1. Introduction
In this paper, we examine the spectra and spectral fluxes of surface oceanic geostrophic flows in the frequency domain. We will calculate spectra and spectral fluxes from the outputs of a highly simplified (idealized) two-layer quasigeostrophic (QG) turbulence model (Arbic and Flierl 2004) and a high-resolution ocean general circulation model run in a realistic near-global domain (called here, the realistic model; Hurlburt and Thompson 1980; Shriver et al. 2007), as well as from gridded satellite altimeter data (LeTraon et al. 1998; Ducet et al. 2000). We are motivated in part by the fact that oceanic data is often in the frequency domain (taking a current meter as an example). However, as noted by Ferrari and Wunsch (2010), geostrophic turbulence remains much better theoretically developed in the wavenumber domain (taking the substantial literature on spectral slopes in wavenumber space as an example; e.g. Vallis 2006). As far as we know, this paper represents the first comprehensive look at idealized QG turbulence in the frequency domain. We will describe spectra and spectral slopes computed from idealized QG models and compare the results to those from realistic ocean models and oceanic datasets. Finally, another primary motivation for this study is the interest in quantifying the contributions of intrinsic nonlinearities in oceanic dynamics to oceanic frequency spectra. As described below, we will quantify nonlinear contributions through computations of spectral fluxes. Some important related issues discussed in the paper include the Taylor (1938) hypothesis relating frequency and wavenumber spectra, the sensitivity of QG turbulence statistics in the frequency domain to bottom friction, and the impact of the spatial and temporal filtering inherent in the creation of gridded satellite altimeter data on the computed spectral fluxes.
In analogy to the spectral fluxes in wavenumber space, we might expect that, at low frequencies, the spectral fluxes in frequency space will exhibit cascades toward yet lower frequencies (longer time scales). Indeed, the Taylor hypothesis (Taylor 1938) suggests that under certain conditions (e.g., turbulent velocities u′ that are small compared to a mean flow velocity U) the wavenumber and frequency domains are related simply, via the formula ω = Uk. In this case, spectra in wavenumber and frequency space would have the same slopes, and phenomena in the wavenumber domain (e.g., the inverse cascade) should have analogs in frequency space. Further motivation arises from analysis of realistic atmospheric models and atmospheric datasets in the frequency domain, which demonstrate an energy transfer from high-frequency motions to low-frequency motions in the extratropics (Sheng and Hayashi 1990a,b), and from experiments on acoustic turbulence in superfluid helium, in which an inverse energy cascade in frequency space takes place under certain conditions (Ganshin et al. 2008; Efimov et al. 2009, 2010).
Substantial variance often extends out to the lowest frequencies in geophysical records, set by the duration of the record (e.g., Richman et al. 1977; Wunsch 2009, 2010, and references therein), and there is great interest in examining potential causes of this low-frequency variability. An ultimate goal of the work begun here is to understand the degree to which oceanic frequency spectra in the geostrophic regime (as measured by, e.g., current meters or satellite altimetry) are caused by intrinsic nonlinearities in the oceanic dynamics (a process emphasized in this paper) as opposed to, for instance, the oceanic response to atmospheric wind forcing (e.g., Hasselmann 1976).
Another topic we will explore in this paper is the sensitivity of eddy statistics in frequency space to the strength of linear bottom Ekman friction. Several recent papers have demonstrated that the length scales and other statistics in stratified geostrophic turbulence are highly sensitive to the strength of linear bottom Ekman friction (Arbic and Flierl 2003, 2004; Riviere et al. 2004; Thompson and Young 2006, 2007; Arbic et al. 2007). Arbic and Scott (2008) showed that a qualitatively similar sensitivity holds when the bottom friction is quadratic. Motivated by these results, here we briefly examine the sensitivity of statistics computed in the frequency domain to linear bottom Ekman friction.
We will also examine the impact of filtering a geostrophic streamfunction in space and time on the estimated spectral fluxes. This topic is important because the Archiving, Validation, and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data (AVISO) gridded satellite altimeter products (Le Traon et al. 1998; Ducet et al. 2000) used here to compute spectral kinetic energy fluxes are constructed by interpolating along-track data from two altimeters, in space and time, onto a ⅓° Mercator grid. The Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX)/Poseidon and Jason-1 altimeter data utilized in this construction have high along-track resolution (about 6 km) but a large distance between adjacent tracks (about 300 km; Chelton et al. 2001). Because of the large along-track distance, the actual feature resolution of AVISO data is much coarser than 6 km (Chelton et al. 2011). The interpolation procedure used to construct the gridded AVISO data acts as a smoother of the raw along-track data, in both space and time. We will examine the impact of such smoothing on spectral flux estimates by comparing fluxes computed from unfiltered versus filtered outputs of the idealized QG models and realistic ocean models.
We will examine the consistency of slopes of streamfunction and geostrophic velocity variance in the frequency domain between idealized QG models, realistic ocean models, and gridded satellite altimeter data. The slopes of spectra in frequency and wavenumber space are of great practical and theoretical interest. The advent of satellite altimetry has made it possible to compute spectral slopes on global scales and to compare the results with theoretical predictions. See, for instance, Le Traon et al. (2008) and Xu and Fu (2011), who compute wavenumber spectra, and Hughes and Williams (2010) and Wunsch (2009, 2010), who compute frequency spectra. See also Hayashi and Golder (1977) and Hayashi (1982), who discuss the space–time spectra of realistic atmospheric models and datasets. As noted, if the Taylor hypothesis holds, the slopes in frequency and wavenumber space will be identical. Therefore, if the Taylor hypothesis holds, the slopes of streamfunction and geostrophic velocity variance spectra in frequency space will differ by −2, as in wavenumber space (because geostrophic velocity is the derivative of streamfunction and a spatial derivative in physical space is equivalent to multiplication by k in wavenumber space). However, there are other considerations, such as Kolmogorov-like arguments that predict a −2 slope for an energy cascade in frequency space versus 
The paper is organized as follows: In section 2, we present results from the QG turbulence model. After discussing the model limitations and governing equations and displaying some typical flow fields, we display frequency spectra and the sensitivity of the QG results in frequency space to the strength of bottom Ekman friction. We then describe the theory behind spectral fluxes of kinetic energy in frequency space and demonstrate the critical role that the spectral kinetic energy flux term plays in an “integral energy budget.” Next, we demonstrate the necessity for averaging over many grid points in order to estimate spectral fluxes in frequency space. Following that, we demonstrate the dependence of estimates of spectra and spectral fluxes in frequency space on the duration and sampling frequency of the time series involved. Section 2 concludes with a discussion of the substantial impact that filtering in space or time can have on spectral flux estimates made from the QG model. In sections 3 and 4, we present spectra and spectral fluxes in frequency space, computed from the realistic high-resolution numerical ocean general circulation model and from gridded satellite altimeter data, respectively. To complement the filtering exercise done with the QG model and to further aid in interpreting the altimeter results, section 3 also presents spectral fluxes computed from temporally smoothed versions of the realistic model output. A summary and discussion is given in section 5.
