MATLAB-based application for generating automatic unstructured meshes for coastal ocean modeling
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Unstructured mesh generation/discretization is one of the important steps in coastal ocean modeling. Often, the generation of these meshes is complex and time-intensive because of the large domain size, the complicated geometric features, and the large volume of required input data. So, we have developed a MATLAB-based application that automatically generates unstructured meshes for coastal ocean modeling based on minimal user input, which makes use of a library of high-resolution, publicly available data sets. Specifically, the application retrieves the required input data from the Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography (GSHHG) Database and The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Database. Based on this data and user input, the application either automatically generates a new mesh or creates a new mesh from an existing library of pre-processed meshes, helping the user save time and effort. The mesh generation aspect of this application is mainly built upon the ADMESH+ software package with a few improvements. The developed meshes from this application can be used in an ocean modeling framework such as ADCIRC. We will discuss several meshes of shallow water domains created by this application.