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Article
Evaluation of the utility of static and adaptive mesh refinement for idealized tropical cyclone problems in a spectral element shallow water model
Monthly Weather Review (2016)
  • Eric Hendricks, Naval Postgraduate School
  • Michal A. Kopera, Boise State University
  • Francis X. Giraldo, Naval Postgraduate School
Abstract
The utility of static and adaptive mesh refinement (SMR and AMR, respectively) are examined for idealized tropical cyclone (TC) simulations in a spectral element $f$-plane shallow water model. The SMR simulations have varying sizes of the statically refined meshes (geometry-based) while the AMR simulations use a potential vorticity (PV) threshold to adaptively refine the mesh to the evolving TC. Numerical simulations are conducted for the following four cases: (i) TC-like vortex advecting in a uniform flow (an idealization of a TC moving in atmospheric steering flow), (ii) Binary vortex interaction (an idealization of the interaction of two TCs located close to one another), (iii) Barotropic instability a PV ring (an idealization of hurricane eyewall instability), and (iv) Barotropic instability of a thin strip of PV (an idealization of the breakdown of the intertropical convergence zone). For each case, a high resolution ``truth'' simulation is compared to two different SMR simulations and three different AMR simulations for accuracy and efficiency. The multiple SMR and AMR simulations have variations in the number of fully-refined elements in the vicinity of the TC. For these idealized cases, it is found that the SMR and AMR simulations are able to resolve the TC processes as well as the ``truth'' runs, with no loss in accuracy in the refined region in the TC vicinity and with significant speed-ups (factor of 2-5). The overall accuracy is enhanced by a greater area of fully refined mesh in both the SMR and AMR simulations. While these results are highly idealized, they demonstrate the potential for SMR and AMR for the numerical simulation of TCs in more complicated scenarios.
Publication Date
June 2, 2016
DOI
10.1175/MWR-D-15-0146.1
Citation Information
Eric Hendricks, Michal A. Kopera and Francis X. Giraldo. "Evaluation of the utility of static and adaptive mesh refinement for idealized tropical cyclone problems in a spectral element shallow water model" Monthly Weather Review Vol. 144 Iss. 10 (2016) p. 3697 - 3724
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michal-kopera/9/