2. Results from idealized quasigeostrophic model
a. Model description, governing equations, and example flow fields
Our two-layer QG turbulence model is highly simplified. There is no planetary beta effect or bottom topography, and there are only two vertical modes [barotropic (BT) and first mode baroclinic]. The lack of planetary beta excludes Rossby waves (e.g., Pedlosky 1987; Vallis 2006), which are an important component of surface oceanic variability (see, e.g., Fig. 5 in Wunsch 2010). Nevertheless, we will see that the frequency spectra and spectral fluxes in the idealized QG model compare well qualitatively with those in our realistic ocean model.
The QG model is forced by an imposed mean flow, which is horizontally homogeneous within each layer but vertically sheared between the layers and is therefore baroclinically unstable on the f plane, which we assume here for simplicity. The imposed mean flow may be thought of as representing the time-mean gyre flow in a large patch of the ocean. The model is doubly periodic and has 256 grid points on a side (thus 2562 grid points in all), where each side has dimensional length 20πLd. The model is initialized with a randomly generated initial condition and achieves statistical equilibrium when the energy extracted by eddies from the mean flow is balanced by energy dissipation.
The QG equations above are governed by two nondimensional parameters. In the runs performed here, δ is set to 0.2, a value that yields a strength of the first baroclinic mode self-interaction in the two-layer model consistent with that obtained from typical midlatitude stratification profiles (Flierl 1978; Fu and Flierl 1980). The nondimensional linear bottom Ekman friction strength 
Figure 1 displays snapshots of ψ1 and q1 for FL values of 0.1 and 1.6 as well as the nominal value of 0.4. The FL = 0.4 flow field consists of densely packed weak vortices, not unlike a typical snapshot of sea surface height in the midocean (see, e.g., comparisons of model and observations in Fig. 10 of Arbic and Flierl 2004). In the FL = 0.1 (weaker friction) experiment, isolated coherent vortices (e.g., McWilliams 1984) dominate the ψ1 and especially q1 fields.
Snapshots of (left) upper-layer streamfunction ψ1 and (right) upper-layer potential vorticity q1 for idealized two-layer QG simulations with nondimensional bottom friction values (top)–(bottom) FL = 0.1, 0.4, and 1.6.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Snapshots of (left) upper-layer streamfunction ψ1 and (right) upper-layer potential vorticity q1 for idealized two-layer QG simulations with nondimensional bottom friction values (top)–(bottom) FL = 0.1, 0.4, and 1.6.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Snapshots of (left) upper-layer streamfunction ψ1 and (right) upper-layer potential vorticity q1 for idealized two-layer QG simulations with nondimensional bottom friction values (top)–(bottom) FL = 0.1, 0.4, and 1.6.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
b. Frequency spectra of idealized model
As is standard, the model output is windowed, so that the beginning and ending of the time series taper toward zero, before Fourier transforms are computed in frequency space. We utilize nine overlapping Hanning windows, each having width equal to one-fifth of the total time interval. Other windows were tried and found to yield similar results.
The wavenumber and frequency spectra of the upper-layer streamfunction variance 
(a) Wavenumber k spectrum of upper-layer kinetic energy |∇ψ1|2 in two-layer QG turbulence model. (b) Frequency ω spectrum of |∇ψ1|2. (c) Wavenumber spectrum of upper-layer streamfunction variance 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Wavenumber k spectrum of upper-layer kinetic energy |∇ψ1|2 in two-layer QG turbulence model. (b) Frequency ω spectrum of |∇ψ1|2. (c) Wavenumber spectrum of upper-layer streamfunction variance
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Wavenumber k spectrum of upper-layer kinetic energy |∇ψ1|2 in two-layer QG turbulence model. (b) Frequency ω spectrum of |∇ψ1|2. (c) Wavenumber spectrum of upper-layer streamfunction variance
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Results in Fig. 2 are displayed from the nominal run with FL = 0.4, as well as from runs with FL equal to 0.1 and 1.6. As discussed in Arbic and Flierl (2004) and other sources (e.g., Thompson and Young 2006, 2007), as the friction strength decreases (FL decreases), the inverse cascade reaches out to larger scales, such that the wavenumber spectrum reddens (cyan curves in Figs. 2a,c). Figure 2a, the wavenumber spectrum plot of kinetic energy, displays the canonical slope values of 
The frequency spectra of the model (Figs. 2b,d) display a steeper slope at higher frequencies and a flatter slope at lower frequencies. This basic shape is also found in frequency spectra computed from current-meter records (e.g., Richman et al. 1977; Ferrari and Wunsch 2010; and references therein) and in frequency spectra computed in previous studies using altimeter data (e.g., Wunsch 2009, 2010, and references therein). In contrast to the wavenumber spectra, which turn over at low wavenumbers, the frequency spectra continue to be energetic (stay flat) at the lowest frequencies. In Fig. 2b, the thick solid line is at a slope of −2, the predicted slope for an energy cascade in the frequency domain (Tennekes and Lumley 1972). In Figs. 2b,d, the thick dashed lines represent least squares fits to the frequency spectra of velocity and streamfunction variance, respectively, over the windows covered by the lines, from the FL = 0.4 run. The slopes over these windows are −1.8 and −2.6 for velocity and streamfunction variance, respectively. The velocity variance slope is close to the predicted −2 slope, as are slopes computed from current-meter-derived frequency spectra (e.g., Richman et al. 1977; Ferrari and Wunsch 2010; and references therein). The model slopes of −1.8 and −2.6 are not equal to what is seen at the high-wavenumber end in the wavenumber spectrum, and they do not differ by −2, as do the slopes of these quantities in wavenumber space. The Taylor (1938) hypothesis relating wavenumber to frequency spectra thus fails quantitatively in both respects. At the low-frequency end, the slopes of upper-layer streamfunction and velocity variance are −0.4 and −0.1, respectively, as determined from least squares fits over a decade of frequencies. These slopes also do not differ by −2.
