Application of a Galerkin finite element method to atmospheric transport problems

Abstract

Numerical simulation of the movement of a contaminant within the atmosphere presents difficulties due to (a) The multi-dimensionality of the problem; (b) The fact that the horizontal transport is usually convection dominated; (c) The boundary conditions are mixed; (d) Both slow and fast atmospheric chemical reactions can be important. In this study, numerical experiments using a Crank-Nicolson Galerkin finite element method to solve the time-dependent partial differential equations demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of this method for the variety of conditions encountered in atmospheric pollutant modeling. The Crank-Nicolson Galerkin method using piecewise linear, piecewise cubic Hermite polynomials, and upwind finite elements is shown to accurately model the pure convection of initial wave forms. Numerical results studying the interactions of convection, diffusion, chemical reaction, pollutant removal, and the effects of contaminant emission source strength, source location and multiple sources are also presented.