Improving Ensemble Filters with Flow Matching
Data assimilation estimates a dynamical state from partial and noisy observations. Classical ensemble filters are efficient but restrict analysis updates through finite sample covariance and affine Gaussian distribution. We introduce the Flow Ensemble Filter (FlowEF), which uses conditional flow matching to transport the forecast ensemble from a classical baseline filter to an analysis ensemble. FlowEF uses a localized Gaussian source during training, transports forecast ensemble members from a baseline filter at deployment, and conditions its velocity field on ensembles from that baseline filter and the observation. The proposed model therefore learns a nonlinear update while mapping each baseline ensemble independently. For sparsely observed dynamical systems, FlowEF improves both deterministic and probabilistic metrics over all four classical ensemble filters. It also achieves the best performance among the state-of-the-art generative data assimilation models.