Graphics processing unit (GPU)-enhanced nonhydrostatic model with grid nesting for global tsunami propagation and coastal inundation

Abstract

Nonhydrostatic models have proven their superiority in describing tsunami propagation over trans-oceanic distances and nearshore transformation because of their good dispersion and nonlinearity properties. The novel one-layer nonhydrostatic formulations proposed by Wang et al. [Phys. Fluids 35, 076610 (2023)] have been rederived in the spherical coordinate system incorporating Coriolis effects to enable the application of basin-wide tsunami propagation. The model was implemented using the fractional step method, where the hydrostatic step was solved by a Godunov-type finite-volume scheme, and the nonhydrostatic step was obtained with the finite-difference method. Additionally, a two-way grid-nesting scheme was employed to adapt the topographic features for efficient computation of tsunami propagation in deep ocean and coastal inundation. Furthermore, graphics processing unit (GPU)-parallelism technique was incorporated to further optimize the model performance. An idealized benchmark test as well as three experiments of regular and irregular waves, solitary, and N-waves transformations have been simulated to demonstrate the superior performance of the current GPU-accelerated grid-nesting nonhydrostatic model. Finally, the model has been applied to reproduce the 1964 Prince William Sound Tsunami, its propagation across the North Pacific and induced inundation in the Seaside.