DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7447412
title: Reference LES Simulations for Ocean Models Validation

description: All Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) computations are conducted with the open-source PALM solver (https://palm.muk.uni-hannover.de/trac) and version 5.0 of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (https://github.com/lanl/palm_lanl) branch. The simulations use a cubical domain with length L=128m, three grid resolutions (N=128<sup>3</sup>, 256<sup>3</sup>, or 512<sup>3</sup>), and mimic four single-column canonical oceanic regimes in which the surface flux and background stratification profiles are imposed. These simulations are named cooling (c), stratification (s), evaporation (e), and mixed (m): <strong>cooling cases</strong> test different surface heat fluxes: Q<sub>h</sub>=-1.185x10<sup>-5</sup> (c<sub>01</sub>), -2.371x10<sup>-5</sup> (c<sub>02</sub>), -4.742x10<sup>-5</sup> (c<sub>04</sub>), and -18.966x10<sup>-5</sup> (c<sub>16</sub>) [K.m/s]. The background stratification is set through a vertical temperature gradient (T<sub>z</sub>) equal to 0.1 [K/m], and both the salinity surface flux (Q<sub>s</sub>) and the background stratification due to vertical salinity gradient (S<sub>z</sub>) are equal to zero. <strong>stratification cases</strong> are similar to the cooling c<sub>02</sub> case, but Q<sub>h</sub>=-2.371x10<sup>-5</sup> [K.m/s], and T<sub>z</sub>=0.01 (s<sub>01</sub>), 0.1 (s<sub>10</sub>), or 0.2 (s<sub>20</sub>) [K/m]. <strong>evaporation cases</strong> define Q<sub>h</sub>=T<sub>z</sub>=0, S<sub>z</sub>=-0.025 [PSU/m], and Q<sub>s</sub>=3.115x10<sup>-6</sup> (e<sub>01</sub>) or 1.225x10<sup>-5</sup> (e<sub>04</sub>) [PSU/(m<sup>2</sup>.s)]. <strong>mixed cases</strong> combine heat and salinity surface fluxes, and the background stratification is imposed by both vertical temperature and salinity gradients. There are four mixed cases in which Q<sub>h</sub>=-1.185x10<sup>-6</sup> [K.m/s], T<sub>z</sub>=0.05 [K/m], S<sub>z</sub>=-0.025 [PSU/m], and Q<sub>s</sub> is either 0 (m<sub>01</sub>), 3.115x10<sup>-6</sup> (m<sub>02</sub>), 9.10x10<sup>-6</sup> (m<sub>03</sub>), or 4.55x10<sup>-5</sup> (m<sub>04</sub>) [PSU/(m<sup>2</sup>.s)]. The simulations run 96h at a latitude of 43.29<sup>o</sup>, and utilize a linear equation of state where the reference temperature and salinity are 293.15 K and 35 PSU. The subgrid turbulent scales are modeled through the Moeng and Wyngaard SGS closure (see PALM documentation), and the flow is perturbed during the first 150 s of simulation with normally distributed fluctuations with a maximum amplitude of 10<sup>-4</sup>. The dataset provides 1D and 3D statistics. The 1D profiles are time-averaged during 3600 s and written every 3600 s. The 3D fields are not time-averaged and written every 3600 s, except those obtained with the grid having 512<sup>3</sup> points. In this case, the data are written every 21,600 s. The 3D fields are not in the tar file but can be requested by emailing the authors (fmsoarespereira@lanl.gov). The PALM input decks of the simulations are included in the shared files.<br> <br> <strong>Note:</strong> the PALM version used in this work requires the 1D salinity flux profiles to be normalized by the product of N<sub>x </sub>and<sub> </sub>N<sub>y </sub>(number of grid points in x and y) <strong>LA-UR-22-32996</strong>