Adaptive Mesh Multi-Scale Modelling of Tidal Hydraulics and Material Transport

Abstract

Multi-scale modelling for structured meshes is achieved by nesting high resolution grids within lower resolution grids. By specifying high resolutions in areas of interest only, computational cost can be reduced. Adaptive meshing can further optimise computational cost by allowing nested grids to change size and position in order to track a feature of interest such as a pollutant. This paper presents details of an adaptive mesh, multi-scale model for tidal hydraulics and mass transport in coastal waters. The model was used to simulate coliform discharges from a wastewater treatment plant in Galway Bay, Ireland. Results proved that the model is capable of predicting mass transport to a high degree of accuracy and that adaptive meshing provides an efficient alternative to the classical static grid nesting approach.