OS52A:
Beyond Constant Eddy Diffusivities: Estimation, Implementation, Impacts, and New Approaches to the Parameterization of Lateral Mixing in Ocean Models I


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Session ID#: 57435

Session Description:
In ocean climate models, the lateral transport of tracers due to unresolved turbulent flows must be parameterized. The most common approach mimics molecular diffusion or anisotropic diffusion, to represent stirring along isopycnals (Redi coefficient), and represents unresolved eddy-induced advection by slumping isopycnals at a rate proportional to their slopes (Gent-McWilliams coefficient). Constraining the values of these parameters has been a goal of the modeling and observational communities for decades. This session addresses (1) advances in estimation of mixing and tracer variance production by eddies from observations and high resolution models, (2) theoretical approaches to constrain the parameters, including inverse methods, (3) implementation in ocean models, (4) impacts of parameterizations on modeled tracers and/or climate variability, and (5) novel approaches. The focus of the session is on methods and quantities relevant to model parameterizations specifically, as opposed to diagnosis of turbulent structures for other reasons.
Primary Convener:  Inga Monika Koszalka, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Conveners:  K. Shafer Smith, New York University, CAOS, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, United States, Anand Gnanadesikan, Johns Hopkins University, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States and Baylor Fox-Kemper, Brown University, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, RI, United States
Primary Liaison:  Anand Gnanadesikan, Johns Hopkins University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States
Chairs:  K. Shafer Smith, New York University, CAOS, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, United States and Baylor Fox-Kemper, Brown University, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Providence, RI, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Anand Gnanadesikan, Johns Hopkins University, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States
Index Terms:

4255 Numerical modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4273 Physical and biogeochemical interactions [OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL]
4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4568 Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Sylvia T Cole, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States
Oliver Buhler, New York University, CAOS, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, United States
Yik Keung Ying, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9, United Kingdom, James Roland Maddison, University of Edinburgh, School of Mathematics, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and Jacques Vanneste, University of Edinburgh, School of Mathematics and Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Alistair Adcroft, Program for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, United States, Laure Zanna, University of Oxford, Dept. of Physics, Oxford, United Kingdom and Matt Harrison, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, United States
Christopher J Roach, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Taroona, TAS, Australia, Dhruv Balwada, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Kevin Speer, Florida State University, Department of Scientific Computing (DSC), Tallahassee, United States
Marie-Aude Sabine Pradal, Johns Hopkins University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States, Anand Gnanadesikan, Johns Hopkins University, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States and Alexis Anne Bahl, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
Trevor J McDougall, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia and Yuehua Li, University of New South Wales, Australia, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Sydney, Australia

See more of: Ocean Sciences