MIKE21 HD Module

MIKE 21 FLOW MODEL
Hydrodynamic Module
User Guide
DHI Software 2007

Software development by : LSS
Written by: AJS
G:\f-share\MikeZero\new\source\manuals\M21\m21hd\Cover.fm 22 January 2007 6:21 am
2
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Printing History
June 2004
August 2005
November 2006
3
4 MIKE 21 HD
CONTENTS
5
1 ABOUT THIS GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.2 Assumed User Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 General Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Application Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3 EXAMPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Wind set-up in a rectangular lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2.1 Defining the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2.2 Extracting Data for Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.2.3 Evaluating the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 Donegal Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3.1 Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3.2 Defining the Hydrodynamic Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.3.3 Collecting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3.4 Setting Up the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3.5 Calibrating and Verifying the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3.6 Running the Production Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3.7 Presenting the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3.8 List of Data and Specification Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.4 Turtle Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.4.1 General Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.4.2 About the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4.3 Data and Specification Files Supplied with This Example . . . . 25
4 BASIC PARAMETERS DIALOG OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.1 Module Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.1.1 HD Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2 Bathymetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.3 Simulation Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.4 Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.5 Source and Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.6 Mass Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.7 Flood and Dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5 DIALOG OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.1 Initial Surface Elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.2 Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3 Source and Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3.1 Evaporation and precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6 MIKE 21 HD
5.4 Eddy Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.5 Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.6 Wave Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.7 Wind Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.8 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6 REFERENCE MANUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1 Bathymetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1.1 General Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1.2 Selecting the Model Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1.3 Selecting the Grid Spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.1.4 Selecting the Reference Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.1.5 Specifying the Bathymetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.1.6 Sign convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.1.7 Additional Area Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.1.8 Landslide option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.2 Bed Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6.2.2 Specifying the Bed Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6.2.3 Recommended values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.2.4 Remarks and Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.3 Blow-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.4 Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6.4.2 Specifying the Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6.4.3 User specified boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.4.4 Recommended selections and values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.5 Chezy Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.6 Courant Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6.6.2 Recommended value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6.7 CPU Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6.7.1 Factors Influencing the CPU Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6.8 Disk Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.8.1 Small Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
6.8.2 Large Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6.9 Eddy Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.9.2 Specifying the Eddy Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7
6.10 Evaporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.11 Flooding and Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.11.2 Specifying Flooding and Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.11.3 Recommended values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.12 Friction Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.13 Hot Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.13.2 Specifying the Hot Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.14 Initial Surface Elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.15 Inundation statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.16 Manning Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.17 Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.18 Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.18.2 Specification of Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.19 Pier Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.19.2 Specifying the Pier Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.20 Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.21 Simulation Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.22 Smagorinsky Formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.23 Soft Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.23.2 Specifying Soft Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.24 Source and Sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.24.2 Specifying Sources and Sinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.25 Standard vs. nested HD module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6.25.2 Nested Bathymetries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
6.25.3 Nested Model Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.25.4 Pre- and Post-Processing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.26 Time Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.26.1 Selecting the Time Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
8 MIKE 21 HD
6.27 Wave Radiation Stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.27.2 Specifying the Wave Radiation Stresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.28 Wind Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
6.28.2 Specifying the Wind Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
6.28.3 Specifying the Wind Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.29 List of References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
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10 MIKE 21 HD
Purpose
1 ABOUT THIS GUIDE
1.1 Purpose
The main purpose of this User Guide is to get you started in the use of
MIKE 21 Flow Model, Hydrodynamic Module (HD), for applications of
hydraulic phenomena in lakes, estuaries, bays, coastal areas and seas. It
may be applied wherever stratification can be neglected.
This User Guide is complemented by the Online Help.
1.2 Assumed User Background

Although the hydrodynamic module has been designed carefully with
emphasis on a logical and user-friendly interface, and although the User
Guide and Online Help contains modelling procedures and a large amount
of reference material, common sense is always needed in any practical
application.
In this case, “common sense” means a background in coastal hydraulics

and oceanography, which is sufficient for you to be able to check whether
the results are reasonable or not. This User Guide is not intended as a sub-
stitute for a basic knowledge of the area in which you are working: mathe-
matical modelling of hydraulic phenomena.
11
About This Guide
12 MIKE 21 HD
General Description
2 INTRODUCTION
2.1 General Description

MIKE 21 Flow Model is a modeling system for 2D free-surface flows.
MIKE 21 Flow Model is applicable to the simulation of hydraulic and
environmental phenomena in lakes, estuaries, bays, coastal areas and seas.
It may be applied wherever stratification can be neglected.
The hydrodynamic (HD) module is the basic module in the MIKE 21

Flow Model. It provides the hydrodynamic basis for the computations per-
formed in the Environmental Hydraulics modules.
The hydrodynamic module simulates water level variations and flows in

response to a variety of forcing functions in lakes, estuaries and coastal
regions. The effects and facilities include:
z bottom shear stress

z wind shear stress
z barometric pressure gradients
z Coriolis force
z momentum dispersion
z sources and sinks
z evaporation
z flooding and drying
z wave radiation stresses
2.1.1 Application Areas

MIKE 21 Flow Model, Hydrodynamic Module, can be applied to a
wide range of hydraulic and related phenomena. This includes:
z modelling of tidal hydraulics

z wind and wave generated currents
z storm surges
As mentioned previously, the MIKE 21 HD output results are also used as
input for many of the other MIKE 21 modules such as the Advection-Dis-
persion module (AD), the Sediment Transport (ST, MT), the Particle
tracking (PA) and the Environment module (ECOLab).
13
Introduction
As MIKE 21 HD is a very general hydraulic model, it can easily be set up

to describe specific hydraulic phenomena. Examples of such applications
are:
z secondary circulations, eddies and vortices

z harbour seiching
z dam-break
z tsunamis
14 MIKE 21 HD
General
3 EXAMPLES
3.1 General
One of the best ways of learning how to use a modelling system like the
MIKE 21 Flow Model is through practice. Therefore examples are
included which you can go through yourself and which you can modify, if
you like, in order to see what happens if one or other parameter is
changed.
The specification files for the examples are included with the installation
of MIKEZero. A directory is provided for each example. The directory
names are as follows (these may have been changed at your installation;
please ask your system administrator if you cannot find the directories):
z Wind set-up example:

.\MIKEZero\Examples\MIKE_21\FlowModel\HD\Lake
z Donegal Bay, Water circulation example:
.\MIKEZero\Examples\MIKE_21\FlowModel\HD\DonegalBay
z Turtle Bay, Nested model example:
.\MIKEZero\Examples\MIKE_21\FlowModel\HD\TurtleBay
z The Sound (Øresund), Denmark, From scratch to calibrated model
example:
.\MIKEZero\Examples\MIKE21\FlowModel\HD\Sound
NOTE: The Sound example is described in a separate pdf-file that can be
found in the (default) DHI Software installation at
c:\Program Files\DHI\MIKEZero\Manuals\MIKE_21\Flow-
model\HD\MIKE21_HD_Step_by_Step.pdf.
3.2 Wind set-up in a rectangular lake

3.2.1 Defining the Model
This example has been chosen as a fairly simple one, so that it is possible
to check the results analytically.
The problem is to determine the wind set-up in a lake.
The test conditions are:
15
Examples
z The lake is rectangular in shape with a length of 5 km in the east/west

direction, and a length of 2 km in the north/south direction, as shown in
Figure 3.1. The lake has a uniform depth of 10 m.
z The lake is connected to the sea by a 100 m wide channel in the middle
of the shore to the west. The sea is assumed to have a constant water
level of 0.0 m. Thus, there is one open boundary.
z A westerly wind of 35 m/s is blowing.
Figure 3.1 Wind set-up in a small lake, model layout
Additional information required by MIKE 21 is:
z The grid spacing, which on the basis of the size of the lake is selected
to be 100 meters.
z The time step, which on the basis of the grid spacing and the water
depth is selected as 20 seconds (corresponding to a Courant Number of
2).
3.2.2 Extracting Data for Plotting

