Progress in a wide range of ocean research and applications depends upon the prompt and dependable availability of ocean information products. The field of physical oceanography has matured to a point where it is now conceivable to combine numerical models and observations via data assimilation in order to provide ocean prediction products on various spatial and time scales. As a result, many nations have begun large-scale efforts to provide routine products to the oceanographic community. The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) provides a framework for these efforts, i. e., a...