On an Efficient Scheme for the Numerical Integration of a Primitive-Equation Barotropic Model

Abstract

A new scheme is presented for the numerical integration of the quasi-static system of hydrodynamical equations. The main advantage of the proposed method is its efficiency for the economical production of short-range, high-resolution meteorological forecasts. The method combines an implicit formulation of the linear non-advective processes and a staggered spatial-temporal arrangement of the dependent variables upon the calculation lattice. Results of experimental integrations using a free-surface barotropic model are presented. These results confirm the theoretical order-of-magnitude reduction in computation time by the new method as compared with the conventional explicit method.