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Publication Date
1 December 2018

Impact and Importance of Hyperdiffusion on the Spectral Element Method: A Linear Dispersion Analysis

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Hyperviscosity is demonstrably important for eliminating spectral gaps and improving the treatment of waves
Science

Hyperdiffusion is used in atmospheric models to eliminate spurious, unphysical noise that emerges from the way numerical methods represent the atmosphere.  This paper uses a theoretical analysis to compute the optimal amount of hyperdiffusion needed by atmospheric models using the spectral element method (such as E3SM's dynamical core).

Impact

Determination of an optimal hyperdiffusion coefficient allows us to minimize diffusive errors and computational cost while maximizing the accuracy of the model’s dynamical core.

Summary

This paper targets the calculation of a theoretically optimal hyperdiffusion coefficient for use in the DOE Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) non-hydrostatic spectral-element dynamical core.  The selection of such a coefficient would be effective at eliminating the spectral gap and improving the accuracy of the dynamical core.

Point of Contact
Paul Ullrich
Institution(s)
University of California Davis (UC Davis)
Funding Program Area(s)
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