Normal Mode Analysis of the Chesapeake Bay Using COMSOL Multiphysics

Abstract A Normal Mode Analysis (NMA) of the Chesapeake Bay was performed using Neumann boundary conditions and COMSOL MultiPhysics (formerly known as FEMLAB). The lowest 100 eigenstates were calculated and compared to a finite difference solution. Based on the normal modes derived numerically, surface current vector fields can be calculated. The vector fields of the Chesapeake Bay provide tools for the solution of problems such as the diffusion of pollutants, tracking of crab spat, particle transport (bio-terrorism), as well as providing a basis set for decomposing real-time currents. Given the difficulty of the boundary, attempts to measure the error in the calculation included tests for orthogonality within the basis set, convergence of the eigenvalue as a function of grid chosen and a comparison to a finite difference calculation for a similar sized grid. Keywords Normal Mode Analysis

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: CSC
• Authors: Kevin McIlhany, Reza Malek-Madani, Grant Gillary
• Keywords: Chesapeake Bay, CSC 2006, CSC 2007, Normal Mode, Normal Mode Analysis