Advancing Eddy Parameterizations: Dynamic Energy Backscatter and the Role of Subgrid Energy Advection and Stochastic Forcing

Abstract

Viscosity in the momentum equation is needed for numerical stability, as well as to arrest the direct cascade of enstrophy at grid scales. However, a viscous momentum closure tends to over‐dissipate eddy kinetic energy. To return excessively dissipated energy to the system, the viscous closure is equipped with what is called dynamic kinetic energy backscatter. The amplitude of backscatter is based on the amount of unresolved kinetic energy (UKE). This energy is tracked through space and time via a prognostic equation. Our study proposes to add advection of UKE by the resolved flow to that equation to explicitly consider the effects of nonlocality on the subgrid energy budget. UKE can consequently be advected by the resolved flow before it is reinjected via backscatter. Furthermore, we suggest incorporating a stochastic element into the UKE equation to account for missing small‐scale variability, which is not present in the purely deterministic approach. The implementations are tested on two intermediate complexity setups of the global ocean model FESOM2: an idealized channel setup and a double‐gyre setup. The impacts of these additional terms are analyzed, highlighting increased eddy activity and improved flow characteristics when advection and carefully tuned, stochastic sources are incorporated into the UKE budget. Additionally, we provide diagnostics to gain further insights into the effects of scale separation between the viscous dissipation operator and the backscatter operator responsible for the energy injection.