Mixing, Eddies, and all that: Ocean Parameterization Developments from 4m to 400km

Below the resolution of IPCC-class ocean models a zoo of phenomena affect the fluid transport of tracers and momentum. In turn, these transports affect the air-sea fluxes and stratification of the ocean and thereby feed back onto the large scale. Roughly each century in lengthscale features new dynamical balances, new scalings, and therefore requires new parameterizations. Present parameterization efforts approximate baroclinic and barotropic quasi-geostrophic instabilities near 100km, barely ageostrophic submesoscale fronts and their instabilities near 1km, nonhydrostatic Langmuir turbulence near 10-100m, and finescale turbulence near 1m, etc. This presentation will contrast the dynamical and parameterization features in each of these ranges, illustrating each scale with high-resolution simulation results and coarse-resolution assessments of climate-scale parameterization impact.