Codes for developing adaptive sampling strategies
Several codes were made available for the SWOT AdAC Consortium, such the Oceanliner tool, the EuroSea OSSEs tool, the SPASSO software, the Search SWOT passes code. The codes are still available for the ocean science community.
Oceanliner tool
Oceanliner: observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) to subsample high-resolution model output as if by gliders, ships, or other in situ platforms.
The Git-Hub notebook oceanliner is being developed as part of a NASA-funded SWOT Science Team project to develop tools for planning in situ oceanographic campaigns that will take place after SWOT’s launch, notably as part of the SWOT-AdAC program.
The package takes an input trajectory (e.g., the path of an ocean glider), subsamples output from a high-resolution ocean simulation along that trajectory, and returns a set of subsampled variables (e.g., standard physical variables temperature, salinity, velocity; derived physical quantities such as steric height; biogeochemical quantities if available). We envision this package having two potential uses: 1) designing in situ sampling strategies, and 2) interpreting in situ data in the context of a high resolution model.
The package is led by Kyla Drushka (kdrushka@apl.uw.edu) with contributions from Manjaree Binjolkar. Code was developed in part during OceanHackWeek21 with team Dhruv Balwada, Cassia Cai, Diana LaScala-Gruenewald and Iury Simoes-Sousa.
EuroSea OSSEs tool
EuroSea OSSEs tool: observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) to plan and evaluate in situ sampling strategies including CTD observations from different platforms
The GitHub notebook EuroSea_subTask_2.3.1 has been developed in the framework of the H2020 EuroSea project to plan and evaluate in situ sampling strategies including CTD observations from different platforms (rosette, underway CTD, gliders). The codes are organized as follows:
- In 1_simulate_observations you can find codes to design the sampling strategy and to extract the simulated observations from high-resolution model outputs.
- In 2_reconstruct_observations_spatiotemporal_OI the spatio-temporal optimal interpolation is applied to the simulated observations of temperature and salinity. The dynamic height and geostrophic velocity are calculated from the reconstructed 3D fields of temperature and salinity.
- In 3_evaluation you can find the codes to compare reconstructed fields with the ocean truth.
The package is led by Bàrbara Barceló-Llull (b.barcelo.llull@gmail.com) (CSIC) with contributions from Ananda Pascual (CSIC).
SPASSO
Software Package for an Adaptive Satellite-based Sampling for Oceanographic cruises
The temporal and spatial variability of the horizontal mesoscale and submesoscale circulation strongly affect marine environment fields and biogeochemical budgets and this represents a real challenge during in situ measurements. Indeed, samplings which are only few tens of kms or few weeks apart may be representative of very different situations.
The software package SPASSO (Software Package for an Adaptive Satellite-based Sampling for Oceanographic cruises) has been developed to overcome this problem. SPASSO diagnostics are based on NRT acquisition of satellite altimetry and ocean color and on model predictions.
SPASSO provides maps of dynamical and biogeochemical structures such as fronts, eddies and filaments, in addition to chlorophyll and SST, which are automatically generated. SPASSO can be used in Delayed Time (DT) for providing products in a region of interest or else for performing a systematic multi-field DT analysis of a region at various scales. SPASSO is used to guide the in situ sampling strategy as well as the interpretation of collected observations. This adaptive strategy based on these diagnostics has been applied during several ocean campaigns since 2010.
The SPASSO package is freely distributed in the hope that it is useful for the oceanographic community. If you have benefited from SPASSO, please cite the following reference:
Rousselet, L., d’Ovidio, F., Izard, L., Della Penna, A., Petrenko, A., Barrillon, S., Nencioli, F. and Doglioli, A., 2025. A Software Package for an Adaptive Satellite-Based Sampling for Oceanographic Cruises (SPASSOv2. 0): Tracking Fine-Scale Features for Physical and Biogeochemical Studies. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 42(8), pp.979-990.
Download the SPASSO package on GitHub
Search SWOT passes
A dedicated visualization tool for a quick look at where SWOT has been, where it is, and where it will be.
Search SWOT passes is a dedicated visualization tool funded by CNES for a quick look at where SWOT has been, where it is, and where it will be. Once you have selected the area of interest, click the “Search” button to search for SWOT passes. The results are displayed in a table and the swaths that intersect the area of interest are displayed on the map. Click on the marker to view the pass number.
Search SWOT passes was developed by Frédéric Briol (fbriol@groupcls.com).