libmpdata++ 1.0: a library of parallel MPDATA solvers for systems of generalised transport equations

• Published in: Geoscientific Model Development Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 1005 - 1032
• Main Authors: Jaruga, A, Arabas, S, Jarecka, D, Pawlowska, H, Smolarkiewicz, P. K, Waruszewski, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 08.04.2015; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Advection; Algorithms; Benchmarks; Boundary conditions; Boussinesq approximation; Boussinesq equations; C++ (programming language); Cartesian coordinates; Code reuse; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Containers; Convection; Coordinate transformations; Dimensions; Domain decomposition methods; Evaluation; Exact solutions; Fluid flow; Flux corrected transport; Freeware; Incompressible flow; Inheritances; Instability; Interface stability; Libraries; Manuals; Mathematical models; Open source software; Pressure gradients; Shallow water; Solvers; Source code; Structured grids (mathematics); Transport; Transport equations; Velocity
• ISSN: 1991-9603; 1991-959X; 1991-962X; 1991-9603; 1991-962X
• DOI: 10.5194/gmd-8-1005-2015

This paper accompanies the first release of libmpdata++, a C++ library implementing the multi-dimensional positive-definite advection transport algorithm (MPDATA) on regular structured grid. The library offers basic numerical solvers for systems of generalised transport equations. The solvers are forward-in-time, conservative and non-linearly stable. The libmpdata++ library covers the basic second-order-accurate formulation of MPDATA, its third-order variant, the infinite-gauge option for variable-sign fields and a flux-corrected transport extension to guarantee non-oscillatory solutions. The library is equipped with a non-symmetric variational elliptic solver for implicit evaluation of pressure gradient terms. All solvers offer parallelisation through domain decomposition using shared-memory parallelisation. The paper describes the library programming interface, and serves as a user guide. Supported options are illustrated with benchmarks discussed in the MPDATA literature. Benchmark descriptions include code snippets as well as quantitative representations of simulation results. Examples of applications include homogeneous transport in one, two and three dimensions in Cartesian and spherical domains; a shallow-water system compared with analytical solution (originally derived for a 2-D case); and a buoyant convection problem in an incompressible Boussinesq fluid with interfacial instability. All the examples are implemented out of the library tree. Regardless of the differences in the problem dimensionality, right-hand-side terms, boundary conditions and parallelisation approach, all the examples use the same unmodified library, which is a key goal of libmpdata++ design. The design, based on the principle of separation of concerns, prioritises the user and developer productivity. The libmpdata++ library is implemented in C++, making use of the Blitz++ multi-dimensional array containers, and is released as free/libre and open-source software.