Celeris: A GPU-accelerated open source software with a Boussinesq-type wave solver for real-time interactive simulation and visualization

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce an interactive coastal wave simulation and visualization software, called Celeris. Celeris is an open source software which needs minimum preparation to run on a Windows machine. The software solves the extended Boussinesq equations using a hybrid finite volume–finite difference method and supports moving shoreline boundaries. The simulation and visualization are performed on the GPU using Direct3D libraries, which enables the software to run faster than real-time. Celeris provides a first-of-its-kind interactive modeling platform for coastal wave applications and it supports simultaneous visualization with both photorealistic and colormapped rendering capabilities. We validate our software through comparison with three standard benchmarks for non-breaking and breaking waves. Program summaryProgram title: CelerisProgram Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/5djwvf5x5k.1Licensing provisions : GNU General Public License 3 (GPL)Programming language : C++, HLSLNature of problem : Boussinesq-type models provide the research-level accuracy needed for modeling wave propagation in coastal zones. However the current models, both commercial and open source, do not provide means for real-time computation, nor provide model interactivity and concurrent visualization. In order to achieve a real-time simulation speed in current parallelized models, dozens to hundreds of CPU cores are needed. Celeris is an interactive software which provides faster than real-time simulation and visualization speed on an average user laptop. The novelty of this software is its interactive environment, which allows the user to modify the model and field parameters as the model is running, and to see the effect of these changes immediately.Solution method : A hybrid finite volume-finite difference scheme is used to solve the extended Boussinesq equations. The solver is parallelized using shader programming with Direct3D libraries. Visualization is also performed with the same libraries.