c. Sensitivity of time scales in idealized model to Ekman friction
The length and time scales of the barotropic mode, baroclinic mode, and upper layer, in QG simulations with different bottom friction values, are displayed in Fig. 3. Length scales 
Length scales 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Length scales
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Length scales
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
d. Theory of spectral fluxes in frequency space
To obtain the depth-averaged energy equation, we multiply (13) by 
e. Energy and enstrophy budget of idealized model in frequency space
The integral energy budget in wavenumber space of the nominal FL = 0.4 QG simulation was examined in detail in Scott and Arbic (2007) and is discussed briefly here (Fig. 4a). The forcing term (magenta curve) is positive, indicating an energy gain over all wavenumbers. The bottom friction term (blue curve) is a sink of energy over all wavenumbers. The flux ΠAPE(k) of available potential energy (green curve) is positive, meaning that potential energy cascades toward larger wavenumbers (smaller length scales; Salmon 1980). The black and red curves represent spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) and ΠKE,2(k) of upper- and lower-layer kinetic energy, respectively, with the latter being much smaller in magnitude. The negative values of these curves indicate an inverse cascade of energy toward lower wavenumbers (larger length scales). The cyan curve is the residual of the terms above. It is close to zero over all wavenumbers, indicating that the effects of the wavenumber filter in the energy budget of these runs are negligible, consistent with our results in Arbic and Flierl (2004).
Integral energy budgets of nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation in (a) wavenumber k space and (b) frequency ω space. Black and red curves denote spectral fluxes of upper- and lower-layer kinetic energy ΠKE,1 and ΠKE,2, respectively. Green curves denote spectral flux of APE ΠAPE. Forcing is given by the magenta curve, whereas bottom Ekman friction is given by the blue curve. The cyan curve denotes the residual of the terms above. All terms nondimensionalized by 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Integral energy budgets of nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation in (a) wavenumber k space and (b) frequency ω space. Black and red curves denote spectral fluxes of upper- and lower-layer kinetic energy ΠKE,1 and ΠKE,2, respectively. Green curves denote spectral flux of APE ΠAPE. Forcing is given by the magenta curve, whereas bottom Ekman friction is given by the blue curve. The cyan curve denotes the residual of the terms above. All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Integral energy budgets of nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation in (a) wavenumber k space and (b) frequency ω space. Black and red curves denote spectral fluxes of upper- and lower-layer kinetic energy ΠKE,1 and ΠKE,2, respectively. Green curves denote spectral flux of APE ΠAPE. Forcing is given by the magenta curve, whereas bottom Ekman friction is given by the blue curve. The cyan curve denotes the residual of the terms above. All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
The integral energy budget in frequency space is displayed in Fig. 4b. The terms behave similarly, with a positive forcing term (energy source), negative bottom friction term (energy sink), positive potential energy flux (forward cascade to small time scales), negative kinetic energy flux, and small residual. The negative spectral kinetic energy fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) and ΠKE,2(ω) indicate that an “inverse temporal cascade” exists alongside the well-known inverse cascade in space. An important difference between the budgets in frequency versus wavenumber space is that the fluxes in the frequency budget are “wider.” The forward potential energy flux and inverse kinetic energy flux take on nonnegligible values immediately to the right of the low-frequency endpoints. In contrast, in wavenumber space these fluxes are close to zero over wide bands at the low end of the spectrum. Nonlinearities in the QG turbulence model apparently drive energy to the lowest frequencies allowed in the simulation, where these lowest frequencies are set by the simulation duration.
The integral potential enstrophy budget is displayed in Fig. 5, in both the wavenumber and the frequency domains. Once again, forcing is denoted by the magenta curves and is positive, indicating a source of enstrophy. The bottom friction terms (blue curves) represent a sink, but one that is much less substantial than in the energy budgets. The flux of potential enstrophy by nonlinear terms (black and red curves for the upper and lower layers, respectively) is positive, indicating a forward flux of potential enstrophy down to small spatial scales (where enstrophy dissipation takes place) and small time scales. The cyan curve again denotes the imbalance of the other terms. Here, the imbalance is much more substantial than in the energy budget. We assume that the imbalance is dominated by small-scale dissipation (the wavenumber filter), which is much more important in enstrophy budgets than in energy budgets. As in Fig. 4, we see in Fig. 5 that the fluxes in frequency space are wider, with a more rounded appearance than they have in wavenumber space.
Integral potential enstrophy budgets of nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation in (a) wavenumber k space and (b) frequency ω space. Black and red curves denote spectral fluxes of upper- and lower-layer potential enstrophy, respectively. Forcing is given by the magenta curve, whereas bottom Ekman friction is given by the blue curve. The cyan curve denotes the residual of the terms above and is assumed to be dominated by the dissipation of enstrophy by the wavenumber filter in the model. All terms nondimensionalized by 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Integral potential enstrophy budgets of nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation in (a) wavenumber k space and (b) frequency ω space. Black and red curves denote spectral fluxes of upper- and lower-layer potential enstrophy, respectively. Forcing is given by the magenta curve, whereas bottom Ekman friction is given by the blue curve. The cyan curve denotes the residual of the terms above and is assumed to be dominated by the dissipation of enstrophy by the wavenumber filter in the model. All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Integral potential enstrophy budgets of nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation in (a) wavenumber k space and (b) frequency ω space. Black and red curves denote spectral fluxes of upper- and lower-layer potential enstrophy, respectively. Forcing is given by the magenta curve, whereas bottom Ekman friction is given by the blue curve. The cyan curve denotes the residual of the terms above and is assumed to be dominated by the dissipation of enstrophy by the wavenumber filter in the model. All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
f. Necessity for averaging over many grid points
It is necessary to average over many grid points to obtain an estimate of the spectral flux in frequency space. This point is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. Figure 6a shows the upper-layer spectral kinetic energy flux in wavenumber space ΠKE,1(k), computed from each of the 600 “realizations” [individual snapshots (black curves)] of the nominal FL = 0.4 QG solution. Averaging over the snapshots (red curve) is equivalent to integrating over all frequencies, which was done in Fig. 4a. Figure 6b displays the ΠKE,1(ω) plots computed at the 2562 individual grid points in the QG model (black curves), alongside the ΠKE,1(ω) values computed after averaging over all of these grid points (red curve; equivalent to integrating over all wavenumbers, as in Fig. 4b). The range seen in ΠKE,1(ω) estimates at individual grid points is about 25 times larger than the range seen in ΠKE,1(k) estimates in individual snapshots. The range in ΠKE,1(ω) values is especially large for low frequencies.
