Uncertainty quantification of ocean parameterizations: application to
the K-Profile-Parameterization for penetrative convection
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.