Observed and Numerically Simulated Kinetic Energies for MODE Eddies

Abstract

It is demonstrated that the outcome of an intercomparison between data and the vertical distribution of eddy kinetic energy predicted by a previously developed numerical model of the MODE area is frequency dependent. In the range of periods from 50 to 150 or even to 400 days (one definition of the temporal mesoscale, the scale that the model was designed to simulate), the comparison is quite good. For periods in the range of 5 to 50 days, the agreement is poor. For periods longer than 400 days, the comparison is indeterminate. Earlier conclusions concerning the relation of model results to the MODE data should be qualified by stipulating frequency range, and future intercomparisons for any model in all regions should be conscious of the desirability of doing so across common frequencies.