Abstract
Abstract. The General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM) is a one-dimensional water column model, including a set of state-of-the-art turbulence closure models, and has widely been used in various applications in the ocean modeling community. Here, we extend GOTM to include a set of newly developed ocean surface vertical mixing parameterizations of Langmuir turbulence via coupling with the Community Vertical Mixing Project (CVMix). A Stokes drift module is also implemented in GOTM to provide the necessary ocean surface waves information to the Langmuir turbulence parameterizations, as well as to facilitate future development and evaluation of new Langmuir turbulence parameterizations. In addition, a streamlined workflow with Python and Jupyter notebooks is also described, enabled by the newly developed and more flexible configuration capability of GOTM. The newly implemented Langmuir turbulence parameterizations are evaluated against theoretical scalings and available observations in four test cases, including an idealized wind-driven entrainment case and three realistic cases at Ocean Station Papa, the northern North Sea, and the central Baltic Sea, and compared with the existing general length scale scheme in GOTM. The results are consistent with previous studies. This development extends the capability of GOTM towards including the effects of ocean surface waves and provides useful toolsets for the ocean modeling community to further study the effects of Langmuir turbulence in a broader scope.
Highlights
The parameterization of vertical turbulent transport in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) is an essential component of an ocean general circulation model (OGCM), representing the effects of unresolved small-scale boundary layer turbulence on redistributing heat, momentum, and trace gases within the OSBL and mediating the exchange of these quantities between the atmosphere and the ocean interior. Li et al (2019) compared a set of OSBL turbulent mixing parameterizations under idealized and realistic conditions, with a focus on those that include the effects of Langmuir turbulence
The efforts of incorporating the Community Vertical Mixing Project (CVMix, Griffies et al, 2015) in General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM) is described, which enables the K-profile parameterization (KPP, Large et al, 1994), as well as a few KPP variants that include the effects of Langmuir turbulence (e.g., Li et al, 2016; Reichl et al, 2016; Li and Fox-Kemper, 2017)
We documented a set of recent extensions of ocean turbulence modeling toolbox GOTM, aiming to incorporate a suite of recently developed vertical mixing schemes that include the effects of Langmuir turbulence
Summary
The parameterization of vertical turbulent transport in the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) is an essential component of an ocean general circulation model (OGCM), representing the effects of unresolved small-scale boundary layer turbulence on redistributing heat, momentum, and trace gases within the OSBL and mediating the exchange of these quantities between the atmosphere and the ocean interior. Li et al (2019) compared a set of OSBL turbulent mixing parameterizations under idealized and realistic conditions, with a focus on those that include the effects of Langmuir turbulence. The General Ocean Turbulence Model (GOTM; Burchard et al, 1999; Umlauf and Burchard, 2005; Umlauf et al, 2014, see updated version on https://gotm.net/, last access: 1 July 2021) is a one-dimensional water column model including a library of state-of-the-art turbulence closure models.
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