Abstract.
We study numerical solutions of the reduced-gravity shallow-water equation on a beta plane, subjected to a sinusoidally varying wind forcing leading to the formation of a double gyre circulation. As expected the dynamics of the numerical solutions are highly dependent on the grid resolution and the given numerical algorithm. In particular, the statistics of the solutions are critically dependent on the scheme's ability to resolve the Rossby deformation radius. We present a method, applicable to any finite-difference scheme, which effectively increases the spatial resolution of the given algorithm without changing its temporal stability or memory requirements. This enslaving method makes use of properties of the governing equations in the absence of time derivatives to reduce the overall truncation error. By examining statistical measures of stochastic solutions at resolutions near the Rossby radius, we show that the enslaved schemes are capable of reproducing statistics of standard schemes computed at twice the resolution.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received 29 August 1996 and accepted 6 March 1997
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jones, D., Poje, A. & Margolin, L. Resolution Effects and Enslaved Finite-Difference Schemes for a Double Gyre, Shallow-Water Model . Theoret. Comput. Fluid Dynamics 9, 269–280 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001620050044
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001620050044