Changeset 2894

Timestamp:

May 17, 2006, 2:20:00 PM (18 years ago)

Author:

ole

Message:

Added background to user guide

File:

• documentation/user_manual/anuga_user_manual.tex (modified) (1 diff)

documentation/user_manual/anuga_user_manual.tex

@@ -163 +163 @@
 \pagebreak
 \chapter{Background}
+
+
+Modelling the effects on the built environment of natural hazards such
+as riverine flooding, storm surges and tsunami is critical for
+understanding their economic and social impact on our urban
+communities.  Geoscience Australia and the Australian National
+University are developing a hydrodynamic inundation modelling tool
+called \anuga to help simulate the impact of these hazards.
+
+The core of \anuga is the fluid dynamics module, called pyvolution,
+which is based on a finite-volume method for solving the shallow water
+wave equation.  The study area is represented by a mesh of triangular
+cells.  By solving the governing equation within each cell, water
+depth and horizontal momentum are tracked over time.
+
+A major capability of pyvolution is that it can model the process of
+wetting and drying as water enters and leaves an area.  This means
+that it is suitable for simulating water flow onto a beach or dry land
+and around structures such as buildings.  Pyvolution is also capable
+of modelling hydraulic jumps due to the ability of the finite-volume
+method to accommodate discontinuities in the solution.
+
+To set up a particular scenario the user specifies the geometry
+(bathymetry and topography), the initial water level, boundary
+conditions such as tide, and any forcing terms that may drive the
+system such as wind stress or atmospheric pressure gradients.
+Frictional resistance from the different terrains in the model is
+represented by predefined forcing terms.
+
+A mesh generator, called pmesh, allows the user to set up the geometry
+of the problem interactively and to identify boundary segments and
+regions using symbolic tags.  These tags may then be used to set the
+actual boundary conditions and attributes for different regions
+(e.g. the Manning friction coefficient) for each simulation.
+
+Most \anuga components are written in the object-oriented programming
+language Python.  Software written in Python can be produced quickly
+and can be readily adapted to changing requirements throughout its
+lifetime.  Computationally intensive components are written for
+efficiency in C routines working directly with the Numerical Python
+structures.  The animation tool developed for \anuga is based on
+OpenSceneGraph, an Open Source Software (OSS) component allowing high
+level interaction with sophisticated graphics primitives.
+
+See \cite{nielsen2005} and \cite{roberts1999} for more background on \anuga.
+
 
 \chapter{Getting Started}