Atmospheric Modeling with High-Order Finite-Volume Methods

Atmospheric Modeling with High-Order Finite-Volume Methods by Paul Aaron Ullrich Chair: Christiane Jablonowski This thesis demonstrates the versatility of high-order finite-volume methods for atmospheric general circulation models. In many research areas, these numerical methods have been shown to be robust and accurate, and further have many properties which make them desirable for modeling atmospheric dynamics. However, there have been few attempts to implement high-order methods in atmospheric models, and none that use finite-volume methods. High-order methods are desirable for future model development due to their superior wave propagation properties and necessity when using adaptive mesh refinement. The thesis describes in detail a hierarchy of atmospheric models that utilize highorder finite-volume methods. The hierarchy includes a 2D shallow-water model, both 2D and 3D non-hydrostatic models and a 3D non-hydrostatic dynamical core in spherical geometry. These models span atmospheric motions that range from the microscale, mesoscale to the global-scale regime while essentially leaving the under-