Toward a Turbulence Closure Based on Energy Modes

A new approach to parameterizing subgrid-scale processes is proposed: The impact of the unresolved dynamics on the resolved dynamics (i.e., the eddy forcing) is represented by a series expansion in dynamical spatial modes that stem from the energy budget of the resolved dynamics. It is demonstrated that the convergence in these socalled energy modes is faster by orders of magnitude than the convergence in Fourier-type modes. Moreover, a novel way to test parameterizations in models is explored. The resolved dynamics and the corresponding instantaneous eddy forcing are defined via spatial filtering that accounts for the representation error of the equations of motion on the low-resolutionmodel grid. In thisway, closures can be testedwithin the high-resolutionmodel, and the effects of different parameterizations related to different energy pathways can be isolated. In this study, the focus is on parameterizations of the baroclinic energy pathway. The corresponding standard closure in ocean models, the Gent-McWilliams (GM) parameterization, is also tested, and it is found that the GM field acts like a stabilizing direction in phase space. TheGMfield does not project well on the eddy forcing and hence fails to excite the model's intrinsic low-frequency variability, but it is able to stabilize the model.