After execution you may extract a time series of surface elevations in
order to see the effect of the wind. The time series extraction tools are
located in the MIKE Zero Toolbox.
The time series of the resulting water depth extracted in point (49, 10) is
plotted in Figure 3.2.
16 MIKE 21 HD
Donegal Bay
Figure 3.2 Time series of the wind set-up in a rectangular lake
3.2.3 Evaluating the Results

The equations on which the calculations are based are given in the Scien-
tific Background Manual. Entering the parameters as you have given them
above and assuming that the model has reached a steady solution, you get
a set-up of 4.058.10-5 m/m. Thus, as the lake is 4900 m long, the total set-
up at the eastern end of the lake under steady state conditions should be
0.20 m. This corresponds closely to the final result given in Figure 3.2.
3.3 Donegal Bay

3.3.1 Purpose of the Study
From the specifications for the study we quote:
"The existing drainage system in Donegal town is a combined sys-

tem which discharges to the River Eske estuary without treatment.
To cater adequately for existing demands and to allow for future

developments of the town proposals have been formulated to refur-
bish and extend the drainage network. The proposals also include
for the construction of a comminution and pumping station and the
discharge of the effluent after comminution only through a new out-
fall fitted with a diffuser and located as shown ..... [to the south west
of the city].
The purpose of .... the study now required is to establish that the
proposals for the disposal of the sewage and industrial effluents
17
Examples
from Donegal town are adequate in terms of protection of the envi-

ronment and public health considerations."
The study was carried out by MCS International, Galway, Ireland with the
assistance of DHI. MCS International has kindly made the hydrodynamic
model, which was set up for this study, available for inclusion in this man-
ual. It should be noted that only part of the work, which was carried out, is
described here.
In order to do the required investigation a number of different MIKE 21

modules had to be applied. However, in this manual only the description
of the water circulation (i.e. the use of the hydrodynamic module, the
MIKE 21 Flow Model) is included.
The purpose of the water circulation study was to predict the current and
water level variations within the estuary for later calculation of the advec-
tion and dispersion of the discharged effluents and calculation of their
effects on the water quality.
3.3.2 Defining the Hydrodynamic Model

The northern part of Donegal Bay including the River Eske estuary is
shown in Figure 3.3. The currents are governed by the tide, while the wind
and, possibly, the outflow from the River Eske might also have an effect.
The model area was chosen based on the following considerations:
z The model is turned 50 degrees relative to true north so that the y-axis
lies parallel to the flow in the main channel running from Donegal
towards the bay. This rotation of the model also reduces the number of
grid points in the model and makes the main flow direction at the
boundary perpendicular to it.
z The boundary is situated not too close to the mouth of the estuary. This
ensures a uniform flow pattern at the boundary. Furthermore, the
boundary can not be situated in the mouth of the estuary itself, as
flooding and drying are not allowed on an open boundary.
18 MIKE 21 HD
Donegal Bay
Figure 3.3 The northern part of Donegal Bay and the model area for the hydro-
dynamic model
A grid spacing of 150 meters was chosen as this was the maximum size,
which could be used to define the tidal channels in the estuary.
The time step was chosen to be 60 seconds, as this results in a maximum

Courant number of 5.9 in the deepest part of the model, and in Courant
numbers of 2 to 3 in the estuary.
3.3.3 Collecting Data

The digitised bathymetry was based on Admiralty Charts Nos. 2715 and
2702.
Tidal measurements, collection of wind data and measurements of flow in

the River Eske were not carried out by MCS International but were pro-
vided by their client.
3.3.4 Setting Up the Model

The digitised model bathymetry is shown in Figure 3.4. Much effort was
spent in its preparation especially in the estuary where all the channels had
to be properly defined. The datum for the bathymetry is the lowest astro-
nomical tide (LAT), which is 2.35 m below mean sea level (MSL).
19
Examples
Figure 3.4 Model bathymetry, Donegal Bay
Simultaneous measurements of the water level close to the open boundary

and near Donegal had been made for a period of a little more than one
tidal cycle. This period was therefore selected as the calibration period. A
tidal range of 2.5 meters with a period of 12.5 hours was measured at the
boundary. During this period the wind was negligible.
Other measurements showed that the spring tide range is 3.5 m and the
neap tide range 1.5 m.
The discharge from the river is normally not very large. For the time of
year when the calibration data were collected, a discharge of 7.15 m3/s is
normal.
3.3.5 Calibrating and Verifying the Model

The model was calibrated so that the simulated and measured water level
variation near Donegal showed a satisfactory agreement. The simulated
water levels are shown in Figure 3.5, while the measured ones are not
available for publication, as, unfortunately, they are included in a report,
which has not been released by MCS Internationals client.
20 MIKE 21 HD
Donegal Bay
Figure 3.5 Flow pattern during verification simulation at Donegal Bay
Most of the calibration work consisted of obtaining a correct schematisa-

tion of the tidal channels in the estuary, while the bed resistance and the
eddy viscosity were not used as calibration parameters.
For the whole model a Manning number of 25 m1/3/s and a constant eddy
viscosity of 3 m2/s was used.
A simulation period of two tidal cycles was selected as this allowed the
model to warm up during the first cycle, while the second could then be
used for comparisons.
3.3.6 Running the Production Simulations

For the later advection/dispersion calculations the flow pattern during
spring tide and neap tide was needed. A conservative estimate of the river
discharge was used for these production simulations (3.27 m3/s corre-
sponding to the minimum discharge). Also a light wind (of 7.52 m/s) from
south was included.
3.3.7 Presenting the Results

One good way of presenting the model bathymetry is by scanning the sea
chart used for the digitisation, running it through the Image Rectifier and
plotting it onto a transparent piece of paper (at the same scale as the plot of
your model bathymetry). In the report you can then include this as the
page preceding the plot of the bathymetry. This makes a comparison of the
"real" bathymetry and the model bathymetry and model results easier.
21
Examples
In addition to plots showing the verification results (as in Figure 3.5),

plots of the flow pattern should be included. Figure 3.6 shows the currents
in the model 3 hours after high tide.
Figure 3.6 Simulated water depths during the verification period at Donegal
Bay
3.3.8 List of Data and Specification Files

The following data files are supplied with MIKE 21:
Name: bathy
Description: Donegal Bay bathymetry
The following specification files were used together with the specified
tasks for running the simulations:
22 MIKE 21 HD
Turtle Bay
File: vermhd.m21
Task: m21hd (Hydrodynamic Models: Standard Hydrodynamics)
Description: Verification simulation
File: sprmhd.m21
Description: Spring tide simulation
File: neapmhd.m21
Description: Neap tide simulation
3.4 Turtle Bay

3.4.1 General Remarks
This example has been chosen as a fairly complex one, involving the
nested hydrodynamic and the nested advection-dispersion modules of the
MIKE 21 Flow Model.
The model set-up includes:
z two-level nesting with an outer 120 m grid and an inner 40 m grid

z source specifications
z flooding and drying since the Turtle Bay is dominated by large tidal
flats
z transfer data for HD boundaries
z conservative, decaying and heat dissipative components
z constant, time series and line series AD boundary specifications.
You may load the specification (i.e. the m21 file, see below) into the
MIKE 21 Flow Model set-up editor and make your own modifications
through the dialogs. However, to be able to run the actual model simula-
tions requires license to the nested hydrodynamic and/or the nested advec-
tion-dispersion modules.
In case you have a license for the nested hydrodynamic module but not for
the nested advection-dispersion module and want to run the corresponding
HD model without the AD, then you may use the sample set-up provided
in the HD-directory of the MIKE 21 Flow Model examples.
23
Examples
3.4.2 About the Model

