Section: Application Domains

Geophysical flows

Reduced models like the shallow water equations are particularly well-adapted to the modelling of geophysical flows since there are characterized by large time or/and space scales. For long time simulations, the preservation of equilibria is essential as global solutions are a perturbation around them. The analysis and the numerical preservation of non-trivial equilibria, more precisely when the velocity does not vanish, are still a challenge. In the fields of oceanography and meteorology, the numerical preservation of the so-called geostrophic quasisteady state, which is the balance between the gravity field and the Coriolis force, can significantly improve the forecasts. In addition, data assimilation is required to improve the simulations and correct the dissipative effect of the numerical scheme.

The sediment transport modelling is of major interest in terms of applications, in particular to estimate the sustainability of facilities with silt or scour, such as canals and bridges. Dredging or filling-up operations are costly and generally not efficient in long term. The objective is to determine a configuration almost stable with the facilities. In addition, it is also important to determine the impact of major events like emptying dam which is aimed at evacuating the sediments in the dam reservoir and requires a large discharge. However, the downstream impact should be measured in terms of turbidity, river morphology and flood.