A Terrain-Following Crystal Grid Finite Volume Ocean Circulation Model

Abstract

A three-dimensional hydrostatic finite volume ocean model is developed solving the integral dynamical equations. Since the basic (integral) equations are solved for finite volumes rather than grid points, the flux conservation is easily enforced even on arbitrary meshes. Both upwind and high-order combine compact schemes can be incorporated into the model to increase computational stability and accuracy. For abrupt topography, a terrain-following grid discretization is designed to reduce computational errors such that the four lateral boundaries of each finite volume are perpendicular to x and y axes, and the two vertical boundaries are not purely horizontal. This grid system reveals a superior feature to Cartesian and sigma coordinate systems. The accuracy of this model was tested in this study.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA479172

Entities

People

  • Chenwu Fan
  • Peter Cheng Chu

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundaries
  • Cartesian Coordinates
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Difference Equations
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Grids
  • Integral Equations
  • Ocean Currents
  • Oceans
  • Partial Differential Equations
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Storm Surges
  • Terrain
  • Terrain Following
  • Three Dimensional
  • Topography

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)