A few comments are given to the model set-up which aims at demonstrat-
ing HD/AD modelling with three different components (conservative,
decaying and heat dissipative) in a rather complex area exhibiting exten-
sive flooding and drying.
Time step: The time step has been chosen to be 5 sec yielding a maximum
Courant number of approx. 2.1 in the fine grid area.
Bathymetry: Having generated the bathymetry files (using e.g. the

Bathymetry Editor) it is necessary to adjust the regions surrounding the
borders, see the MIKE 21 NHD, Reference Manual. A tool to help the user
doing these adjustments is found in the Hydrodynamics part of the MIKE
21 Toolbox. The resulting type 2 data files are supplied with this example
and plotted in Figure 4.1. The origin of the 40 m fine grid is (31, 40) in
coarse grid coordinates.
Figure 3.7 Nested bathymetries for the Turtle bay example
Boundary conditions: Transfer data has been obtained from a tidal simula-
tion by a regional model covering the above show area by use of the
Transfer Boundary tool in the Hydrodynamics part of the MIKE 21 Tool-
box. The resulting type 1 data files are supplied with this example. The
hydrodynamic model is set-up with these data applying fluxes as primary
boundary variation for the north and east model boundaries and levels as
primary boundary variation on the south model boundary.
24 MIKE 21 HD
Turtle Bay
The AD components on the open boundaries are specified as constants on

the north boundary, as read from a type 0 data file on the south boundary,
and as read from a type 1 data file on the east boundary. These data file
may be created by use of the Time Series Editor and the Profile Series Edi-
tor, respectively.
Eddy viscosity: The velocity based Smagorinsky formulation has been

applied with Smagorinsky coefficients of 0.5 in both areas.
Source specifications: A single constant source has been placed at grid

point (20, 20) in the fine grid.
3.4.3 Data and Specification Files Supplied with This Example

The following data files are supplied with MIKE 21:
Name: m21_c1
Description: Turtle Bay bathymetry, coarse grid
Name: m21_f1
Description: Turtle Bay bathymetry, fine grid
Name: nbnd120lwx
Description: north model boundary
Name: ebnd120lwx
Description: east model boundary
Name: sbnd120lwx
Description: south model boundary
For the AD boundary conditions, the data files of the applied time series
and line series are:
Name: bndts
Description: AD time series boundary data
Name: bndls
Description: AD line series boundary data
The following specification files were used together with the specified
tasks for running the simulations:
File: turtle.m21
Task: m21hd (Hydrodynamic Models: Nested Standard Hydrodynamics)
Description: Simulation using nested bathymetry
25
Examples
26 MIKE 21 HD
Module Selection
4 BASIC PARAMETERS DIALOG OVERVIEW

In this section, you set up the basic parameters for your MIKE 21 Flow
Model simulation. You need to specify parameters for
Module Selection (p. 27)

Bathymetry (p. 28)
Simulation Period (p. 29)
Boundary (p. 30)
Source and Sink (p. 30)
Mass Budget (p. 31)
Flood and Dry (p. 31)
Selections made here determine the structure of the rest of the model setup
editor, ie the required entries for the hydrodynamic module and possible
add-on modules. The tree-view and the number of available dialogues will
expand according to the selections made for the basic parameters.
4.1 Module Selection

You can choose between the following modules:
z Hydrodynamic only, i.e. the HD module alone

z Hydrodynamic and Advection-Dispersion, i.e. the HD and AD mod-
ules
z Hydrodynamic and Mud Transport, i.e. the HD, AD and MT modules
z Hydrodynamic and ECO Lab, i.e. the HD, AD and ECO Lab modules
Except for the first case (HD only) you should select the AD-scheme to be
used in solving the transport equations in the AD, MT and ECO Lab mod-
ules.
If the bathymetry is located significantly above mean sea level it is recom-

mended to enable 'High precision calculation' for the HD calculations.
Otherwise rounding errors may become an issue. Pls. see below for further
information.
4.1.1 HD Calculations
The default numerical scheme in MIKE 21 Flow Model, HD uses single
precision with a rounding error on the 6th digit of the single precision rep-
resentation. Model domains at high altitudes may produce model results
with an order of accuracy insufficient to describe the flow behavior in the
study area.
27
Basic Parameters Dialog Overview
For example, a model domain at an altitude of 1000m above mean sea

level (using default settings) will produce water depths with an accuracy
of ±0.1m. Often results of this accuracy will not be acceptable for eg.
floodplain applications. MIKE 21 does however provide the flexibility to
improve the model accuracy in two ways. You may increase the relative
accuracy of results by either lowering the relative model domain altitude
by subtracting the mean altitude value (using the Grid Edit tool) or use
double precision by enabling 'High precision calculation'. The latter
approach requires significant more internal memory
4.2 Bathymetry
The MIKE 21 Flow Model requires information about the number of
dynamically nested grids to be applied in the simulation. The maximum
number of nested areas is 9. The first area, area number 1, is referred to as
the "main area".
You can start a simulation in two different ways:
z as a cold start
z as a hot start
For a cold start the velocity field is initialized to zero. When choosing this
option you have to specify a type 2 data file for each area, containing the
area bathymetry. Except for the main area you should also specify the ori-
gin of each nested (embedded) area. This is done in terms of the grid coor-
dinates referring to the (sub-) area in which it is embedded (also to be
specified).
An example with a step-by-step description of how to use the Bathymetry

Editor for creating a bathymetry data file is included with the installation.
Please find this example in your installation folder under Exam-
ples\MIKEZero\BatEdit. If you apply nested models, the Border Adjust-
ment tool should be applied to all the bathymetry data files, see the MIKE
21 Toolbox manual.
For modelling the hydraulic effects of a time varying bathymetry you have
to include the landslide option. When choosing this option you have to
specify a type 2 data file containing the time varying bathymetry. Please
note hot files cannot be used with this option. The landslide option can be
used in nested mode, but you have to ensure that the bathymetries satisfy
the rules for nesting at every time step. It is recommended to include the
landslide within one nested grid.
28 MIKE 21 HD
Simulation Period
The hot start facility requires a hot file for each area. These must originate
from a previous simulation. The hot start files contain all necessary infor-
mation to continue a simulation. In this way simulation time can be
reduced if for instance a number of scenarios are to be compared, all based
on the same (hot start) initial conditions.
Additional information describing the area you are about to simulate,

obtained from the header information of the bathymetry/hot file, is:
z The geographical position of the grid origin (main area).
If you are on the southern hemisphere, you should use a negative value for
the latitude.
z The grid orientation is measured clockwise from true north to the y-

axis of your grid.
z The projection zone (e.g. UTM-32) should be specified.
z True land value is the minimum value you have specified for land
points when you prepared the bathymetry.
See also Additional Area Description (p. 45).

