9,603 research outputs found

    A finite-volume module for simulating global all-scale atmospheric flows

    Get PDF
    The paper documents the development of a global nonhydrostatic finite-volume module designed to enhance an established spectral-transform based numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. The module adheres to NWP standards, with formulation of the governing equations based on the classical meteorological latitude-longitude spherical framework. In the horizontal, a bespoke unstructured mesh with finite-volumes built about the reduced Gaussian grid of the existing NWP model circumvents the notorious stiffness in the polar regions of the spherical framework. All dependent variables are co-located, accommodating both spectral-transform and grid-point solutions at the same physical locations. In the vertical, a uniform finite-difference discretisation facilitates the solution of intricate elliptic problems in thin spherical shells, while the pliancy of the physical vertical coordinate is delegated to generalised continuous transformations between computational and physical space. The newly developed module assumes the compressible Euler equations as default, but includes reduced soundproof PDEs as an option. Furthermore, it employs semi-implicit forward-in-time integrators of the governing PDE systems, akin to but more general than those used in the NWP model. The module shares the equal regions parallelisation scheme with the NWP model, with multiple layers of parallelism hybridising MPI tasks and OpenMP threads. The efficacy of the developed nonhydrostatic module is illustrated with benchmarks of idealised global weather

    QUAGMIRE v1.3: a quasi-geostrophic model for investigating rotating fluids experiments

    Get PDF
    QUAGMIRE is a quasi-geostrophic numerical model for performing fast, high-resolution simulations of multi-layer rotating annulus laboratory experiments on a desktop personal computer. The model uses a hybrid finite-difference/spectral approach to numerically integrate the coupled nonlinear partial differential equations of motion in cylindrical geometry in each layer. Version 1.3 implements the special case of two fluid layers of equal resting depths. The flow is forced either by a differentially rotating lid, or by relaxation to specified streamfunction or potential vorticity fields, or both. Dissipation is achieved through Ekman layer pumping and suction at the horizontal boundaries, including the internal interface. The effects of weak interfacial tension are included, as well as the linear topographic beta-effect and the quadratic centripetal beta-effect. Stochastic forcing may optionally be activated, to represent approximately the effects of random unresolved features. A leapfrog time stepping scheme is used, with a Robert filter. Flows simulated by the model agree well with those observed in the corresponding laboratory experiments

    A class of finite-volume models for atmospheric flows across scales

    Get PDF
    The paper examines recent advancements in the class of Nonoscillatory Forward-in-Time (NFT) schemes that exploit the implicit LES (ILES) properties of Multidimensional Positive Definite Advection Transport Algorithm (MPDATA). The reported developments address both global and limited area models spanning a range of atmospheric flows, from the hydrostatic regime at planetary scale, down to mesoscale and microscale where flows are inherently nonhydrostatic. All models operate on fully unstructured (and hybrid) meshes and utilize a median dual mesh finite volume discretisation. High performance computations for global flows employ a bespoke hybrid MPI-OpenMP approach and utilise the ATLAS library. Simulations across scales—from a global baroclinic instability epitomising evolution of weather systems down to stratified orographic flows rich in turbulent phenomena due to gravity-wave breaking in dispersive media, verify the computational advancements and demonstrate the efficacy of ILES both in regularizing large scale flows at the scale of the mesh resolution and taking a role of a subgrid-scale turbulence model in simulation of turbulent flows in the LES regime

    Integrated Environmental Modelling Framework for Cumulative Effects Assessment

    Get PDF
    Global warming and population growth have resulted in an increase in the intensity of natural and anthropogenic stressors. Investigating the complex nature of environmental problems requires the integration of different environmental processes across major components of the environment, including water, climate, ecology, air, and land. Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) not only includes analyzing and modeling environmental changes, but also supports planning alternatives that promote environmental monitoring and management. Disjointed and narrowly focused environmental management approaches have proved dissatisfactory. The adoption of integrated modelling approaches has sparked interests in the development of frameworks which may be used to investigate the processes of individual environmental component and the ways they interact with each other. Integrated modelling systems and frameworks are often the only way to take into account the important environmental processes and interactions, relevant spatial and temporal scales, and feedback mechanisms of complex systems for CEA. This book examines the ways in which interactions and relationships between environmental components are understood, paying special attention to climate, land, water quantity and quality, and both anthropogenic and natural stressors. It reviews modelling approaches for each component and reviews existing integrated modelling systems for CEA. Finally, it proposes an integrated modelling framework and provides perspectives on future research avenues for cumulative effects assessment

    Simulation of all-scale atmospheric dynamics on unstructured meshes

    Get PDF
    The advance of massively parallel computing in the nineteen nineties and beyond encouraged finer grid intervals in numerical weather-prediction models. This has improved resolution of weather systems and enhanced the accuracy of forecasts, while setting the trend for development of unified all-scale atmospheric models. This paper first outlines the historical background to a wide range of numerical methods advanced in the process. Next, the trend is illustrated with a technical review of a versatile nonoscillatory forward-in-time finite-volume (NFTFV) approach, proven effective in simulations of atmospheric flows from small-scale dynamics to global circulations and climate. The outlined approach exploits the synergy of two specific ingredients: the MPDATA methods for the simulation of fluid flows based on the sign-preserving properties of upstream differencing; and the flexible finite-volume median-dual unstructured-mesh discretisation of the spatial differential operators comprising PDEs of atmospheric dynamics. The paper consolidates the concepts leading to a family of generalised nonhydrostatic NFTFV flow solvers that include soundproof PDEs of incompressible Boussinesq, anelastic and pseudo-incompressible systems, common in large-eddy simulation of small- and meso-scale dynamics, as well as all-scale compressible Euler equations. Such a framework naturally extends predictive skills of large-eddy simulation to the global atmosphere, providing a bottom-up alternative to the reverse approach pursued in the weather-prediction models. Theoretical considerations are substantiated by calculations attesting to the versatility and efficacy of the NFTFV approach. Some prospective developments are also discussed