Variability in individual realizations of spectral fluxes of upper-layer kinetic energy ΠKE,1(k) and ΠKE,1(ω) computed from nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation. (a) Black curves are ΠKE,1(k) computed from each of 600 individual snapshots in time, and the red curve is ΠKE,1(k) computed from averaging over the 600 individual snapshots. (b) Black curves are ΠKE,1(ω) computed from each of 2562 individual grid points, and the red curve is ΠKE,1(ω) computed from averaging over the 2562 grid points. All terms nondimensionalized by 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Variability in individual realizations of spectral fluxes of upper-layer kinetic energy ΠKE,1(k) and ΠKE,1(ω) computed from nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation. (a) Black curves are ΠKE,1(k) computed from each of 600 individual snapshots in time, and the red curve is ΠKE,1(k) computed from averaging over the 600 individual snapshots. (b) Black curves are ΠKE,1(ω) computed from each of 2562 individual grid points, and the red curve is ΠKE,1(ω) computed from averaging over the 2562 grid points. All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Variability in individual realizations of spectral fluxes of upper-layer kinetic energy ΠKE,1(k) and ΠKE,1(ω) computed from nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation. (a) Black curves are ΠKE,1(k) computed from each of 600 individual snapshots in time, and the red curve is ΠKE,1(k) computed from averaging over the 600 individual snapshots. (b) Black curves are ΠKE,1(ω) computed from each of 2562 individual grid points, and the red curve is ΠKE,1(ω) computed from averaging over the 2562 grid points. All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Upper-layer spectral kinetic energy flux ΠKE,1(k) (solid curve) computed from nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation, shown along with envelopes representing variability of individual realizations of ΠKE,1(k). See text for more description. (b) As in (a), but for ΠKE,1(ω). All terms nondimensionalized by 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Upper-layer spectral kinetic energy flux ΠKE,1(k) (solid curve) computed from nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation, shown along with envelopes representing variability of individual realizations of ΠKE,1(k). See text for more description. (b) As in (a), but for ΠKE,1(ω). All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Upper-layer spectral kinetic energy flux ΠKE,1(k) (solid curve) computed from nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation, shown along with envelopes representing variability of individual realizations of ΠKE,1(k). See text for more description. (b) As in (a), but for ΠKE,1(ω). All terms nondimensionalized by
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
In Figs. 7a,b, we show the spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) and ΠKE,1(ω), respectively, along with envelopes representing the variability seen in Fig. 6. The envelopes are computed as standard deviations of the individual realizations shown in Fig. 6, divided by the square root of the estimated number of degrees of freedom. The number of degrees of freedom for the ΠKE,1(k) calculation is estimated by dividing the simulation duration by the correlation time scale. Similarly, the number of degrees of freedom for the ΠKE,1(ω) calculation is estimated by dividing the number of grid points (2562) by the square of the correlation length scale. Consistent with the Fig. 6 results, the ΠKE,1(k) envelopes are much smaller than the ΠKE,1(ω) envelopes.
g. Effects of simulation duration and sampling frequency
In this subsection, we examine the impact of the duration of the model simulations on the estimation of spectra, spectral fluxes, and spectral transfers in frequency space. We are motivated in part by the large envelopes computed in the previous subsection, which suggest a large uncertainty in the estimation of ΠKE,1(ω). If the uncertainty is indeed large, then different simulations of the nominal FL = 0.4 QG run should yield substantially different estimates of ΠKE,1(ω). We can test this with simulations having different durations. We will examine spectral transfers, which identify sources and sinks of energy. We are interested in whether spectral transfers will identify nonlinear cascades as a source of low-frequency energy and whether this determination will change as lower frequencies become available in simulations with longer durations.
An examination of a nominal FL = 0.4 simulation that is saved more frequently than the runs discussed thus far will shed light on some other issues of interest. We anticipate a sensitivity to sampling frequency in the spectra at high frequencies based on the nature of small-scale dissipation. Dissipation operators such as the wavenumber filter we employ here act preferentially on high wavenumbers and thus yield steep slopes at the high end of wavenumber spectra plots (Figs. 2a,c). The wavenumber filter does not act directly on small time scales, and therefore it is not clear that we will see similarly steep slopes at high frequencies. To confidently estimate the slopes at high frequencies, we need simulations that are sampled more frequently. Another motivation for examining slopes at high frequencies was noted earlier. At high frequencies, a slope steeper than −2 is required for the first moment of the frequency spectrum ωE to be a meaningful quantity.
The frequency spectra of upper-layer kinetic energy in three simulations of the nominal FL = 0.4 two-layer QG solution, with each having a different duration and sampling frequency, are displayed in Fig. 8a. The red curve is from the same simulation as the red curves in Fig. 2: 600 snapshots, each spaced one unit of nondimensional time 
(a) Frequency spectra and (b) spectral fluxes in frequency space ΠKE,1(ω) of upper-layer kinetic energy in three simulations of the nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG solution. The red curve is as in Fig. 2, based on 600 snapshots spaced one unit of nondimensional time 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Frequency spectra and (b) spectral fluxes in frequency space ΠKE,1(ω) of upper-layer kinetic energy in three simulations of the nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG solution. The red curve is as in Fig. 2, based on 600 snapshots spaced one unit of nondimensional time
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
(a) Frequency spectra and (b) spectral fluxes in frequency space ΠKE,1(ω) of upper-layer kinetic energy in three simulations of the nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG solution. The red curve is as in Fig. 2, based on 600 snapshots spaced one unit of nondimensional time
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
The spectral fluxes of upper-layer kinetic energy in frequency space ΠKE,1(ω) are shown in Fig. 8b for the three simulations. Near nondimensional ω values on the order of one, the three curves agree very closely. At lower frequencies, the blue curve (short, rapidly sampled simulation) separates from the red and black curves by slight amounts. The red and black curves (longer simulations) stay close together over all the frequencies for which both are defined. The separation of the three curves is not nearly as large as the envelopes in Fig. 7b suggest they might be. For this reason we prefer the term “envelopes” in the discussion of Fig. 7b rather than error bars. In all three curves in Fig. 8b, the nonlinear kinetic energy flux extends out to the lowest frequencies, where the lowest frequency of any particular run is set by the duration of the run.