See also Nested Bathymetries (p. 76).
4.3 Simulation Period

In this dialog you must specify simulation period information:
z Time step range is the number of time steps the simulation should
cover.
z The time step interval is the amount time is incremented between each
time step (equal for all areas). In case of a hot-started simulation, the
time step is taken from the hot file and cannot be changed.
z The simulation start date is the historical date and time corresponding
to time step zero. In case of a hot-started simulation, the simulation
start date is read from the hot file and cannot be changed.
z The warm-up period is a number of time steps over which the forcing
functions are gradually increased from zero to 100% of their true
value.
Before you leave this dialog, the system will calculate and show the maxi-
mum Courant Number (p. 58) in the model (max. of all nested areas). You
29
should consider reducing the time step if this Courant number exceeds
(say) 8 to 10.
For your information, and as a possible check on parameter specifications,

the simulation end date (and hour) is calculated and shown in the dialog.
4.4 Boundary
The MIKE 21 Flow Model requires you to specify either the surface ele-
vation or the flux at all open boundary points.
When a bathymetry or a 'hot start' file for the main area has been specified
under 'Bathymetry' it is scanned for locating the open boundaries, i.e. they
are "program detected".
In most cases these boundary positions can be used "as is"; but in some
cases the user might want to define the positions himself. This may be due
to borders (internal boundaries), a boundary stretching over a series of
small islands, etc.
For such "user specified" boundaries, you have to specify the number of
open boundaries as well as their locations in terms of first and last (end)
points. A maximum of 14 open boundaries is allowed.
4.5 Source and Sink

The MIKE 21 Flow Model distinguishes between three different kinds of
sources/sinks:
1 Isolated source; a point where a certain amount of water is discharged

into the model, with a certain velocity. Both the continuity and momen-
tum equations are affected.
2 Isolated sink; a point where water is discharged from the model. Only
the continuity equation is affected.
3 Connected source and sink pair; used for e.g. AD recirculation studies.
The amount of water removed at the sink point is reentered at the
source point, with a specified velocity.
You may select up to 256 sources and sinks.
The source and sink positions are specified by their horizontal grid coordi-
nates, in their respective model area. The model area so specified should
30 MIKE 21 HD
Mass Budget
be the one with the finest grid resolution covering the geographical posi-
tion of the source/sink.
Do not place the sources/sinks on land, and be careful when placing

sources/sinks at locations that may occasionally dry out.
4.6 Mass Budget

The mass budget facility provides the user with a possibility to establish
the mass budget of one or more model components within a certain area of
the model domain. The specification of a mass budget comprises two
steps: Firstly the area corresponding to the mass budget has to be defined
and secondly the mass budget contents and output file have to be defined.
The latter is performed in the Dialogs of the individual Modules whereas
the former is performed in the Basic Parameters Dialog.
The area corresponding to the mass budget is represented as a polygon

defined within the model domain. Notice that it is possible to specify sev-
eral mass budget polygons allowing for several mass budgets. For each
polygon the associated computational area (main area/ sub-areas; only rel-
evant for nested models) and the number of corner points are specified.
Following this, the grid coordinates referring to the associated computa-
tional area of the corner points are given. Notice that a polygon can only
contain grid points one grid point or more inside the associated computa-
tional area; i.e. grid points on boundaries or on borders of possible nested
computational areas can not be included. Further a polygon cannot
traverse or encompass a possible nested computational area. A polygon
can, on the other hand, contain land points; the model will simply exclude
the land points, when calculating the mass budget. Please also notice that
the Mass Budget Dialog will not allow the user to specify any mass budget
polygons unless a Module, which supports the mass budget facility, has
been selected.
4.7 Flood and Dry

If the model is located in an area with tidal flats you should probably ena-
ble this flooding and drying facility. It incurs a certain computational over-
head but is necessary to obtain accurate results.
You can set the minimum water depth allowed in a point before it is taken
out of calculation (drying depth), and also the water depth at which the
point will be reentered into the calculation (flooding depth).
31
32 MIKE 21 HD
Initial Surface Elevation
5 DIALOG OVERVIEW
5.1 Initial Surface Elevation

Having selected a cold start simulation under Bathymetry (p. 28), you
must also provide information about the initial (water) surface level. The
initial surface elevation for each area can be specified in two ways:
z as a constant value for the respective area, or

z to be read from a 2D (type 2) data file.
Often the initial surface level can be set to a constant value to be applied
over the whole model area. This means that the simulation will start out
with the surface level raised accordingly.
You should specify values that agree with your boundary conditions, i.e. if
you start a simulation at high water with a boundary value of 0.5 m you
should also specify the initial surface elevation to 0.5 m.
For hot-starts, all initial conditions - including the surface elevations - are
read from the hot-file.
5.2 Boundary
The MIKE 21 hydrodynamic model requires you to specify either the sur-
face elevation or flux at all open boundary points specified on Boundary
(p. 30).
The choice of variation at an open boundary can be either level or flux (the
flux is the total amount of discharge passing the open boundary). Actual
values, level or flux, at each boundary can be specified in one of five dif-
ferent formats:
z a constant value
z a sine series
z a time series
z a line series
z transfer data
33
Dialog Overview
In the first case, you specify the constant value (constant both in space and
time) to be applied along the whole boundary.
For sinusoidal variation, you must specify the reference level, range,
period and phase of the sine series.
When selecting time series boundary variation, you must specify the name
of a type 0 data file. The temporal variation given in this file is applied
along the whole boundary.
For line series, the temporal variation along the boundary is obtained from
the specified type 1 data file.
In the case of transfer data, boundary values are obtained from the results
of another simulation, i.e. from a transfer data file generated by the
"Transfer boundary tool", M21trn, in the MIKE 21 Toolbox.
The FAB type selects the strategy for calculating the fluxes along the open
boundary. See the manual for a description and discussion of available
options.
Tilting of a boundary is a facility that generates a setup along the open

boundary so that the slope of the surface elevation is in equilibrium with
the wind stress and Coriolis force. It should only be applied if the flux
along the boundary is negligible. You may select "linear tilting" or "non-
linear tilting" and set the tilt point. In the linear approach the bed slope is
assumed to be constant whereas in the non-linear approach the actual
water depth is taken into consideration. The linear approach results in a
more stable solution, the non-linear is more precise, but over a jagged bed
spurious fluctuations may occur. With respect to the tilting point, it is a
good first guess to select the deepest point along the boundary. However,
trial and error in some cases is a way to obtain the best results.
Default flow directions are perpendicular to the open boundary. In those

situations where this can not be assumed, the possibility exists for specify-
ing the directions. See Boundary Conditions (p. 50).
5.3 Source and Sink

For each source
z the discharge magnitude,

z the speed and
34 MIKE 21 HD
Eddy Viscosity
z the outlet direction
by which the water is discharged into the ambient water must be specified
while for each sink only
z the intake magnitude
is specified since sinks do not contribute to the momentum equation, only

to the mass equation. For a connected source-sink pairs, the discharge
magnitude at the source equals the intake magnitude at the sink.
Source/sink magnitudes (in m3/s) and source speed (in m/s) can either be
given in a type 0 file (time series) or as constant values. The outlet direc-
tion is the horizontal direction relative to true North and should be speci-
fied as a constant.
5.3.1 Evaporation and precipitation

On the Source and Sink (HD) dialog you also specify Evaporation and
Precipitation rates (in mm/day). These can be given as constant values,
from type 0 data files or from type 2 data files (covering the main area
only).
Precipitation on dry land

The default numerical scheme in MIKE 21 Flow Model, HD handles
evaporation and rainfall/precipitation only at wet computational cells. To
activate calculations in dried cells (i.e. over the whole model domain) you
need to enable 'Precipitation on dry land'.
Please note that when including rainfall, the user assumes 100% runoff,
which may or may not be appropriate if significant infiltration and storage
can occur in the soil or ground material.
5.4 Eddy Viscosity

The eddy viscosity can be specified in one of four different ways:
1 Eddy terms are omitted

