Automatic, unstructured mesh generation for tidal calculations in a large domain

An automated procedure is described for the production of unstructured, finite element meshes to perform depth-integrated, hydrodynamic calculations in an ocean-scale, two-dimensional domain. Three relatively coarse meshes with nearly identical boundaries are automatically produced by basing internal size guidelines on a localized truncation error analysis that was performed using results from a highly resolved mesh. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons of model performance are made at 150 historical tidal stations. The coarsest mesh is shown to meet or exceed the overall accuracy of the other meshes, including a highly resolved mesh that has over six times as many computational points. The automated procedure quickly and easily produces a computationally efficient and accurate finite element mesh that is reproducible. In addition, the methodology is shown to have potential for assessing the importance and accuracy of and bathymetric details and evaluating historical hydrodynamic data.

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