As discussed in many sources (e.g., Salmon 1978, 1980; Hua and Haidvogel 1986; Larichev and Held 1995; LaCasce 1996; among others), the transfer 
Given that the kinetic energy flux dominates the low-frequency behavior, it is of interest to determine how large it is relative to the total energy in the system. The absolute value of the minimum (trough) of the flux ΠKE,1(ω), divided by the domain-integrated upper-layer kinetic energy in the simulation, is 0.09, in units of 
h. Impact of spatial and temporal filtering on spectral fluxes in frequency space
In Fig. 9, motivated by the spatial and temporal filtering inherent in the creation of gridded satellite altimeter data, we show ΠKE,1(ω) computed from the nominal FL = 0.4 QG simulation and from filtered versions of this simulation. Note that the filtering is performed on the model output after the model has been run, not during the run. The time filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at four units of nondimensional time 
Spectral flux ΠKE,1(ω) of upper-layer kinetic energy in frequency space computed from the 600-snapshot nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation (unfiltered) and from filtered versions of this simulation. The spatial filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at six grid points from the central grid point. The time filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at four units of nondimensional time 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral flux ΠKE,1(ω) of upper-layer kinetic energy in frequency space computed from the 600-snapshot nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation (unfiltered) and from filtered versions of this simulation. The spatial filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at six grid points from the central grid point. The time filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at four units of nondimensional time
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral flux ΠKE,1(ω) of upper-layer kinetic energy in frequency space computed from the 600-snapshot nominal two-layer FL = 0.4 QG simulation (unfiltered) and from filtered versions of this simulation. The spatial filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at six grid points from the central grid point. The time filter is a Blackman filter that goes to zero at four units of nondimensional time
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
3. Results from the realistic ocean model
We use three full years of output (2001–03) from the nonassimilative version of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Layered Ocean Model (NLOM). Data-assimilative versions of NLOM are in current use as a U.S. Navy operational model. NLOM is based on the primitive equation model of Hurlburt and Thompson (1980), but with greatly expanded capability (Wallcraft et al. 2003). It has six dynamical layers and a bulk mixed layer. Shriver et al. (2007) and references therein describe the NLOM grid, wind forcing, and other model details. The horizontal resolution of the NLOM simulation analyzed here is 
Figure 10 displays a snapshot of sea surface height in NLOM. Six subdomains (regions) of interest, in which we will compute spectra and spectral fluxes, are shown. Four of the subdomains are in regions of intense boundary current and mesoscale eddy activity: the Kuroshio in the western North Pacific, the Gulf Stream in the western North Atlantic, the Agulhas off the southern tip of Africa, and the Malvinas in the western South Atlantic. Two additional subdomains are analyzed in the eastern South Pacific: a quiescent region in midlatitudes and a high-latitude region that touches upon the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in its southernmost portions.
Six subdomains used to compute spectra and spectral fluxes in 
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Six subdomains used to compute spectra and spectral fluxes in
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Six subdomains used to compute spectra and spectral fluxes in
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
In the subdomains in a realistic model (or observational oceanic dataset), spectral flux computations will be affected by energy fluxes into and out of the subdomains. Scott and Wang (2005) investigated the importance of subdomain size in the computation of spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space. They computed fluxes for subdomains 10°, 20°, and 40° on a side. The 10° subdomains yielded noisy results, “most likely indicating the importance of boundary terms relative to interior terms.” However, their Fig. 2 shows that even the noisy results in the 10° × 10° subdomains are not qualitatively different from 20° × 20° results centered on the same point, which in turn are similar to the 40° × 40° results. Our subdomains in this paper contain roughly as many grid points as the 20° × 20° boxes in their paper. Therefore, our spectral fluxes should not be qualitatively affected by the size of our subdomains.
The NLOM computations are the most demanding calculations shown in this paper. Three years of 6-hourly global 
The procedure for analyzing NLOM output is as follows: The NLOM sea surface heights are first low-pass filtered in time to remove motions with periods of 3 days or less. This is done because such high-frequency motions cannot be geostrophic. Next, we compute surface streamfunctions ψ1 = gη/f, where η is sea surface height; g = 9.8 m s−2 is the gravitational acceleration; and f is the Coriolis parameter, which varies as the sine of the model gridpoint latitude (Vallis 2006). Then, for each of the six subdomains shown in Fig. 10, each snapshot of ψ1 is detrended in space with a two-dimensional least squares fit. Following this, the ψ1 field is tapered in space with a two-dimensional function constructed of nine overlapping Hanning windows in each spatial direction, with each window having a width one-fifth of the domain extent in that direction. Tapering is also done on each time series at each model grid point, using the same window as in the QG calculation (nine overlapping Hanning windows). This type of detrending and tapering is standard in computations of Fourier transforms of nonperiodic data. Fourier transforms are then repeatedly utilized to compute derivatives. For simplicity, we base the increment lengths of the wavenumbers in the east–west direction on the length of the increments at the central latitude of the box. Thus, we do not account for the convergence of meridians in our spectral calculations.
The frequency spectra of the variance of the NLOM streamfunction ψ1 in the six subdomains are displayed in Fig. 11a. Figure 11b displays the frequency spectra of the variance of geostrophic velocities (kinetic energy; |∇ψ1|2). As in the QG results, the NLOM frequency spectra display a “flatness” at the lowest frequencies and a steeper slope at higher frequencies, in what might be called the “mesoscale band.”3 The dashed vertical lines in Fig. 11 are at frequencies corresponding to periods of 68.4 and 14 days, respectively. In the next section, we will discuss the slopes in this band along with slopes computed in the same band from satellite altimeter data. This band was chosen because it lies in the mesoscale band, is resolved by both the NLOM and AVISO results utilized in this paper, appears to lie in approximately the same part of parameter space in which the band analyzed in Figs. 2b,d lies (i.e., in the steep part of the QG spectrum), and covers a range of frequencies equal to the range of the band analyzed in Figs. 2b,d. The highest frequencies in the NLOM spectra show a steep dropoff due to the 3-day low-pass filter we employed.
Frequency spectra of the variance of (a) surface ocean streamfunction ψ1 = gη/f, where g is gravitational acceleration, f is the Coriolis parameter, and η is sea surface height drawn from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10, and (b) geostrophic velocities computed from this streamfunction. Dashed lines are drawn at the frequencies corresponding to periods of 14 and 68.4 days.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Frequency spectra of the variance of (a) surface ocean streamfunction ψ1 = gη/f, where g is gravitational acceleration, f is the Coriolis parameter, and η is sea surface height drawn from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10, and (b) geostrophic velocities computed from this streamfunction. Dashed lines are drawn at the frequencies corresponding to periods of 14 and 68.4 days.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Frequency spectra of the variance of (a) surface ocean streamfunction ψ1 = gη/f, where g is gravitational acceleration, f is the Coriolis parameter, and η is sea surface height drawn from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10, and (b) geostrophic velocities computed from this streamfunction. Dashed lines are drawn at the frequencies corresponding to periods of 14 and 68.4 days.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Figure 12 displays the spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space computed from the six subdomains in NLOM. As in previous studies (Scott and Wang 2005; Scott and Arbic 2007; Schlösser and Eden 2007; Tulloch et al. 2011), the negative lobes representing inverse cascades are ubiquitous (seen in every subplot). As noted in Scott and Wang (2005), the magnitude of the spectral fluxes varies by two orders of magnitude across ocean basins.
