Finite Element Shallow Water Model Research Articles

A mixed finite-element discretisation of the shallow-water equations

Abstract. This paper introduces a mixed finite-element shallow-water model on the sphere. The mixed finite-element approach is used as it has been shown to be both accurate and highly scalable for parallel architecture. Key features of the model are an iterated semi-implicit time-stepping scheme, a finite-volume transport scheme, and the cubed sphere grid. The model is tested on a number of standard spherical shallow-water test cases. Results show that the model produces similar results to other shallow-water models in the literature.

A study of reduced‐order 4DVAR with a finite element shallow water model

SummaryFour‐dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVAR) is frequently used to improve model forecasting skills. This method improves a model consistency with available data by minimizing a cost function measuring the model–data misfit with respect to some model inputs and parameters. Associated with this type of method, however, are difficulties related to the coding of the adjoint model, which is needed to compute the gradient of the 4DVAR cost function. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is a model reduction method that can be used to approximate the gradient calculation in 4DVAR. In this work, two ways of using POD in 4DVAR are presented, namely model‐reduced 4DVAR and reduced adjoint 4DVAR (RA‐4DVAR). Both techniques employ POD to obtain a reduced‐order approximation of the forward linear tangent operator. The difference between the two methods lies in the treatment of the forward model. Model‐reduced 4DVAR performs minimization entirely in the POD‐reduced space, thereby achieving very low computational costs, but sacrificing accuracy of the end result. On the other hand, the RA‐4DVAR uses POD to approximate only the adjoint model. The main contribution of this study is a comparative performance analysis of these 4DVAR methodologies on a nonlinear finite element shallow water model. The sensitivity of the methods to perturbations in observations and the number of observation points is examined. The results from twin experiments suggest that the RA‐4DVAR method is easy to implement and computationally efficient and provides a robust approach for achieving reasonable results in the context of variational data assimilation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A global finite-element shallow-water model supporting continuous and discontinuous elements

Abstract. This paper presents a novel nodal finite-element method for either continuous and discontinuous elements, as applied to the 2-D shallow-water equations on the cubed sphere. The cornerstone of this method is the construction of a robust derivative operator that can be applied to compute discrete derivatives even over a discontinuous function space. A key advantage of the robust derivative is that it can be applied to partial differential equations in either a conservative or a non-conservative form. However, it is also shown that discontinuous penalization is required to recover the correct order of accuracy for discontinuous elements. Two versions with discontinuous elements are examined, using either the g1 and g2 flux correction function for distribution of boundary fluxes and penalty across nodal points. Scalar and vector hyperviscosity (HV) operators valid for both continuous and discontinuous elements are also derived for stabilization and removal of grid-scale noise. This method is validated using four standard shallow-water test cases, including geostrophically balanced flow, a mountain-induced Rossby wave train, the Rossby–Haurwitz wave and a barotropic instability. The results show that although the discontinuous basis requires a smaller time step size than that required for continuous elements, the method exhibits better stability and accuracy properties in the absence of hyperviscosity.

Tidal turbine array optimisation using the adjoint approach

Oceanic tides have the potential to yield a vast amount of renewable energy. Tidal stream generators are one of the key technologies for extracting and harnessing this potential. In order to extract an economically useful amount of power, hundreds of tidal turbines must typically be deployed in an array. This naturally leads to the question of how these turbines should be configured to extract the maximum possible power: the positioning and the individual tuning of the turbines could significantly influence the extracted power, and hence is of major economic interest. However, manual optimisation is difficult due to legal site constraints, nonlinear interactions of the turbine wakes, and the cubic dependence of the power on the flow speed. The novel contribution of this paper is the formulation of this problem as an optimisation problem constrained by a physical model, which is then solved using an efficient gradient-based optimisation algorithm. In each optimisation iteration, a two-dimensional finite element shallow water model predicts the flow and the performance of the current array configuration. The gradient of the power extracted with respect to the turbine positions and their tuning parameters is then computed in a fraction of the time taken for a flow solution by solving the associated adjoint equations. These equations propagate causality backwards through the computation, from the power extracted back to the turbine positions and the tuning parameters. This yields the gradient at a cost almost independent of the number of turbines, which is crucial for any practical application. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by optimising turbine arrays in four idealised scenarios and a more realistic case with up to 256 turbines in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, Scotland.

