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9.8.4 Old biharmonic algorithm

The following algorithm summarizes the steps used to compute the biharmonic friction vector in MOM prior to Summer 1999. This method for non-constant viscosities was incorrect as it distributed the viscosity only on the second part of the calculation, rather than evenly as necessitated by the constraints of kinetic energy dissipation (Section 9.5.2). Hence, this approach may lead to problems with non-constant viscosities, although none have been found, and it is thought that the differences will be small.

For spherical coordinates in MOM, the following steps are taken:


next up previous contents
Next: About this document ... Up: 9.8 Old friction implementation Previous: 9.8.3 Meridional friction
RC Pacanowski and SM Griffies, GFDL, Jan 2000