Spectral fluxes of surface ocean geostrophic kinetic energy ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space computed from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral fluxes of surface ocean geostrophic kinetic energy ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space computed from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral fluxes of surface ocean geostrophic kinetic energy ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space computed from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Figure 13 displays the spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space (shown as thick solid curves) computed from the six subdomains in NLOM. The fluxes are dominated by negative lobes, implying that nonlinear terms drive a cascade of kinetic energy toward longer time scales. Comparison of the subplots in Fig. 13 to the subplots in Fig. 12 demonstrates that the magnitudes of the spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) in the various subdomains are comparable to but smaller than the magnitudes of the corresponding spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k). The ratio of the minimum (trough) of the flux ΠKE,1(ω) to the domain-averaged kinetic energy lies in the range from 5.8 × 10−8 to 1.4 × 10−7 s−1, similar to the range estimated from the QG results in section 2g. This suggests to us that, as in the QG simulations, nonlinearities play an important role in the maintenance of low-frequency energy in NLOM.
Thick solid curves are spectral fluxes of surface ocean geostrophic kinetic energy ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space computed from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10. Thick dashed curves represent fluxes computed after the NLOM output has been temporally filtered. See text for details.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Thick solid curves are spectral fluxes of surface ocean geostrophic kinetic energy ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space computed from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10. Thick dashed curves represent fluxes computed after the NLOM output has been temporally filtered. See text for details.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Thick solid curves are spectral fluxes of surface ocean geostrophic kinetic energy ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space computed from NLOM output in subdomains shown in Fig. 10. Thick dashed curves represent fluxes computed after the NLOM output has been temporally filtered. See text for details.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
The dashed thick curves in Fig. 13 are spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) computed from NLOM output that has been temporally smoothed, in an attempt to mimic the filtering inherent in the gridded satellite altimeter data. As in the calculations made from filtered QG model output, the filtering is performed on NLOM output after the model has been run, not during the runs. For NLOM we use a Blackman filter, which goes to zero at 7 days from the central time. The 7-day width is chosen to match the 7-day output frequency of the AVISO data. As in the QG results, temporal smoothing diminishes the inverse temporal cascade, to the point where in some cases (see especially Fig. 13e) the flux changes sign.
4. Results from satellite altimeter data
We use 840 snapshots of the two-satellite AVISO ⅓° Mercator grid “reference” product (Le Traon et al. 1998; Ducet et al. 2000), beginning with 14 October 1992 and ending with 12 November 2008. The AVISO record we utilize is much longer than the NLOM record (16 versus 3 yr), but has a much lower temporal sampling rate (7 days versus 6 h). The spatial resolution is also much lower (⅓° versus 
Figure 14 displays the six subdomains over which we compute spectra and spectral fluxes from AVISO data. The subdomains correspond closely to those utilized in the NLOM analysis. The correspondence is not exact because of the lack of points in shallow waters in NLOM (see Shriver et al. 2007, and references therein). The misfit between the boundaries of the NLOM and altimeter subdomains is largest in the Agulhas subdomain. As in the NLOM computation, we compute only ΠKE,1 from AVISO, omitting other terms in the integral energy budget, and we omit the stratification factor δ/(1 + δ).
Six subdomains used to compute spectra and spectral fluxes in ⅓° AVISO gridded satellite altimeter data, highlighted against the 27 Dec 2006 snapshot of sea surface height anomaly (cm) in AVISO: midlatitude southeast Pacific, high-latitude southeast Pacific, Agulhas, Malvinas, Gulf Stream, and Kuroshio.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Six subdomains used to compute spectra and spectral fluxes in ⅓° AVISO gridded satellite altimeter data, highlighted against the 27 Dec 2006 snapshot of sea surface height anomaly (cm) in AVISO: midlatitude southeast Pacific, high-latitude southeast Pacific, Agulhas, Malvinas, Gulf Stream, and Kuroshio.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Six subdomains used to compute spectra and spectral fluxes in ⅓° AVISO gridded satellite altimeter data, highlighted against the 27 Dec 2006 snapshot of sea surface height anomaly (cm) in AVISO: midlatitude southeast Pacific, high-latitude southeast Pacific, Agulhas, Malvinas, Gulf Stream, and Kuroshio.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Figure 15 displays the frequency spectra of the variance of ψ1 and of surface geostrophic velocity computed from AVISO. As in the NLOM and idealized QG results, the AVISO spectra are flat at the lowest frequencies and show a steeper slope at higher frequencies.
Frequency spectra of the variance of (a) surface ocean streamfunction ψ1 = gη/f, where g is gravitational acceleration, f is the Coriolis parameter, and η is sea surface height drawn from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14, and (b) geostrophic velocities computed from this streamfunction. Dashed lines are drawn at the frequencies corresponding to periods of 14 and 68.4 days.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Frequency spectra of the variance of (a) surface ocean streamfunction ψ1 = gη/f, where g is gravitational acceleration, f is the Coriolis parameter, and η is sea surface height drawn from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14, and (b) geostrophic velocities computed from this streamfunction. Dashed lines are drawn at the frequencies corresponding to periods of 14 and 68.4 days.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Frequency spectra of the variance of (a) surface ocean streamfunction ψ1 = gη/f, where g is gravitational acceleration, f is the Coriolis parameter, and η is sea surface height drawn from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14, and (b) geostrophic velocities computed from this streamfunction. Dashed lines are drawn at the frequencies corresponding to periods of 14 and 68.4 days.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Table 1 presents the slopes of the frequency spectra in NLOM and AVISO, over the period band 14–68.4 days, for the six subdomains and for both streamfunction and velocity variance. A few general conclusions can be noted. For the most part, the NLOM spectral slopes hover around the −1.8 and −2.6 values found in the high-frequency QG model results, albeit with wide variability (deviations vary by as much as 0.4 in either direction). A notable exception is the slope of the streamfunction variance in the midlatitude southeast Pacific, which is actually less steep than the slope of the velocity variance (at higher frequencies, the streamfunction variance in this subdomain is steeper than the velocity variance, as is more typically the case). Consistent with the highly smoothed nature of the AVISO product, the AVISO slopes are steeper than the NLOM slopes, often substantially so (deviations vary by as much as 2.0). With the exception of the midlatitude southeast Pacific patch noted above, the difference between slopes in NLOM streamfunction variance and NLOM velocity variance spectra, or in AVISO streamfunction variance and AVISO velocity variance spectra, ranges from −0.3 to −0.7. These differences are remarkably consistent between AVISO and NLOM output computed for the same subdomain, despite the fact that the AVISO slopes are generally much steeper than the NLOM slopes.