2 A constant value formulation with constant values specified for each
area
3 To be read from a type 2 data file (one for each area) where each grid
point has its defined eddy viscosity value
4 Dynamically calculated by means of the Smagorinsky formula
35
Dialog Overview
Using the Smagorinsky formulation a proportionality factor for each area

has to be given.
The user may also choose between velocity or flux based eddy viscosity
formulations.
5.5 Resistance
The bottom friction can be specified in one of two ways:
z as a constant value applied over the whole area

z as a type 2 data file where each grid point has its defined friction value
The values can be specified as Chezy or Manning numbers; the same type
of number for all areas throughout the model. Manning numbers are con-
verted to Chezy numbers on the basis of the calculated water depth.
For each area, you specify the constant value or the file name of the type 2
data.
See also Bed Resistance (p. 48).
Pier resistance can be used to model the effect of pillars or piers on the
flow field. The pier position and its geometrical layout should be defined
in a type 1 data file. See Pier Resistance (p. 67) in the reference manual for
a description of such a pier file.
5.6 Wave Radiation

The second order stresses due to breaking of short period waves can be
included in the computations.
If included in the computations, a type 2 data file with the the three stress
components (Sxx, Syy and Sxy) must be specified.
In order not to generate a "chock" in the computations it is recommended

to apply these stresses in combination with a soft-start (warm-up) period.
See also Wave Radiation Stresses (p. 81).
36 MIKE 21 HD
Wind Conditions
5.7 Wind Conditions

The stress generated on the water surface by wind can be included in one
of three ways:
1 as a constant value in time and space

2 as constant in space but varying in time with values given through a
type 0 data file
3 varying both in time and space with values given through a type 2 data
file covering the main area (bilinear interpolation is applied internally
for all sub-areas, if present).
NOTE: the directions are given in degrees and measured clockwise from
true north to where the wind is coming from.
In case of time varying wind forcing, you may choose to include air pres-
sure corrections of the levels at the open boundaries of your model. This
can be useful if your boundary data does not take into account the air pres-
sure variations.
The wind friction factor can be specified either as a constant or linearly

interpolated between two values, based on the wind speed. In the latter
case, if the wind speed is below the lower limit the friction is given the
value corresponding to that limit, correspondingly if the wind speed is
above the maximum.
See also Wind Conditions (p. 84).
5.8 Results
Two main types of output data can be obtained from a hydrodynamic sim-
ulation:
1 'Output file', a type 0 (point series), 1 (line series) or 2 (area series) data
file, which contains results from the hydrodynamic simulation.
Because the amount of model output tends to be very large - huge - it is
often not possible to save all output items in all computational areas
and in all grid points at all time steps. Accordingly sub-areas and sub-
sets of output for selected items must be specified for one or more of
the nested computational areas.
37
Dialog Overview
See also Specification of Output Files (p. 67)

2 'Hot start file', a type 2 data file, which can be used to re-start computa-
tions. You have to specify the name(s) of the hot-output file(s), one for
each area. You can specify a title too, if you want.
In addition Inundation statistics can be calculated and stored as a dfs2 file.

The update frequency is given in number of time times.
38 MIKE 21 HD
Bathymetry
6 REFERENCE MANUAL
6.1 Bathymetry
6.1.1 General Description
Describing the water depths in your model area for the hydrodynamic
model is without doubt the most important task in the modelling process.
A few hours less spent in setting up the model bathymetry might later on
mean extra days spent in the calibration process.
Giving exhaustive guidelines for how you should specify the bathymetry
in order to avoid any problems later on is, however, nearly impossible.
You can avoid many problems in the modelling process by adhering to the
directions given below, but the experience you build up through practise is
valuable.
An example with a step-by-step description of how to use the Bathymetry

Editor for creating a bathymetry data file is included with the installation.
Please find this example in your installation folder under Exam-
ples\MIKEZero\BatEdit.
6.1.2 Selecting the Model Area

When deciding on which area to include in your model and thus where
you should place your open boundaries you should take the following into
consideration:
z The MIKE 21 Flow Model is a finite difference model with constant

grid spacings in the x- and y-direction, and therefore your model area
has to be rectangular. It also means that the computational points will
lie in a square or rectangular grid.
z Your area or point of interest should lie well inside the model area, say
at least 10 grid points from the boundary but preferably more.
z You may have to include not only the area immediately surrounding
the area or point of interest but a much larger one in order to have, for
example, the wind surge computed properly.
z You should have your open boundaries in areas where the water flow is
"well behaved" and the flow direction, if possible, perpendicular to the
open boundary.
39
Reference Manual
z A "well behaved" flow in this connection means that, since certain

assumptions are made in the computations at the boundaries, the flow
pattern should be smooth at the boundary and in the area inside the
boundary (that is 5 to 10 grid points inside the boundary). In other
words, the bathymetry should be smooth close to all open boundaries.
z You will not always be able to situate all open boundaries so that the
flow runs perpendicular to the boundary line. In those cases, you will
have to specify the flow direction yourself. However, try to have the
flow as close to being perpendicular as possible.
z As you must know either the water level variation or the magnitude of
the flow at the open boundaries, you have to place the boundaries
through points or between points, where such data are known. If, for
example, you are going to do a tidal simulation, the open boundaries
can be placed such that there is a tidal station at each end of the open
boundary.
z Open boundaries can meet in corners, but you have to include the cor-
ner point in both open boundaries. You must then ensure that the
boundary conditions in the corner point are the same when seen from
both open boundaries. This requires that you have good level or flux
data at the boundary. If not, the corner should be placed on a not too
small island (see Figure 6.1).
Figure 6.1 Two open boundaries in a corner
z Avoid sudden expansions or contractions of the flow close to an open

boundary unless the current speeds are small (see Figure 6.2 and
Figure 6.3).
40 MIKE 21 HD
Bathymetry
Figure 6.2 Sudden expansion and contraction of the flow close to an open
boundary
Figure 6.3 Special case of sudden contraction, permitted for level boundaries
z You should especially avoid a situation like the one in Figure 6.3.
However, MIKE 21 will accept it if levels (not fluxes) are prescribed at
the open boundary in order to permit flooding and drying just inside
the boundary.
z Although MIKE 21 can handle flooding and drying just inside a level
boundary, you should normally not place the open level or flux bound-
aries too close to shallow areas which might dry out. Points at the open
boundaries should never dry out.
z If possible rotate your model so that the main flow direction inside the
model is more or less parallel to one of the coordinate axes.
z Try to place the origin of your model (which is normally the lower left
corner) in a well defined set of coordinates in the surrounding coordi-
nate system (which will often be the UTM coordinate system or geo-
graphical longitude and latitude ). This, together with a "nice"
orientation of your model relative to north, will facilitate the transfor-
mation of model grid coordinates into the surrounding coordinate sys-
tem.
41
Reference Manual
6.1.3 Selecting the Grid Spacing