The independent set perturbation method for efficient computation of sensitivities with applications to data assimilation and a finite element shallow water model

An adjoint model for a 2D Galerkin/Petrov–Galerkin finite element (FE) shallow water (S-W) model is developed using the Independent Set Perturbation (ISP, [40]) sensitivity analysis. Its performance in a full 4-D Var setup with a limited area shallow water equations model is assessed by comparing with the adjoint model derived by the automatic differentiation approach (TAMC), where it is used for optimising the initial conditions. It is shown that the ISP sensitivity analysis provides a very simple approach of forming the adjoint code/gradients/differentiation of discrete forward models (even complex governing equations, discretization methods and non-linear parameterizations) and is realised using a graph colouring approach combined with a perturbation method. Importantly, the adjoint is automatically updated as the forward code continues to be developed. In the test cases, it is shown that the adjoint model using the ISP sensitivity analysis can achieve the accuracy of traditional adjoint models derived by the automatic differentiation method (TAMC) [31]. Further comparison shows that the CPU time required for running the adjoint model using the ISP sensitivity analysis is much less than that required for the automatic differentiation derived adjoint model since the ISP derived adjoint CPU time scales linearly with the problem size.The ISP sensitivity analysis is further applied to a highly non-linear Petrov–Galerkin FE model. The perturbation size used in deriving the tangent linear model with the ISP sensitivity analysis method is then optimised and the resulting approach used to assimilate both sparse (more realistic) and dense observational data for optimising the initial conditions. A simple first order formula is developed to calculate the perturbation size for each variable, at each node and time level. By applying the ISP sensitivity method to an intermediate complexity model (a shallow water model) this paper outlines steps towards applying the approach to data assimilation (DA) problems involving realistic complex models.

A discontinuous/continuous low order finite element shallow water model on the sphere

We study the applicability of a new finite element in atmosphere and ocean modeling. The finite element under investigation combines a second order continuous representation for the scalar field with a first order discontinuous representation for the velocity field and is therefore different from continuous and discontinuous Galerkin finite element approaches. The specific choice of low order approximation spaces is attractive because it satisfies the Ladyzhenskaya–Babuska–Brezzi condition and is, at the same time, able to represent the crucially important geostrophic balance. The finite element is used to solve the viscous and inviscid shallow water equations on a rotating sphere. We introduce the spherical geometry via a stereographic projection. The projection leads to a manageable number of additional terms, the associated scaling factors can be exactly represented by second order polynomials. We perform numerical experiments considering steady and unsteady zonal flow, flow over topography, and an unstable zonal jet stream. For ocean applications, the wind driven Stommel gyre is simulated. The experiments are performed on icosahedral geodesic grids and analyzed with respect to convergence rates, conservation properties, and energy and enstrophy spectra. The results match quite well with results published in the literature and encourage further investigation of this type of element for three-dimensional atmosphere/ocean modeling.

A flux-limiting wetting–drying method for finite-element shallow-water models, with application to the Scheldt Estuary

We present a flux-limiting wetting–drying approach for finite-element discretizations of the shallow-water equations using discontinuous linear elements for the elevation. The key ingredient of the method is the use of limiters for generalized nodal fluxes. This method is implemented into the Second-generation Louvain-la-Neuve Ice-ocean Model (SLIM), and is verified against standard test cases. The method is further applied to the wetting and drying of sand banks in the Scheldt Estuary, which is located in northern Belgium and the southern Netherlands. The results obtained for both the benchmarks and the realistic problem illustrate the accuracy of the method in describing the hydrodynamics in the vicinity of dry areas. In particular, the method strictly conserves mass, and there is no transport through dry areas.

A Performance Comparison of Continuous and Discontinuous Finite Element Shallow Water Models

We present a comparative study of two finite element shallow water equation (SWE) models: a generalized wave continuity equation based continuous Galerkin (CG) model--an approach used by several existing SWE models--and a recently developed discontinuous Galerkin (DG) model. While DG methods are known to possess a number of favorable properties, such as local mass conservation, one commonly cited disadvantage is the larger number of degrees of freedom associated with the methods, which naturally translates into a greater computational cost compared to CG methods. However, in a series of numerical tests, we demonstrate that the DG SWE model is generally more efficient than the CG model (i) in terms of achieving a specified error level for a given computational cost and (ii) on large-scale parallel machines because of the inherently local structure of the method. Both models are verified on a series of analytic test cases and validated on a field-scale application.

Kernel Analysis of the Discretized Finite Difference and Finite Element Shallow-Water Models

A constructive linear algebra approach is developed to characterize the kernels of the discretized shallow-water equations. Three kernel relations are identified as necessary conditions for the discretized system to share the same stationary properties as the continuous system. This matrix kernel scheme is computed using MATLAB and applied to investigate the presence, number, and structure of spurious modes arising in typical finite difference and finite element schemes. The kernel concept is then used to characterize the smallest representable vortices for several representative discrete finite difference and finite element schemes. Both uniform and unstructured mesh situations are considered and compared. Numerical experiments are consistent with the analytic results.

