Sanjay Sen

Methods of Ocean Simulation

Abstract

This thesis analyses current methods of ocean simulation. The two models under consideration have been chosen to be the Gerstner wave model and the fft-statistical model. Using various research such as Tessendorf (2001), Fournier and Reeves (1986), Jensen and Goliáš (2008) a conceptual understanding of various ideas are broken down in order to fully develop the functionality required in designing a computer program. This is taken forward by uncovering the underlying mathematical concepts coupled with mathematical theory and oceanographic observations. Both the fft-statistical and the Gerstner ocean model have been successfully integrated into the 3D application using C++ and the NCCA’s NGL library and also has a dependency on the FFTW library in order to achieve optimized run time speeds. The fft simulation can use up to 256x256 resolution grid at real time and up to 1024x1024 waves, all entirely run off the CPU. This thesis forms the foundations to create a realistic simulation with a wide scope to extend with further functionality relevant to oceanic phenomena.