Although the selection of the grid spacing and of the model area are
closely connected there are a number of special considerations (as listed
below) which you have to make when selecting the grid spacing. Except
for the first one and the last one they are all related to the Courant number
and thus the speed with which the information travels in the model. Please
see Courant Number (p. 58) for a description of these terms.
z First of all your grid should resolve all the variations in the bathymetry
which are important for the flow you wish to simulate.
z MIKE 21 will probably not become unstable if you have an isolated
bump or hole in your bathymetry (provided that it is not close to a
boundary), see Figure 6.4. However, a series of bumps and holes along
a grid line might lead to instabilities if the flow direction is parallel to
this grid line and the Courant number is greater than 1, see Figure 6.5.
Figure 6.4 Unwise bathymetric resolution
Figure 6.5 Unstable bathymetric resolution for Courant numbers greater than 1
z If you cannot avoid channels which run at an angle of 45 degrees to the

grid, the grid spacing and time step should be chosen as shown in
Figure 6.6.
42 MIKE 21 HD
Bathymetry
Figure 6.6 Flow in a channel at 45 degrees
z Closely related to the condition above is the treatment of deep channels

in shallower areas. When you model an area with narrow and deep
channels (like in the example of Donegal Bay provided in the Exam-
ples) it is quite normal that the channels are only one or a few grid
points wide. You should, however, take care when the narrow channels
cross from one grid line to the next. If the flow in the channel is of
importance the number of overlapping grid points should be greater
than the local Courant number. This will ensure that the flow informa-
tion is transferred properly up the channel, see Figure 6.7.
Figure 6.7 Schematisation of a narrow channel
z You should avoid alternating land-water-land-water boundaries as

shown in Figure 6.8 if the Courant number is larger than 1.
43
Reference Manual
Figure 6.8 Schematisation of land, which should be avoided
Areas that are subject to flooding and drying should not be made com-
pletely level but given a gentle slope towards the nearest area with deep
water. This will ensure that a series of one point ponds is not left in the
otherwise dry areas when the water withdraws.
6.1.4 Selecting the Reference Level

In principle you can use any reference level in the hydrodynamic compu-
tations (that is in the bathymetry), but it is recommended to use mean sea
level (MSL).
The depths on sea charts are, however, normally given relative to the low-
est astronomical tide (LAT) and the bathymetry will therefore normally be
entered (digitised) relative to this datum. You can add the difference
between MSL and LAT to all grid points in the bathymetry data file using
the Grid Editor facility for editing.
You will have to make sure that all the sea charts you are using to prepare
the bathymetry are relative to the same datum. If this is not the case, you
must choose a common datum and then convert all depths to this datum.
In the same way, all the water level recordings you will use must also be
converted to the same datum.
6.1.5 Specifying the Bathymetry

Before you start a simulation you have to prepare the bathymetry in a data
file or, in other words, digitise your model area. There are several ways to
do this:
44 MIKE 21 HD
Bathymetry
z Draw the computational grid on a piece of transparent paper, put it on

top of the sea chart and write the depth for each grid node on the paper.
Then enter the depth values in a file using the data file editor for 2D
matrices provided with MIKE 21.
z If you have a digitising tablet compatible with the MIKE 21 digitising
program you can use this to create a file with (x,y) coordinates and the
corresponding depths. This data can then be gridded using the Bathym-
etry Editor facility of MIKE 21. An example with a step-by-step
description of how to use the Bathymetry Editor is included with the
installation. Please find this example in your installation folder under
Examples\MIKEZero\BatEdit.
z If you have your depth information in digital form you can create an
ASCII file (.txt) and enter this file into the standard data file format
using the Grid Editor.
In all cases please note that the depth given to a grid point represents not
only the depth right at that point, but the area surrounding the grid point,
see Figure 6.9.
Figure 6.9 Depth representation in the grid
6.1.6 Sign convention

Depth values for grid points below the chosen datum are negative in the
MIKE 21 Flow Model.
6.1.7 Additional Area Description

In addition to the bathymetry for your model area the following area infor-
mation should also be specified:
45
Reference Manual
z The initial surface elevation in the area. Because the model initialises
the fluxes or current velocities to zero, you must specify an initial sur-
face elevation that is in agreement with these conditions. In practice
this means that you should specify a value that matches the boundary
conditions at the first time step. If the model area is large and the sur-
face levels at the open boundaries differ substantially, you should cre-
ate a data file with an initial surface elevation at each grid point.
However, in most cases you can just use the average surface elevation
at the open boundaries.
z The latitude and longitude at the lower left corner of the model should
be provided through the bathymetry data file. In dfs2 data files there is
a possibility to store information about the applied projection zone
(e.g. UTM-32), and this information is used as the default projection
zone. In dt2 data files there is no information about the applied projec-
tion zone, and therefore the default projection zone is calculated as the
UTM zone in which the origin is located. The user may choose to over-
write the default projection zone. If no geographical information is
available through the bathymetry data file or if the projection zone
“NON-UTM” is chosen, then Coriolis forcing is not applied.
z The orientation of your model (also provided in the bathymetry data
file). This is defined as the angle between true north and the y-axis of
the model measured clockwise. A mnemonic way of remembering this
definition is by thinking of NYC, which normally means New York
City, but which for our purpose means "from North to the Y-axis
Clockwise", see Figure 6.10.
Figure 6.10 Definition of model orientation
z A value representing land (provided in the bathymetry data file, see

below). This means that all grid points with a depth value equal to or
greater than the value you specify will always be considered to be land
and will not be subject to possible flooding and drying.
z Whether or not the possibility of flooding and drying of land areas
should be included in your simulation. Please refer to Flooding and
Drying (p. 63) for a detailed description of this facility.
46 MIKE 21 HD
Bathymetry
Please note: Bathymetry data files must contain a custom block called
M21_Misc which consists of 7 elements of type float:
z The first element is the origientation.

z The third element is a flag and the value -900 indicates that the data file
contains geographic information.
z The fourth element is the value representing land.
z The rest of the elements are not used in bathymetry data files.
6.1.8 Landslide option

By including the landslide option you are able to model the hydraulic
effects of a time varying bathymetry. The effect of the landslide is mod-
elled by forcing terms representing the temporal dynamic vertical defor-
mation of the bathymetry. The landslide may be of submarine or subaerial
type. Also the effects of a seismic seafloor deformation can be modelled
using a time varying bathymetry rather than a spatial varying initial sur-
face elevation.
The main task in preparing the input data for the model is to generate a
time varying bathymetry. Most often a number of maps (covering bathy-
metric and orografic information) are digitised and interpolated on a user-
defined spatial grid. Subsequently the maps are copied into a time varying
bathymetry. The bathymetry may also be created by external programs
and imported as an ASCII file using the MIKE Zero Grid Series Editor.
A detailed description of the method, implementation and validation is

available at the site
http://www.dhisoft-
ware.com/uc2001/Abstracts_Proceedigs/Papers01/036/036.htm.
This paper also includes a detailed description of a case where the hydrau-
lic effects of various sub-aerial landslide scenarios were evaluated.
Please note that the time step in connection with sub-aerial landslides (i.e.
cases with a moving land/water boundary) might be considerable
restricted compared to more common hydrodynamic simulations. For such
kind of simulations it is necessary to use the flooding and drying facility.
The usual data file concept with a static bathymetry stored as a prefix item
does not hold when applying the landslide option. Thus, you have to be
aware that some tools used on MIKE 21 Flow Model data files cannot be
used on result data from a landslide simulation. As a work-around, the
47
Reference Manual
result data files from a landslide simulation is a type 2 data file (dfs2-file)
with Data Type = 4 and containing the following 7 dynamic items:
1 Actual bathymetry
2 Water depth or surface elevation as specified by you
3 P-flux if selected otherwise a dummy item containing delete values
4 Q-flux if selected otherwise a dummy item containing delete values
5 Surface elevation
6 Dummy item containing delete values
7 Dummy item containing delete values.
6.2 Bed Resistance

