High grid resolution and parallelized tsunami simulation with fully nonlinear Boussinesq equations

• Published in: Computers & fluids Vol. 40; no. 1; pp. 258 - 268
• Main Authors: Pophet, Nuttita, Kaewbanjak, Narongrit, Asavanant, Jack, Ioualalen, Mansour
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Boussinesq equations; Coastal; Computation; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer simulation; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Domain decomposition; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Mathematical models; Memory and file management (including protection and security); Memory organisation. Data processing; Microprocessors; MPI; Parallel; Physics of the oceans; Sciences of the Universe; Software; Spatial resolution; Surface waves, tides and sea level. Seiches; Tsunami; Tsunamis; Wave propagation; Tsunami; Parallel; Domain decomposition; Spatial resolution; MPI; localization; Grid; Calculator cluster; Boussinesq model; Distributed computing; Modeling; Distributed memory; Boussinesq equation; Message passing interface; Load balancing; Time allocation; high resolution; Capability index; High performance; Parallel algorithm; Long wave; computer networks; Distributed system; Distributed shared memory; Workstation; Communicating process; Message passing; Storage management; tsunamis; Non linear effect; methodology; Central unit
• ISSN: 0045-7930; 1879-0747
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compfluid.2010.09.030

Numerical simulation of tsunami propagation in large basin across the ocean demands significantly high computational capability in terms of CPU time and memory allocation. Due to this limitation, the use of sequential codes in a single scientific workstation is possible only for small-scale tsunami problem. To overcome this difficulty, a parallel Boussinesq wave model is developed based on the original FUNWAVE sequential model for efficient simulation of long wave propagation, coastal inundation and runup. The numerical resolution is decomposed into small sub-domains using domain decomposition technique for each processor to perform the calculations. The wave information is exchanged between processors via message passing interface (MPI). We show the effectiveness of this parallel code on distributed- and shared-memory computer clusters in simulating two tsunami events: the 2004 Indian Ocean and the 1999 Vanuatu tsunamis. Communication in the overlapping domains and load balancing in the partitioned domains are considered to ensure the efficiency of this method. It is found that the performance of the parallel model for both large- and small-scale tsunami problems is very satisfactory. Finally, the parallel model is applied to a spatial hierarchical grids methodology for a location-specific numerical simulation. Grid sensitivity and improved simulation results for runups along Phang Nga coastline from Takua Thung to Khao Lak are presented.