On the Schwarz Alternating Method for Oceanic Models on Parallel Computers

✍ Scribed by L. Debreu; E. Blayo

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 231 KB
• Volume: 141
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9991
• DOI: 10.1006/jcph.1998.5898

✦ Synopsis

In this paper we examine the application of a domain decomposition method to the solution of Poisson and Helmholtz equations often involved in the oceanic models. By studying a theoretical convergence rate of the method in the case of two subdomains (which can be generalized to some extent to the N-subdomains case), we can link some numerical properties of the method to physical features of the model ocean circulation. In particular, the peculiar role of the barotropic mode with respect to baroclinic modes is discussed. The tuning of the different parameters involved in a practical implementation of this Schwarz alternating method is also addressed for the case of a quasi-geostrophic oceanic model. Some CPU-timings are presented. On 16 processors of a CRAY T3D, the parallel code runs as fast as the sequential version does on a CRAY C90.