On the Time Dependence of a Scalar Undergoing Advection

Abstract

The problem of the temporal variability of a conservative oceanographic scalar quantity undergoing advection is examined. A closed form expression is derived which relates its temporal spectrum to its spatial spatial. This expression isolates the role of the advection field and is formally equivalent to the approaches of other investigators in connection with the so-called finestructure contamination problem. This approach is applicable to straightforward numerical calculation in a variety of advection problems.