Global observations play an essential role in model development and testing.
The global coverage and remote sensing capabilities of satellite instruments provide many important measurements such as cloud coverage, ocean biological productivity, ocean circulation, vegetation coverage, chemical composition of the atmosphere, atmospheric circulation etc. Observations of climate variables are essential not only in that they are the basis of our understanding of climate processes, but they also serve as a data base against which climate models can be tested. We have demonstrated the beginning of a global ocean circulation estimation system. The model is forced to consistency with those data by using the models adjoint to modify the initial temperature and salinity fields over the full water column and to adjust the meteorological forcing fields for momentum, heat and fresh water. Have a look at the paper here .