You can chose between two ways of describing the bed resistance in the
MIKE 21 Flow Model: either as a Chezy number or as a Manning number.
In both cases the bed resistance used is
g⋅u⋅ u
--------------------
2
(6.1)
C
where g is gravity, u is velocity and C is the Chezy number. Manning

numbers are converted to Chezy numbers as follows
1⁄6
C = M⋅h (6.2)
where M is the Manning number and h is the water depth. The units of
Chezy numbers and Manning numbers are respectively m1/2/s and m1/3/s.
Please note that the Manning number used in MIKE 21 is the reciprocal
value of the Manning number described in some textbooks.
6.2.2 Specifying the Bed Resistance

A bed resistance number is assigned to each grid point in the model area.
You can specify this in MIKE 21 in two ways:
z as one value which is given to all grid points

z as a map similar to that for bathymetry with a resistance value for each
grid point
48 MIKE 21 HD
Blow-up
6.2.3 Recommended values

If the relative variation of the water depth is considerable you should spec-
ify Manning numbers. Values in the range 20-40 m1/3/s are normally used
with a suggested value of 32 m1/3/s if no other information is available. In
an estuary with tidal channels you can use a value of 25 m1/3/s.
If you apply Chezy numbers a model calibration can normally be achieved

with values in the range 30 - 50 m1/3/s.
Because of the definition of the resistance numbers the following applies:
z Using a smaller resistance number increases the bed resistance

z Using a greater resistance number decreases the bed resistance
6.2.4 Remarks and Hints

If the boundary conditions at one of your boundaries are inaccurate and
you therefore have stability problems (blow-ups) at this boundary, you can
specify a small band (2 to 4 grid lines) with a very high resistance. Man-
ning numbers in the range 5 -10 m1/3/s have been applied successfully.
However, this method should only be used if it is impossible to improve
the boundary conditions. Furthermore, the simulation results in the area
around the small resistance numbers should be used with caution.
When carrying out a tidal calibration you can use the bed resistance to
increase or decrease the tidal amplitude. The tidal phase is adjusted by
changing the water depth. When the depths have been read from a sea
chart, increasing the depth is all the more justifiable as these charts often
give the minimum depths, which are more important to shipping than the
maximum depths.
Because h1/6 is calculated for each grid point and at each time step when
the Manning formulation is selected rather than the Chezy formulation,
the computational time is increased. Please see CPU Time (p. 58) for an
estimate of the additional CPU time required.
6.3 Blow-up
Please inspect carefully the log file.
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Reference Manual
6.4 Boundary Conditions

If the description of the bathymetry is the most important task in the mod-
elling process then the description of the water levels and flow at the open
boundaries (in short called the "boundary conditions") is the second most
important task. The better the boundary conditions the better the results
and the fewer the instability problems.
The MIKE 21 Flow Model solves the partial differential equations that
govern nearly-horizontal flow and, like all other differential equations,
these need boundary conditions. As the unknown variables are surface ele-
vation and flux densities in the x-direction and y-direction you must, in
principle, specify two of these three variables in all grid points along the
open boundary at each time step. However, in most applications you only
know the surface elevation and possibly the general flow direction or you
know the total flow through your boundary and its general direction. The
input to the hydrodynamic module of the MIKE 21 Flow Model has there-
fore been structured accordingly.
You can choose between the following two combinations of boundary

input:
z Specify water levels and the direction of the flow.

The water levels can be constant or varying along the boundary line.
The variation in time can be either constant, sinusoidal or vary as spec-
ified in a type 0 or a type 1 data file.
z The directions can either be specified as default, meaning perpendicu-

lar to the boundary, or read from a type 1 data file. The data file must
contain a direction for each individual grid point along the boundary.
Specify the total flow, i.e. discharge, through the boundary and the
flow direction.
The total flow can be constant in time, have a sinusoidal variation or vary
as specified in a type 0 data file. The distribution of the total flow in the
individual grid points along the boundary is calculated by MIKE 21 rela-
tive to the depth.
The direction should be given in the same way as for level boundaries.
6.4.2 Specifying the Boundary Conditions

In the boundary specification dialog you are presented with a list of the
open boundaries the model has been able to detect.
50 MIKE 21 HD
Boundary Conditions
The model may detect the open boundaries by searching for lines of adja-
cent water points placed along the four sides of the bathymetry. Note, the
actual locations of the open boundaries were defined when you digitised
the bathymetry.
In most cases the detected boundaries will correspond to those you have
planned. If this is not so, you should select "User specified" boundaries
and then further specify the number of open boundaries and their position
in the model, see the section "User specified" boundaries.
In the Boundary dialog under "HD parameters" you specify the type of
boundary data, how these vary in time and space, and finally you can enter
a number of options:
First you must specify the boundary type (a "level" or a "flux" boundary)
from the combo-box selector. For a flux boundary please note that the sign
on the fluxes determine the flow direction relative to the model coordinate
system: inflow is positive on the left and bottom side, while it is negative
on the top and right side, and vice versa for outflow.
Then you specify the variation of the water levels or fluxes in time and
space.
They can be given in one of the following ways:
z A constant value used at all grid points along the boundary and
throughout the whole of the simulation. This is most useful if a station-
ary flow field is required.
z A sinusoidal variation during the simulation period, for example, a
tidal variation can be specified. The variation is calculated as follows:
1 N ⋅ ∆t – Phase
Value = Reference Level + --- ⋅ Range ⋅ sin  2π ⋅ --------------------------------- (6.3)
2  Period 
where N is the time step number and ∆t is the time step.
The same value is used at all grid points along the boundary.
z A variation as given in a type 0 data file. The data file gives the same
value to all grid points along the boundary. If the time step in the data
file differs from the time step in the model simulation then a cubic
interpolation is used.
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Reference Manual
z A variation as give in a type 1 data file. The data file defines the varia-
tion in time for each grid point along the open boundary. The data file
must have exactly as many points as there are grid points along the
axis. If the time step differs from the time step in the model simulation
then a linear interpolation is used.
This possibility allows you to introduce variations in the boundary con-
ditions along the open boundary.
z Flow conditions obtained from an encompassing model. This boundary

type, called a transfer boundary, is prepared from a previous model
simulation with a model including the area of the boundary.
The transfer data file, which also is a type 1 data file, contians informa-
tion about the water levels and the flux densities in the x and y-direc-
tions.
NOTE: In all cases must the reference level of the boundary data equal
the reference level of the bathymetry data.
Finally you can through three options control how the boundary data
should be applied:
z What strategy to use when calculating the Flux Along the Boundary
(FAB). There are the following possibilities:
0: The flow is assumed perpendicular to the open boundary, i.e. the
FAB is zero.
1: The direction of the flow is obtained by extrapolation from the flow

one grid point inside the boundary. When the direction has been
extrapolated, the FAB can be calculated.
2: The direction of the flow at the boundary is explicitly given. The

