DART has a proprietary file format used to contain observations called an
obs_seq
or observation sequence file.
This file format is necessary because ensemble data assimilation techniques require that each observation has a specified observation error variance in order to apply Bayes' Theorem during the assimilation.
DART provides source code to compile a type of executable known as an
observation converter that takes source data and creates a suitable obs_seq
file for assimilation.
It is possible that there is already source code in the repository to compile an observation converter for the data you intend to assimilate.
Examine the obs_converters
directory to see if there is already a converter
for your source data:
cd DART/observations/obs_converters ls AIRS GSI2DART SIF Ameriflux GTSPP snow AURA MADIS SSEC AVISO MIDAS SST CHAMP MODIS SSUSI cice MPD tec CNOFS NASA_Earthdata test_obs CONAGUA NCEP text COSMOS NSIDC text_GITM DWL obs_error tpw even_sphere ocean_color tropical_cyclone GMI ok_mesonet USGS gnd_gps_vtec quikscat utilities GOES radar var gps README.rst WOD GPSPW ROMS GRACE SABER
Comprehensive descriptions are also available in the Available observation converter programs page in the DART documentation.