Analysis of Numerically Induced Oscillations in Two-Dimensional Finite-Element Shallow-Water Models Part II: Free Planetary Waves

The behavior of planetary (Rossby) waves in finite-element numerical models is investigated by using a quasi-geostrophic approximation to the midlatitude, $\beta$-plane, two-dimensional linear shallow-water equations. A dispersion relation analysis is employed here to determine the possible occurrence of spurious modes and to ascertain the dispersive/dissipative nature of the finite-element Galerkin mixed formulation. Three finite-element pairs are considered by using a variety of mixed interpolation schemes. For each pair the frequency or dispersion relation is obtained and analyzed, and the dispersion properties are compared analytically and graphically with the continuous case. It is shown that certain choices of mixed interpolation schemes may lead to significant phase and group velocity errors and spurious solutions in the calculation of slow Rossby waves, due to the coupling between the momentum and continuity equations. Numerical solutions of two test problems to simulate slow Rossby waves are in good agreement with the analytical results.

Improvements in mass conservation using alternative boundary implementations for a quasi-bubble finite element shallow water model

Finite element approaches generally do not guarantee exact satisfaction of conservation laws especially when Dirichlet-type boundary conditions are imposed. This article discusses improvement of the global mass conservation property of quasi-bubble finite element solutions for the shallow water equations, focusing on implementations of the surface-elevation boundary conditions. We propose two alternative implementations, which are shown by numerical verification to be effective in improving the smoothness of solutions near the boundary and in reducing the mass conservation error. The improvement of the mass conservation property contributes to augmenting the reliability and robustness of long-term time integrations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On the form of the momentum equation for shallow water models based on the generalized wave continuity equation

Nearly all generalized wave continuity (GWC)-based models utilize the velocity-based, non-conservative form of the momentum equation to obtain the depth-averaged changes in velocity. It has been hypothesized that a flux-based, conservative form of the momentum equation may improve accuracy and stability. Herein, we study the impact of the choice of dependent variable and form of the momentum equation in a GWC-based finite element shallow water model. The impact of this change on mass balance, stability, and accuracy (spatial and temporal) is rigorously assessed, first for 1D barotropic flows and then for 2D barotropic flows in a variety of basins. Both 1D and 2D results indicate that the conservative form improves mass balance on both global and local scales, with the most significant gains found in local mass balance in areas with steep bathymetry gradients. This is also the region where the conservative form shows an increase in local spatial accuracy. Taylor series analysis and numerical simulations indicate a strong correlation between local spatial truncation errors and local mass balance errors. Stability, temporal accuracy and global spatial accuracy do not show statistically significant changes between the two algorithms in both 1D and 2D studies.

Application of a coupled discontinuous–continuous Galerkin finite element shallow water model to coastal ocean dynamics

A coupled discontinuous–continuous Galerkin (DG–CG) shallow water model is compared to a continuous Galerkin generalized wave-continuity equation (GWCE) based model for the coastal ocean, whereby local mass imbalance typical of GWCE-based solutions is eliminated using the coupled DG–CG approach. Two mass imbalance indicators for the GWCE-based model are presented and analyzed. The indicators motivate discussion on the suitability of using a GWCE-based model versus the locally conservative coupled DG–CG model. Both realistic and idealized test problems for tide, wind, and wave-driven circulation form the basis of the study. For the problems studied, coupled DG–CG solutions retain the robustness of well-documented solutions from GWCE-based models and also capture the dynamics driven by small-scale, highly advective processes which are problematic for GWCE-based models. Issues associated with the coupled DG–CG model are explored, including increased cost due to increased degrees of freedom, the necessary application of slope limiters, as well as the actual coupling process.

Mass Balance in Eulerian-Lagrangian Transport Simulations in Estuaries

This paper investigates the generation of flow mass errors in finite-element shallow water models and the effect of these errors in the mass conservation of Eulerian-Lagrangian transport simulations. Flow mass errors are shown to be similar for several primitive and wave equation formulations. These errors occur primarily in areas of steep bathymetric gradients and near complex boundaries. Forcing Eulerian-Lagrangian transport simulations with nonconservative flow fields generates important mass imbalances, which can be mitigated by refining the flow grid. Comparatively, refining the transport grid only reduces marginally the mass errors.