A Wet/Dry Point Treatment Method of FVCOM, Part I: Stability Experiments

A 3-dimensional wet/dry point treatment method was developed for the unstructured-grid Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). Analytical equations were derived to examine discretized errors that occurred during the flooding/drying process by the wet/dry point treatment for the flooding/drying process. Numerical experiments were carried out for an idealized estuary, including the inter-tidal zone. The model results show that if the ratio of internal to external mode time steps (I-split) is appropriately selected, FVCOM was capable of simulating the flooding/drying process with sufficient accuracy to ensure the mass conservation. The up-bound limit of I-split was restricted by the bathymetric slope of the inter-tidal zone, external mode time step, horizontal/vertical resolution, and amplitude of tidal forcing at the open boundary, as well as the thickness of the viscous layer specified in the model. Criteria for time steps via these parameters were derived from these experiments, which provide a helpful guide in selecting I-split for applying FVCOM to realistic geometric estuaries.