorithms are better than those of the KF and PF algorithm. From the perspective of the average and RMSD, the PF algorithm performs worse than the EAKF and EnKF algorithms because of the gradually reduced acceptance of observations with assimilation steps. In other words, the contribution of the observations to the posterior probability during the assimilation process is reduced. The EAKF algorithm is the best method because the matrix is adjusted at each time step during the assimilation procedure. If all the observations are accepted, the analyzed LAI seem to be better than that when some observations are rejected, especially in low-latitude regions.