Stochastic subgrid parameterizations for simulations of atmospheric baroclinic flows

A stochastic subgrid modeling method is used to parameterize horizontal and vertical subgrid-scale transfers in large-eddy simulations (LESs) of baroclinic flows with large-scale jets and energy spectra typical of the atmosphere. The approach represents the subgrid-scale eddies for LES (at resolutions of T63 and T31) by a stochastic model that takes into account the memory effects of turbulent eddies. The statistics of the model are determined from a higher-resolution (T126) direct numerical simulation (DNS). The simulations use a quasigeostrophic two-level model and the subgrid terms are inhomogeneous in the vertical and anisotropic in the horizontal and are represented by 2 3 2 matrices at each wavenumber. The parameterizations have the largest magnitudes at a cusp near the largest total wavenumbers of the truncations. At T63 the offdiagonal elements of the matrices are negligible (corresponding to effectively decoupled levels) and the diagonal elements are almost isotropic. At the lower resolution of T31 the off-diagonal elements are more important and even the diagonal elements are more anisotropic. At both resolutions, and for anisotropic or isotropized subgrid terms, LESs are in excellent agreement with higher-resolution DNS.