Formulation and calibration of CATKE, a one-equation parameterization
for microscale ocean mixing
Abstract
We describe CATKE, a parameterization for fluxes associated with
small-scale or “microscale’ ocean turbulent mixing on scales between 1
and 100 meters. CATKE uses a downgradient formulation that depends on a
prognostic turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) variable and a diagnostic
mixing length scale that includes a dynamic convective adjustment (CA)
component. With its dynamic convective mixing length, CATKE predicts not
just the depth spanned by convective plumes but also the characteristic
convective mixing timescale, an important aspect of turbulent convection
not captured by simpler static convective adjustment schemes. As a
result, CATKE can describe the competition between convection and other
processes such as shear-driven mixing and baroclinic restratification.
To calibrate CATKE, we use Ensemble Kalman Inversion to minimize the
error between 21~large eddy simulations (LES) and
predictions of the LES data by CATKE-parameterized single column
simulations at three different vertical resolutions. We find that CATKE
makes accurate predictions of both idealized and realistic LES compared
to microscale turbulence parameterizations commonly used in climate
models.