Projection finite volume method for shallow water flows

A simple and accurate projection finite volume method is developed for solving shallow water equations in two space dimensions. The proposed approach belongs to the class of fractional-step procedures where the numerical fluxes are reconstructed using the method of characteristics, while an Eulerian method is used to discretize the conservation equations in a finite volume framework. The method is conservative and it combines advantages of the method of characteristics to accurately solve the shallow water flows with an Eulerian finite volume method to discretize the equations. Numerical results are presented for several applications in rotating shallow water problems. The aim of such a method compared to the conventional finite volume methods is to solve shallow water equations efficiently and with an appropriate level of accuracy. (C) 2015 International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (IMACS). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.