Setting up and running GeoClaw

Setting up and running GeoClaw#

This is a rough outline with some pointers to existing documentation and examples. More will be added.

See also the GeoClaw documentation and Other learning resources.

Things to set/adjust in setrun.py#

See also

Copalis Beach setrun description for an annotated setrun script explaining the commonly changed parameters.

Computational domain#

  • How large should it be? (Outflow boundaries)

  • Should edges be adjusted so that cells on some fine level are aligned to match some desired grid?

Choosing grid resolutions and refinement factors#

  • How coarse should the initial (Level 1) grid be?

  • How many AMR levels are needed, what refinement factors are best?

Topography DEMs (topofiles)#

Adjusting background sea level#

  • Relation to vertical datum of the topography files.

  • Choice of tide level for simulation(s), e.g. MHW is often used for modeling onshore inundation, MLW for modeling drawdown in marinas.

  • Incorporating future sea level projections.

  • Setting sea_level documentation

  • How sea_level is adjusted by ground deformation for initializing water level on fine grids, see Set Eta Init documentation

Specifying ground motion (dtopofiles)#

Refinement criteria and flagregions#

Duration of simulation and time between outputs#

  • Size of output files, ascii vs binary output

  • Time frame output (full AMR solution) vs. fgout output (on fixed grids)

  • Choice of Courant number, cfl_desired

Synthetic gauges#

  • Centering gauges in grid cells

  • Capturing pre-seismic and/or final topography at gauge points

  • When to turn gauges on

  • General Gauges documentation

fgmax grids to capture maxima#

  • Centering fgmax grid points in computational grid cells

  • What levels to monitor, when to turn on

  • Capturing pre-seismic and/or final topography at grid points

  • Fixed grid monitoring documentation

fgout grids for frequent output on fixed grids#

Bottom friction and the Manning Coefficient#

Other topics#

Initializing some land below sea level as dry#

Land that is behind a dike or levee should be forced to be dry initially. This can be done with a force_dry array.

Initializing some land above sea level as wet#

A lake that is near the coast may have an initial surface elevation that is different from sea_level.

Adding river flow, precipitation, overland flooding#

Landslide generated tsunamis#

Running GeoClaw#

Basic workflow and output#

See also

Using OpenMP, how many threads?#

Checkpoint files and restarts#

Running on cluster / supercomputer#

Contents