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Mesh generation in archipelagos

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Abstract

A new mesh size field is presented that is specifically designed for efficient meshing of highly irregular oceanic domains: archipelagos. The new approach is based on the standard mesh size field that uses the proximity to the nearest coastline. Here, the proximities to the two nearest coastlines are used to calculate the distance between two islands or the width of a strait through an archipelago. The local value of the mesh size field is taken as the width (or distance between two islands) divided by the number of required elements across the strait (or between the islands). This new mesh size fields are illustrated for three examples: (1) the Aegean Sea, (2) the Indonesian Archipelago, and (3) the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

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Notes

  1. The Aegean Sea was traditionally known as Archipelago (A ρχ ιπ ελ αγ o ς in Greek). The general sense of which has since changed to refer to the Aegean Islands and, generally, to any island group because the Aegean Sea is remarkable for its large number of islands.

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Acknowledgement

This study received funding support from Arcticnet.

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Correspondence to Arjen Douwe Terwisscha van Scheltinga.

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Responsible Editor: Mohamed Iskandarani

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Multi-scale modelling of coastal, shelf and global ocean dynamics

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van Scheltinga, A.D.T., Myers, P.G. & Pietrzak, J.D. Mesh generation in archipelagos. Ocean Dynamics 62, 1217–1228 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-012-0559-z

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