To continue or discontinue: Comparisons of continuous and discontinuous Galerkin formulations in a spectral element ocean model

The discontinuous Galerkin method is implemented in the spectral element ocean model to replace a continuous Galerkin discretization of the continuity and the tracer evolution equations. The aim is to improve the model’s local conservation properties, and thus its performance in advection-dominated flows. The new model is validated against several oceanic benchmark problems, particularly ones that feature frontal structures and under-resolved features. Comparisons confirm the advantages of the DGM, including enhanced model robustness.