Removing numerical pathologies in a turbulence parameterization through
convergence testing
Abstract
Discretized numerical models of the atmosphere are usually intended to
faithfully represent an underlying set of continuous equations, but this
necessary condition is violated sometimes by subtle pathologies that
have crept into the discretized equations. Such pathologies can
introduce undesirable artifacts, such as sawtooth noise, into the model
solutions. The presence of these pathologies can be detected by
numerical convergence testing. This study employs convergence testing to
verify the discretization of the Cloud Layers Unified By Binormals
(CLUBB) model of clouds and turbulence. That convergence testing
identifies two aspects of CLUBB’s equation set that contribute to
undesirable noise in the solutions. First, numerical limiters (i.e.
clipping) used by CLUBB introduce discontinuities or slope
discontinuities in model fields. Second, nonlinear numerical diffusion
employed for improving numerical stability can introduce unintended
small-scale features into the solution of the model equations. Smoothing
the limiters and using linear diffusion (low-order hyperdiffusion)
reduces the noise and restores the expected first-order convergence in
CLUBB’s solutions. These model reformulations enhance our confidence in
the trustworthiness of solutions from CLUBB by eliminating the
unphysical oscillations in high-resolution simulations. The improvements
in the results at coarser, near-operational grid spacing and timestep
are also seen in cumulus cloud and dry turbulence tests. In addition,
convergence testing is proven to be a valuable tool for detecting
pathologies, including unintended discontinuities and grid dependence,
in the model equation set.