The first column is the six subdomains of World Ocean examined in both NLOM output and AVISO gridded satellite altimeter data. The second through fifth columns are the slopes of frequency spectra of variance of surface streamfunction ψ1 and variance of surface geostrophic velocity (kinetic energy; |∇ψ1|2). Slopes are computed as least squares fits over the frequency band corresponding to periods of 14–68.4 days (see dashed vertical lines in Figs. 11, 15). The sixth column is NLOM Δ, the slope in the NLOM streamfunction variance spectrum minus the slope in the NLOM velocity variance spectrum. The seventh column is as in the sixth column, but for AVISO.
The values of the slopes depend, of course, on the band chosen for computing the least squares fit. The slopes of the AVISO spectra are not very clean in the 14–68.4-day band. Note, for instance, the upturns at the high-frequency end of the Kuroshio results in Fig. 15. This is likely due to aliasing; see the discussion of the upturns in Fig. 8a. We also computed spectral slopes over the 38–184-day band, which gets us away from the problems at the high-frequency end for AVISO. For the sake of brevity, the slopes over the 38–184-day band are not given here in detail, but we do note that over most of the six subdomains they are more consistent between NLOM and AVISO than the 14–68.4-day band results. This does not mean that the 38–184-day band is without problems. It is not as cleanly separated from the flat low-frequency part of the spectrum as the 14–68.4-day band is. Thus, the slopes in the 38–184-day band are more likely to represent a mixture of the dynamics of two distinct regimes. The 38–184-day band slopes are generally shallower than the 14–68.4-day band slopes.
Periods shorter than 14 days are not represented in the AVISO data, whereas periods longer than 1095 days are not represented in the 3-yr NLOM record used here. Slopes computed from NLOM output over a frequency band corresponding to periods between 3 and 14.6 days are considerably steeper than those in Table 1. For the 3–14.6-day band, the differences in slopes between NLOM streamfunction and velocity variance spectra range from −0.5 to −1.1, except in the high-latitude southeast Pacific patch, which yields a slope that is steeper in velocity variance by 0.2. For periods between 294 and 2940 days, the slopes of the AVISO frequency spectra range from −0.5 to −0.1 for streamfunction variance and from −0.2 to 0.1 for velocity variance, with the streamfunction variance always being steeper, by amounts ranging from −0.02 to −0.3. These values lie near the low-frequency QG values reported earlier of −0.4 and −0.1 for streamfunction and velocity variance and −0.2 difference between these.
All six of the AVISO subdomains display a tendency for the low-frequency variance of zonal velocity to be larger than that of meridional velocity. Figure 16 plots the frequency spectra of zonal and meridional velocity variance in the midlatitude southeast Pacific, in which this tendency is most extreme. The zonal velocity variance integrated over periods of 420–5880 days is 2.3 times larger than the meridional velocity variance. In the other five subdomains, the zonal velocity variance integrated over these periods ranges from 1.1 to 1.6 times larger than the meridional variance. This tendency for zonal velocity variance to exceed meridional velocity variance at low frequencies was noted by Richman et al. (1977), from analysis of a current-meter record much shorter than the present-day AVISO record.
Frequency spectra of the variance of zonal and meridional geostrophic velocity, computed from AVISO gridded altimeter data in the midlatitude southeast Pacific patch shown in Fig. 14.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Frequency spectra of the variance of zonal and meridional geostrophic velocity, computed from AVISO gridded altimeter data in the midlatitude southeast Pacific patch shown in Fig. 14.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Frequency spectra of the variance of zonal and meridional geostrophic velocity, computed from AVISO gridded altimeter data in the midlatitude southeast Pacific patch shown in Fig. 14.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Figure 17 displays the spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space over the six subdomains of AVISO data. As in the QG and NLOM computations, the dominant feature is a negative lobe, representing an inverse cascade toward larger length scales. Also as in the NLOM computations, the magnitudes of the spectral fluxes vary by two orders of magnitude over ocean basins. Envelopes were computed assuming a 35-day correlation time over the 16-yr record, and are small enough that they are difficult to see in Fig. 17.
Spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space (thick curves) computed from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14. Envelopes are drawn with dashed curves.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space (thick curves) computed from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14. Envelopes are drawn with dashed curves.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(k) in wavenumber space (thick curves) computed from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14. Envelopes are drawn with dashed curves.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Figure 18 displays the spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space over the six subdomains of AVISO data. To test the sensitivity to windowing, fluxes are computed in three different ways. The baseline calculations (black curves) use the full time interval of 840 snapshots, tapered with nine overlapping Hanning windows each 168 snapshots wide. We also subdivided the time series into time intervals of 160 days each with 9 different overlapping realizations (blue curves) and into time intervals of 80 days each with 19 different overlapping realizations (red curves). At higher frequencies, the three methods yield similar results, suggesting that our computation technique is relatively robust. Some subdomains (high-latitude southeast Pacific, Agulhas, and arguably the Malvinas) display a negative lobe indicating an inverse temporal cascade, consistent with the QG and NLOM results. However, the Gulf Stream, Kuroshio, and midlatitude southeast Pacific display a predominantly forward cascade (positive spectral flux) in frequency space. This may be due to interesting physics in some regions of the ocean that are not captured well in either NLOM or the QG turbulence model. The smoothing exercises in previous sections suggest an alternative possibility, that forward temporal cascades could be artifacts of the filtering inherent in the creation of gridded satellite altimeter data products. For the subdomains with a clear negative spectral flux (Agulhas and high-latitude southeast Pacific), the ratios of the minimum (trough) negative flux ΠKE,1(ω) to the kinetic energy are 6.0 and 4.0 × 10−8 s−1, respectively, consistent with the QG and NLOM results (see discussions in earlier sections) and suggestive of the importance of nonlinearities in maintaining energy at low frequencies.
Spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space (thick curves) computed from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14. Thick black curves denote baseline results computed over 840 weekly snapshots. Thick blue (red) curves denote results computed over overlapping intervals of 160 (80) weekly snapshots each. Dashed curves denote envelopes of thick black curves.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space (thick curves) computed from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14. Thick black curves denote baseline results computed over 840 weekly snapshots. Thick blue (red) curves denote results computed over overlapping intervals of 160 (80) weekly snapshots each. Dashed curves denote envelopes of thick black curves.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
Spectral fluxes ΠKE,1(ω) in frequency space (thick curves) computed from gridded ⅓° AVISO data in subdomains shown in Fig. 14. Thick black curves denote baseline results computed over 840 weekly snapshots. Thick blue (red) curves denote results computed over overlapping intervals of 160 (80) weekly snapshots each. Dashed curves denote envelopes of thick black curves.
