American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals		 AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article    Cited by

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 101, NO. C9, PAGES 20,877–20,881, 1996

Properties of nonuniform grids used in ocean general circulation models

A. M. Treguier

Laboratoire de Physique des Océans, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer, CNRS-UBO, Plouzane, France


J. K. Dukowicz

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico


K. Bryan

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey


Abstract

Ocean general circulation models frequently use nonuniform grids, especially in the vertical direction. This paper clarifies the implications of using such grids on the consistency and accuracy of numerical schemes. It is emphasized that numerical schemes maintain their order of accuracy on a nonuniform grid provided the grid can be related to a smooth mapping. Additional metric terms appear in the truncation error, which should not be interpreted simply as a numerical diffusion.

Received 5 June 1995; accepted 4 June 1996.

Read Full Article    Cited by

Citation: Treguier, A. M., J. K. Dukowicz, and K. Bryan (1996), Properties of nonuniform grids used in ocean general circulation models, J. Geophys. Res., 101(C9), 20,877–20,881.