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Uncertainty quantification of ocean parameterizations: application to the K-Profile-Parameterization for penetrative convection
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  • Andre Nogueira Souza,
  • Gregory LeClaire Wagner,
  • Ali Ramadhan,
  • Valentin Churavy,
  • Brandon Allen,
  • James Schloss,
  • Jean-Michel Campin,
  • Chris Hill,
  • Alan Edelman,
  • John Marshall,
  • Glenn R. Flierl,
  • Raffaele Ferrari
Andre Nogueira Souza
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gregory LeClaire Wagner
Massachusetts Institution of Technology, Massachusetts Institution of Technology, Massachusetts Institution of Technology
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Ali Ramadhan
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Valentin Churavy
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Brandon Allen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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James Schloss
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Jean-Michel Campin
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Chris Hill
MIT, MIT, MIT
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Alan Edelman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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John Marshall
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Glenn R. Flierl
MIT, MIT, MIT
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Raffaele Ferrari
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Abstract

Parameterizations of unresolved turbulent processes often compromise the fidelity of large-scale ocean models. In this work, we argue for a Bayesian approach to the refinement and evaluation of turbulence parameterizations. Using an ensemble of large eddy simulations of turbulent penetrative convection in the surface boundary layer, we demonstrate the method by estimating the uncertainty of parameters in the convective limit of the popular ‘K-Profile Parameterization’. We uncover structural deficiencies and propose an alternative scaling that overcomes them.
Dec 2020Published in Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems volume 12 issue 12. 10.1029/2020MS002108