Support for Multi-scale Ocean Modelling Capabilities for UK Community (ICOM)

Lead Research Organisation: Natural Environment Research Council

Abstract

NERC has made a significant investment in Earth system modelling activities, and now urgently requires a strategic framework for the support and long term development of these models. The Climate System and Earth System Science Theme Action Plans in 2008 identified ESM activities funded under the QESM (Reading), GENIE (UEA), HiGEM (Reading) and ICOM (Imperial College London) projects as priorities for interim funding, during the development of the strategy. Additional funding for these projects was provided for this work until 31 March 2011.

Publications

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Cotter C (2009) A mixed discontinuous/continuous finite element pair for shallow-water ocean modelling in Ocean Modelling

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Fang F (2009) A POD reduced-order 4D-Var adaptive mesh ocean modelling approach in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids

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Fang F (2011) The independent set perturbation adjoint method: A new method of differentiating mesh-based fluids models in International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids

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Farrell P (2011) Automated continuous verification for numerical simulation in Geoscientific Model Development

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Funke S (2011) A wetting and drying algorithm with a combined pressure/free-surface formulation for non-hydrostatic models in Advances in Water Resources

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Kramer S (2010) Solving the Poisson equation on small aspect ratio domains using unstructured meshes in Ocean Modelling

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Maddison J (2011) Accurate representation of geostrophic and hydrostatic balance in unstructured mesh finite element ocean modelling in Ocean Modelling

 
Description How to achieve fundamental balance by the finite element choice (balance between Coriolis, free surface height and buoyancy and pressure gradient). Also how hydrostatic balance can be achieved by separate treatments of hydrostatic pressure. How to enforce balance after interpolating the solution variables from one mesh to another when adapting the mesh to optimally resolve the physics.
We have also applied the research to discover the
likely cause of events in an ancient tsaunami in the mediterianian through this geometry conforming modelling apability and developed a number of insights into paleo oceanography such as the state of the life (which will be dictated by mixing) in paleo shallow oceans. This is also helping exploration companies determine where to look for oil and gas.
Exploitation Route We have pioneered the user of adaptive and unstructured meshes for use with environmental flow models as well as adjoint and rapid models. These are starting to be taken up. For example: the GungHo project lead by the Met. office to develop an unstructured mesh atmospheric model users numerical methods (as well as researchers that developed these) derived from the advanced numerical methods developed by us. The widely used FEniCs finite element model now users an adjoint method for data assimilation and optimization derived by our researchers. The work has lead to the atham-fluidity modelling being developed by Cambridge, Imperial College and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in China. Fluidity, developed here, is now an open source model used throughout the world.
Sectors Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology
 
Description The Met office are building on the numerical methods we developed within the GungHo project. The Institute of Atmospheric Physics in China have incorporated the adaptive mesh adaptivity approach into their regional scale atmospheric model to transport pollution and chemistry and are experiencing substantial savings in CPU time (or greater resolution) that will be used operationally to achieve results that we can be more confident in. The adaptive methods (interpolation) have been incorporated into open-Foam - the most well used open source CFD code. The work on ocean modelling is also helping exploration companies determine where to look for oil and gas.
First Year Of Impact 2009
Sector Education,Environment
Impact Types Societal,Economic