Gary A. Glatzmaier
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691141725
- eISBN:
- 9781400848904
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691141725.003.0009
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
This chapter considers two ways of employing a spatial resolution that varies with position within a finite-difference method: using a nonuniform grid and mapping to a new coordinate variable. It ...
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This chapter considers two ways of employing a spatial resolution that varies with position within a finite-difference method: using a nonuniform grid and mapping to a new coordinate variable. It first provides an overview of nonuniform grids before discussing coordinate mapping as an alternative way of achieving spatial discretization. It then describes an approach for treating both the vertical and horizontal directions with simple finite-difference methods: defining a streamfunction, which automatically satisfies mass conservation, and solving for vorticity via the curl of the momentum conservation equation. It also explains the use of the Chebyshev–Fourier method to simulate the convection or gravity wave problem by employing spectral methods in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Finally, it looks at the basic ideas and some issues that need to be addressed with respect to parallel processing as well as choices that need to be made when designing a parallel code.Less
This chapter considers two ways of employing a spatial resolution that varies with position within a finite-difference method: using a nonuniform grid and mapping to a new coordinate variable. It first provides an overview of nonuniform grids before discussing coordinate mapping as an alternative way of achieving spatial discretization. It then describes an approach for treating both the vertical and horizontal directions with simple finite-difference methods: defining a streamfunction, which automatically satisfies mass conservation, and solving for vorticity via the curl of the momentum conservation equation. It also explains the use of the Chebyshev–Fourier method to simulate the convection or gravity wave problem by employing spectral methods in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Finally, it looks at the basic ideas and some issues that need to be addressed with respect to parallel processing as well as choices that need to be made when designing a parallel code.
Gary A. Glatzmaier
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691141725
- eISBN:
- 9781400848904
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691141725.003.0002
- Subject:
- Physics, Particle Physics / Astrophysics / Cosmology
This chapter describes a numerical method for solving equations of thermal convection on a computer. It begins by introducing the vorticity-streamfunction formulation as a means of conserving mass. ...
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This chapter describes a numerical method for solving equations of thermal convection on a computer. It begins by introducing the vorticity-streamfunction formulation as a means of conserving mass. The approach involves updating for the vorticity first and then solving for the fluid velocity each time step. The chapter continues with a discussion of two very different spatial discretizations, whereby the vertical derivatives are approximated with a finite-difference method and the horizontal derivatives with a spectral method. The nonlinear terms are computed in spectral space. The chapter also considers the Adams-Bashforth time integration scheme and explains how the Poisson equation can be solved at each time step for the updated streamfunction given the updated vorticity.Less
This chapter describes a numerical method for solving equations of thermal convection on a computer. It begins by introducing the vorticity-streamfunction formulation as a means of conserving mass. The approach involves updating for the vorticity first and then solving for the fluid velocity each time step. The chapter continues with a discussion of two very different spatial discretizations, whereby the vertical derivatives are approximated with a finite-difference method and the horizontal derivatives with a spectral method. The nonlinear terms are computed in spectral space. The chapter also considers the Adams-Bashforth time integration scheme and explains how the Poisson equation can be solved at each time step for the updated streamfunction given the updated vorticity.