Finite-volume scheme time integration

In these equations fi is the coluirm mass of dry air, V is the velocity (u, v, w), and (jf) is a scalar mixing ratio. These equations are discretized in a finite volume formulation, and as a result the model exactly (to machine roundoff) conserves mass and scalar mass. The discrete model transport is also consistent (the discrete scalar conservation equation collapses to the mass conservation equation when = 1) and preserves tracer correlations (c.f. Lin and Rood (1996)). The ARW model uses a spatially 5th order evaluation of the horizontal flux divergence (advection) in the scalar conservation equation and a 3rd order evaluation of the vertical flux divergence coupled with the 3rd order Runge-Kutta time integration scheme. The time integration scheme and the advection scheme is described in Wicker and Skamarock (2002). Skamarock et al. (2005) also modified the advection to allow for positive definite transport. 

The finite approximations to be used in the discretization process have to be selected. In a finite difference method, approximations for the derivatives at the grid points have to be selected. In a finite volume method, one has to select the methods of approximating surface and volume integrals. In a weighted residual method, one has to select appropriate trail - and weighting functions. A compromise between simplicity, ease of implementation, accuracy and computational efficiency has to be made. For the low order finite difference- and finite volume methods, at least second order discretization schemes (both in time and space) are recommended. For the WRMs, high order approximations are normally employed. 

Eq. (B.l). Thus, as a first step, we need to consider the volume-average form of Eq. (B.l) or, equivalently, the volume-average forms of the individual terms in Eqs. (B.2)-(B.5). Using a single-stage Euler explicit time-integration scheme (Leveque, 2002), the finite-volume expression for the updated NDF has the form ... 

Equation (125) was integrated on the surface to obtain the finite volume discretization formula. This equation was advanced in time using a fully explicit centered scheme for both the adveetive and the diffusive terms. The adsorption and desorption flux was treated semi-implicitly. 

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