This workshop is intended to facilitate the more rapid advance of development of coupled data assimilation methodologies to improve weather and climate predictions and reanalyses. The workshop will cover methods for coupling of data assimilation methodologies between the atmosphere, ocean, land-surface, sea-ice, aerosols, atmospheric chemistry, and more, including weak coupling (coupling of the forecasts providing the background forecasts) and strong coupling (coupling of the state estimation as well). The workshop will also consider which observations are particularly important to advance coupled assimilations. The workshop will include overview presentations by selected invited speakers, 15-minute oral presentations, posters, discussion of the key scientific and technical challenges, and breakout groups to list the key issues and to formulate recommendations for how collaboration facilitated by the WMO can advance the state of the science more rapidly.

This workshop is sponsored by Météo-France, the World Meteorological Organization^*, the European Union^**, MAPP Program^*** and US CLIVAR.

^*: specifically, the Data Assimilation and Observing Systems working group, the Polar Prediction Project, the Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Prediction Group, Predictability, Dynamical Processes, and Ensemble Forecasting Group, and GODAE Ocean View, and CLIVAR-GSOP.
^**: specifically, by the ERA-CLIM2 FP7 project, collaborative project funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme.
^***: the NOAA/Climate Program Office's Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) Program.