Use of a Movable Nested-Mesh Model for Tracking a Small Vortex

Abstract

The mesh nesting strategy proposed by Kurihara et al.(1979) was used to construct a movable, nested-mesh, 11-level primitive equation model. The framework of the model is described in detail. With the use of a triply nested mesh system with 1°,?° and ?° longitude-latitude resolution, a small intense dry vortex in a zonal flow of 10 m s-1 was successfully advected for 48 h. The shape of the vortex was well preserved during the time integration which involved over 50 movements of the innermost mesh. The noise, which was excited when a mesh moved, was suppressed in ?4 min after the movement. For comparison. the results from similar experiments performed with reduced inner mesh resolutions are also presented.