From 22nd July to 2nd August, two whole weeks of courses on Data Assimilation and its various applications in forecasting, risk assessment and decision-making were given at the University of Timișoara, Romania. A total of no less than 20 speakers have given lectures on the theory, the programming and the applications of data assimilation, among which Alberto Carrassi (dynamical systems), François Counillon (climate predictions) and Laurent Bertino (ocean predictions). The summer school was attended by 37 students, 15 of which came from Romania and the rest from pretty much everywhere else on the globe (Brazil, South Africa…). The logistics and social activities were organised with great mastery by Remus Hanea (University of Stavanger and Equinor) and Anca Hanea (University of Melbourne, Australia). There were 8 sponsors for the summer school, see https://data-assimilation.com/.
Most students experienced the summer school as very intensive, thankfully the social agenda and the week-end field trip on the Danube and historical site of Turnul Severin made a well-deserved break. The summer schools on data assimilation have been repeated in different towns of Romania every second year since 2007. The 2021 edition is expected to take place at the University of Oradea in North-West Romania.
Video from the local television channel (in Romanian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=435KurzxfJY
Text: Laurent Bertino