On utility of triangular C-grid type discretization for numerical modeling of large-scale ocean flows
In: Ocean Dynamics. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg; New York. ISSN 1616-7341; e-ISSN 1616-7228, more
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| Keyword |
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| Author keywords |
Unstructured mesh ocean modeling; Triangular C-grid discretization |
| Abstract |
Ocean circulation models based on triangular C-grid discretization are frequently employed to simulate coastal ocean dynamics on unstructured meshes. It is shown that on time and space scales dominated by slow geostrophic dynamics, this discretization tends to exhibit checkerboard noise in the field of horizontal velocity divergence and vertical velocity, respectively. The noise is linked to the geometry of triangular C-grid and is amplified in regimes that are close to geostrophic balance through the particular structure of the Coriolis operator. It can be partly suppressed in some cases but remains a problem in a general case and makes the triangular C-grid a suboptimal choice for large-scale ocean modeling. |
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