planar_convergence

The planar_convergence test group implements convergence studies for doubly periodic, planar meshes. Currently, the only test case is the horizontal advection of a Gaussian tracer.

shared config options

Config options shared by all test cases include:

# Options related to the vertical grid
[vertical_grid]

# the type of vertical grid
grid_type = uniform

# Number of vertical levels
vert_levels = 3

# Depth of the bottom of the ocean
bottom_depth = 300.0

# The type of vertical coordinate (e.g. z-level, z-star)
coord_type = z-star

# Whether to use "partial" or "full", or "None" to not alter the topography
partial_cell_type = None

# The minimum fraction of a layer for partial cells
min_pc_fraction = 0.1

# options for planar convergence test cases
[planar_convergence]

# a list of resolutions (km) to test
resolutions = 2, 4, 8, 16, 32

# number of mesh cells in x and y for 1 km resolution.  Other resolutions have
# the same physical size.  The default is approximately square, because of the
# staggering of the hex mesh.
nx_1km = 512
ny_1km = 640

# the number of cells per core to aim for
goal_cells_per_core = 300

# the approximate maximum number of cells per core (the test will fail if too
# few cores are available)
max_cells_per_core = 3000

# time step at 1 km.  dt at other resolutions is proportional to the resolution
dt_1km = 15

# the duration (hours) of the run
duration = 24

resolutions

To alter the resolutions used in this test, you will need to create your own config file (or add a planar_convergence section to a config file if you’re already using one). The resolutions are a comma-separated list of the uniform resolution of the mesh in km. If you specify a different list before setting up horizontal_advection, steps will be generated with the requested resolutions. (If you alter resolutions in the test case’s config file in the work directory, nothing will happen.)

time step

The time step for forward integration is determined by multiplying the resolution by dt_1km, so that coarser meshes have longer time steps. You can alter this before setup (in a user config file) or before running the test case (in the config file in the work directory).

cores

The number of cores (and the minimum) is proportional to the number of cells, so that the number of cells per core is roughly constant. You can alter how many cells are allocated to each core with goal_cells_per_core. You can control the maximum number of cells that are allowed to be placed on a single core (before the test case will fail) with max_cells_per_core. If there aren’t enough processors to handle the finest resolution, you will see that the step (and therefore the test case) has failed.

horizontal_advection

The horizontal_advection test case implements horizontal advection in a constant velocity field of a Gaussian tracer. The domain is periodic in both x and y, and the flow field is designed to return the tracer to its original location at the center of the domain in 24 hours. The time step is proportional to the grid-cell size.

By default, the resolution is varied from 2 km to 32 km by powers of 2. The result of the analysis step of the test case is a plot like the following showing convergence as a function of the number of cells:

config options

The horizontal_advection config options include:

# options for planar horizontal advection test case
[horizontal_advection]

# Temperature (deg C) of the ocean
temperature = 15.0

# Salinity (PSU) of the surface of the ocean
salinity = 35.0

# center of the tracer gaussian (km)
x_center = 0.
y_center = 0.

# width of gaussian tracer "blob" (km)
gaussian_width = 50

# whether to advect in x, y, or both
advect_x = True
advect_y = True

# convergence threshold below which the test fails
conv_thresh = 1.9

# Convergence rate above which a warning is issued
conv_max = 2.3

The x_center, y_center and gaussian_width are used to control properties of the Gaussian tracer. temperature and salinity are constant background properties.