    Improvements in the Scalability of the NASA Goddard Multiscale Modeling Framework for Hurricane Climate Studies

    Get PDF
    Improving our understanding of hurricane inter-annual variability and the impact of climate change (e.g., doubling CO2 and/or global warming) on hurricanes brings both scientific and computational challenges to researchers. As hurricane dynamics involves multiscale interactions among synoptic-scale flows, mesoscale vortices, and small-scale cloud motions, an ideal numerical model suitable for hurricane studies should demonstrate its capabilities in simulating these interactions. The newly-developed multiscale modeling framework (MMF, Tao et al., 2007) and the substantial computing power by the NASA Columbia supercomputer show promise in pursuing the related studies, as the MMF inherits the advantages of two NASA state-of-the-art modeling components: the GEOS4/fvGCM and 2D GCEs. This article focuses on the computational issues and proposes a revised methodology to improve the MMF's performance and scalability. It is shown that this prototype implementation enables 12-fold performance improvements with 364 CPUs, thereby making it more feasible to study hurricane climate

    Non-oscillatory forward-in-time integrators for viscous incompressible flows past a sphere

    Get PDF
    A non-oscillatory forward-in-time (NFT) integrator is developed to provide solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flows. Simulations of flows past a sphere are chosen as a benchmark representative of a class of engineering flows past obstacles. The methodology is further extended to moderate Reynolds number, stably stratified flows under gravity, for Froude numbers that typify the characteristic regimes of natural flows past distinct isolated features of topography in weather and climate models. The key elements of the proposed method consist of the Multidimensional Positive Definite Advection Transport Algorithm (MPDATA) and a robust non-symmetric Krylov-subspace elliptic solver. The solutions employ a finite volume spatial discretisation on unstructured and hybrid meshes and benefit from a collocated arrangement of all flow variables while being inherently stable. The development includes the implementation of viscous terms with the detachededdy simulation (DES) approach employed for turbulent flows. Results demonstrate that the proposed methodology enables direct comparisons of the numerical solutions with corresponding laboratory studies of viscous and stratified flows while illustrating accuracy, robustness and flexibility of the NFT schemes. The presented simulations also offer a better insight into stably stratified flows past a sphere

    The GeoClaw software for depth-averaged flows with adaptive refinement

    Full text link
    Many geophysical flow or wave propagation problems can be modeled with two-dimensional depth-averaged equations, of which the shallow water equations are the simplest example. We describe the GeoClaw software that has been designed to solve problems of this nature, consisting of open source Fortran programs together with Python tools for the user interface and flow visualization. This software uses high-resolution shock-capturing finite volume methods on logically rectangular grids, including latitude--longitude grids on the sphere. Dry states are handled automatically to model inundation. The code incorporates adaptive mesh refinement to allow the efficient solution of large-scale geophysical problems. Examples are given illustrating its use for modeling tsunamis, dam break problems, and storm surge. Documentation and download information is available at www.clawpack.org/geoclawComment: 18 pages, 11 figures, Animations and source code for some examples at http://www.clawpack.org/links/awr10 Significantly modified from original posting to incorporate suggestions of referee

    Validation Of Integrated Coast-Ocean Model Cche2D-Coast And Development Of Wind Model

    Get PDF
    The eastern and southern coastlines of the United States are two of the most cyclone-prone areas of the world. The effects of tropical cyclones vary mainly depending on wind intensity and geological features of the coast that it is crossing. Higher winds potentially generate higher storm surges and consequently larger floods occur along the coastlines. Therefore, it is critical to accurately predict winds, storm surge, and waves associated with a hurricane. In the present study, an integrated coastal and ocean process model, CCHE2D-Coast, is validated by assessing the model’s capabilities in simulating coast-ocean circulations driven by the astronomical tides on the U.S. East Coast. Through the skill assessment, discrepancies between numerically simulated water surface elevations and observed tidal elevations at NOAA tide gages are quantified. On the other hand, statistical errors of the tidal constituents parameters, amplitude and phase, are also determined. In this study, the tidal harmonic constants are identified by using a newly-developed parameter identification approach. CCHE2D-Coast is also further examined under meteorological forces driven by a hurricane. CCHE2D-Coast is applied to simulate meteorological and hydrodynamic processes during Hurricane Bob (1991) on the US Atlantic coast. Hindcasting storm surges and waves induced by Bob’s winds and tides were performed before and after the landfall of this hurricane. The results shothat the model performed well in reproducing the dynamic process driven by astronomical and meteorological forces. To improve the model’s accuracy in reproducing hurricane wind fields during a real-time hurricane forecast, a hurricane wind model is developed in order to incorporate asymmetric effects into the Holland parametric wind model. The method is validated using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/ National Hurricane Center (NHC)/ Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast’s (ATCF) guidelines. The best track date, which contains six-hourly information on the location, maximum winds, radii of 3 wind isotach, and central pressure of Hurricane Gustave (2008) is used to compute the wind field in the Gulf of Mexico. The simulation result suggests that the wind model performed well in reconstructing wind field. The asymmetric model captured the directional change of hurricane wind velocity around the storm center
    • …
    corecore