Citation: Journal of Physical Oceanography 42, 9; 10.1175/JPO-D-11-0151.1
5. Summary and discussion
Motivated by the ubiquity of time series in oceanic data, the relative lack of studies of geostrophic turbulence in the frequency domain, and the interest in quantifying the contributions of intrinsic oceanic nonlinearities to oceanic frequency spectra, we have undertaken a comprehensive examination of spectra and spectral fluxes of surface oceanic geostrophic flows in the frequency domain. We have shown that the frequency spectra of the streamfunction (sea surface height) variance and geostrophic velocity variance (kinetic energy) in idealized flat-bottom f-plane two-layer QG turbulence models, realistic ocean general circulation models, and gridded satellite altimeter data exhibit qualitative similarities, with steeper slopes at higher frequencies and flatter slopes at lower frequencies. In the data and models considered here, the flat slopes at lower frequencies continue out to the lowest frequencies allowed by the duration of the record.
We demonstrate here that the machinery of geostrophic turbulence, which is usually discussed in the wavenumber domain, is useful in the frequency domain as well. Through examination of the energy budgets of the QG model in frequency space, we find that the quantity ΠKE,1(ω), the spectral flux of upper-layer kinetic energy in the frequency domain, documents an energy cascade toward longer time scales driven by the action of nonlinearities, much like ΠKE,1(k), the spectral flux of upper-layer kinetic energy in the wavenumber domain, documents an inverse cascade of energy toward larger length scales. The ΠKE,1(ω) is “wider” than ΠKE,1(k), consistent with the action of nonlinearities at the longest time scales permitted by the record duration. A budget of the spectral transfers 
We have also calculated spectral fluxes in frequency space from NLOM, a realistic near-global ocean general circulation model, and from the AVISO gridded satellite altimeter dataset. The ΠKE,1(ω) values computed from the realistic model also document a nonlinear cascade of kinetic energy toward longer time scales. The ΠKE,1(ω) values computed from AVISO gridded satellite altimeter data yield more ambiguous results. Some subdomains (regions) are dominated by an “inverse temporal cascade,” whereas others exhibit a forward temporal cascade. Computations done with temporally and/or spatially smoothed QG model output, as well as temporally smoothed NLOM output, demonstrate that the spectral flux computations are highly susceptible to the smoothing inherent in the construction of gridded altimeter products. It remains to be seen whether the forward temporal cascades seen in some subdomains in altimeter data represent real physics not present in the models analyzed here or artifacts of the smoothed nature of gridded altimeter data.
A comprehensive comparison of the slopes of frequency spectra in the QG turbulence model, the realistic NLOM simulation, and AVISO altimetry data is given in this paper. In the QG model, the slope of the velocity variance spectra at the high-frequency end is −1.8, close to the −2 prediction from dimensional considerations of a kinetic energy cascade in frequency space (Tennekes and Lumley 1972). The slopes in frequency spectra of streamfunction and velocity variance do not differ by −2, as they do in wavenumber spectra, which represents a quantitative failure of the Taylor (1938) hypothesis relating frequency to wavenumber spectra. In the band of higher frequencies analyzed in the QG model, the slopes differ by −0.8. In the band 14–68.4 days, the differences in the slopes of the streamfunction and velocity variance spectra vary between −0.3 and −0.7 in NLOM and AVISO, in five of the six subdomains analyzed. There is some consistency between slopes in the idealized QG model and the realistic model (NLOM), but the latter shows wide variability from one region to another. In the 14–68.4-day band, the slopes in the AVISO dataset are significantly steeper, consistent with the highly filtered nature of that product. The failure of the Taylor (1938) hypothesis in our results is reminiscent of discussions in Hayashi and Golder (1977), who found no simple relationship between kinetic energy spectra in the frequency and wavenumber domains in their space–time analysis of realistic atmospheric models and atmospheric datasets.
The time scales in two-layer QG turbulence exhibit a sensitivity to the strength of linear bottom Ekman friction, somewhat similar to the sensitivity previously documented in the length scales. Although there are some interesting differences discussed in section 2c, an important similarity is that the time scales in two-layer QG turbulence tend to be longer than the imposed nondimensional time 
We end by briefly discussing natural extensions of this work. In this study, we have looked only at the spectra and spectral fluxes of geostrophic flows. In future work, we will consider spectra and spectral fluxes computed from the full velocity field in realistic models that contain ageostrophic flows. In this study, we have looked only at spectra and spectral fluxes in wavenumber space or in frequency space, but never in mixed frequency–wavenumber space. In section 2d, we developed the theory for the more general flux Π(k, ω). We anticipate that examination of spectra in mixed wavenumber–frequency space may help to illuminate some of the limitations of Taylor’s (1938) hypothesis. We anticipate that examination of mixed fluxes Π(k, ω), in flows that include ageostrophic motions such as near-inertial waves and tides as well as geostrophic eddies, could yield insights into interactions between these different classes of motions. Motivated by the results in Fig. 8c, we also anticipate that the spectral transfers T(ω) could be useful diagnostics of the role of nonlinearity in maintaining low-frequency variability in the climate system. In ocean models, T(ω) could be computed for both the atmospheric forcing and the oceanic nonlinearities, potentially helping to determine how much low-frequency variability in the ocean is driven by atmospheric forcing (e.g., Griffies and Tziperman 1995) and how much is due to intrinsic oceanic nonlinearities (e.g., Penduff et al. 2011).
Acknowledgments
The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, which led to substantial improvements to this manuscript. Helpful discussions with Ru Chen, Charlie Doering, Nicolas Ducousso, Steve Griffies, Thierry Penduff, and Carl Wunsch are gratefully acknowledged. BKA and AJM were supported by Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-11-1-0487, National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant OCE-09607820, and University of Michigan faculty startup funds. RBS acknowledges support from NSF Grants OCE-0960834 and OCE-0851457; a contract with the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton; and a NASA subcontract to Boston University. GRF received support from NSF Grant OCE-0960826. JFS and JGR were supported by the projects “Global and remote littoral forcing in global ocean models” and “Ageostrophic vorticity dynamics of the ocean,” respectively, both sponsored by the Office of Naval Research under program element 601153N. The NRL contribution has been approved for public release.
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In this paper, k denotes isotropic wavenumber except where noted; in a few places in section 2, k and l denote wavenumbers in the x and y directions, respectively.
Note that in Vallis (2006) the two-layer QG model is defined to have a single deformation radius as is the case here. Some treatments of the QG equations differ slightly. For instance, in Pedlosky (1987), the two-layer QG model contains two distinct internal deformation radii.
Schmitz (1996) (see also references therein, including Schmitz and Luyten 1991) defines the mesoscale band as 20–200 days. This band contains most of the kinetic energy in regions of strong boundary currents.