FAB can then be calculated.
12: This is a combination of 1 and 2. When the flow direction is out of

the boundary, type 1 is chosen, otherwise type 2.
Using either 2 or 12, the third option (default flow directions) can be used
to define the actual direction of the flow at the boundary.
z Should your boundary data be tilted to accommodate for a possible

wind and/or Coriolis' set-up along the boundary? A description of this
facility is given below in the section Recommended selections and val-
ues.
52 MIKE 21 HD
Boundary Conditions
To activate the tilt facility, make your tilting method selection from the
combo-box, you will then be prompted for which point to tilt around.
This facility is not enabled when the boundary is a flux boundary or if

the boundary data is specified as transfer data.
z What direction does the flow have at the boundary? The default flow
direction is perpendicular to the boundary. If the flow in your model is
not perpendicular to the boundary, you should create a type 1 data file
with flow directions for each individual grid point along the boundary.
The directions should be given in degrees from true north and meas-
ured positive clockwise.
The data file with the directions should only have one time step, i.e. the
flow directions will be constant during the whole of the simulation.
However, the directions are only used during inflow. During outflow
the directions are extrapolated from the flow inside the model.
To activate the direction facility, select it from the combo-box and

enter the name of the data file with the directions.
This facility is not enabled when the boundary data is specified as

transfer data.
6.4.3 User specified boundaries

In case the open boundaries do not correspond to those you had planned,
you must specify "User specified" boundaries and then give the number of
open boundaries in the model. Further you will in the boundary definition
dialog have to specify the location of the open boundary. That is the coor-
dinates of the first water point and the last water point along the boundary
grid line.
It will be very unusual that you yourself have to specify the locations of
the open boundaries. It is only relevant in the following two situations:
z You have a long open boundary broken by, say, two small islands. The
menu will show you this boundary as three smaller boundaries. If the
boundary conditions are either the same for all three boundaries or it is
most conveniently to keep the boundary data for the whole boundary in
the same type 1 data file, or transfer file, you can define the three
boundaries as one boundary.
You will then have to specify the start point as the first water point on
the first line and the last point as the last water point on the third line.
The boundary line will then contain a few land points; but this is not an
error.
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Reference Manual
z You want to have an internal open boundary in your model. An internal

boundary is a boundary that is not located on one of the model sides.
You can use an internal boundary to keep your model size small, see
Figure 6.11.
NOTE: If you want to include an internal boundary in your model, you

must fill the area behind the boundary with land points.
internal boundary
Figure 6.11 Example of internal boundary
Due to the computational structure of MIKE 21 there are a few restrictions

to where a boundary can be located, see Figure 6.12.
NOTE: All water points on the model sides must be included in an open
boundary definition.
54 MIKE 21 HD
Boundary Conditions
Figure 6.12 Restrictions on the location of an open boundary
6.4.4 Recommended selections and values

If you specify water levels for a boundary you can normally assume that
there is no spatial variation along the boundary. However, in certain situa-
tions you may wish to specify a non-horizontal water level since a hori-
zontal water level may give unrealistic results. These situations are treated
in the following way:
z If, for example, you are carrying out a tidal study and have a tidal sta-
tion at each end of the open boundary, a linear variation along the
boundary (or parts of it) should be specified. You do that by having a
type 1 data file with the boundary conditions. The data file can be cre-
ated with Profile Editor under MIKE Zero.
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Reference Manual
z Another situation where a horizontal water level at the boundary is

unrealistic is in the presence of wind and the Coriolis force. If you keep
the water level horizontal you will get a large inflow together with a
large outflow at the same boundary, especially in a steady state situa-
tion, as the water level should actually be tilted. The effect is illustrated
in Figure 6.13. You should therefore specify a tilt point so that MIKE
21 will tilt the boundary to avoid this unrealistic flow pattern.
Figure 6.13 Before (upper) and after (lower) the tilting
MIKE 21 provides two alternatives for the tilting approach:
z linear tilting
z non-linear tilting.
With a selection of linear tilting MIKE 21 assumes the water level to fol-
low a straight line which can be rotated around the tilting point. This
approach has the advantage of smoothing the effects originating from a
very jaggered seabed.
56 MIKE 21 HD
Chezy Number
The non-linear approach is more theoretically correct and provides a bet-

ter estimate in many cases where you have a gentle slope on the seabed.
The tilting is calculated in each point along the boundary based on the
steady state Navier Stokes equations.
It is assumed that the flow is perpendicular to the boundary. However, the

correction of the flow will also work if the flow direction is nearly perpen-
dicular to the boundary. You should keep this in mind when selecting how
the fluxes along the boundary should be calculated: the method called type
12 together with a perpendicular inflow is recommended.
The difficulty in using the tilt facility lies in the specification of the tilt
point. A good choice to begin with is the deepest point along the bound-
ary. However, you might have to find the best point through trial and error.
If you have two adjacent boundaries you should also be careful not to cre-
ate a conflicting situation in the corner.
If you specify the total flow through your boundary and select that it
should be distributed relative to the depth, it will be distributed as it would
have been in a uniform flow field with the Manning resistance law
applied, i.e. is relative to h5/3, where h is the depth. This distribution is, in
most cases, the best one that can be applied.

Accurate flow directions are more important when the flow is into the
model, while they are of less importance at the outflow. This is because
any errors at the inflow boundaries are transported into the model and
may, therefore, cause instabilities.
Introducing open boundary conditions into a finite difference model is a

very complex task as a number of different implementation solutions can
be used. The input description as given above focuses on the description
as seen from the user's practical point of view ("these data are available;
how do I specify that to the model?"), while the description as seen from
the numerical point of view is given in the Scientific Documentation.
6.5 Chezy Number

See Bed Resistance (p. 48).
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Reference Manual
6.6 Courant Number

The Courant number is defined as follows:
∆t
C R = c ------ (6.4)
∆x
where c is the celerity, ∆t the time step and ∆x the grid spacing. For a tidal
wave the celerity is
c = gh (6.5)
where g is gravity and h is the water depth.
As the information (about water levels and fluxes) in the computational

grid travels at a speed corresponding to the celerity, the Courant number
actually expresses how many grid points the information moves in one
time step.
6.6.2 Recommended value

Normally you can have a maximum Courant number in your model of up
to 5. The maximum value which you can use without having stability
problems does, however, depend on your bathymetry:
z If you are modelling an estuary with tidal channels you should adhere
to the rules given under Bathymetry (p. 39). Alternatively you can use
a maximum Courant number of 1, in which case you should have no
problems in resolving the flow in the channels. The CPU time require-
ments might, however, become very high.
z The MIKE 21 Flow Model is designed for Courant numbers up to
about 20. You should, however, only allow these very high numbers in
areas where the bathymetry is very smooth.
6.7 CPU Time

6.7.1 Factors Influencing the CPU Time
The CPU time required by a hydrodynamic simulation depends on the size
of your model, on the number of time steps in your simulation, on which
features you have specified for the simulation and on the general computa-
tional speed of your computer.
58 MIKE 21 HD
Disk Space
If you wish to estimate how a change in your specifications for a hydrody-

namic simulation changes the CPU time required without specifying the
model set-up and doing a verification, the following guidelines can be
used:
z The CPU time varies linearly with the number of water points (or com-
putational points) in the model.
z The CPU time also varies linearly with the number of time steps, if
flooding and drying is not selected. If this feature is selected the varia-
tion as a function of the number of time steps is only approximately
linear.
z The CPU time is increased by the factors listed below if the corre-
sponding features are selected. The factor is relative to a simulation
where no results are saved on disk and where none of the features are
selected.
Factor.
1.10: Manning numbers applied instead of Chezy numbers.
1.15: Flooding and drying.
1.20: Smagorinsky formulation of eddy viscosity instead of constant eddy

viscosity.
1.25: Saving the results in all grids for each time step.
If you wish to calculate the CPU time required by a simulation (in real
CPU seconds, not elapsed seconds) the following formula can be used:
Number of time steps x Number of water points x Factors / BCS
where BCS (basic computational speed) is the number of water points

which your computer processes in one CPU second. "Factors" refers to the
factors listed above.
6.8 Disk Space

6.8.1 Small Files
The disk space required for your simulation depends mainly on the
amount of results you request to be saved. During a simulatin only two or
three other files, in addition to the data files containing the results are cre-
ated:
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Reference Manual
z The specification file (also known as the pfs file, Parameter File Stand-
ard) containing the simulation specifications. This file will be placed in
your present working directory and have a file extension of m21. It
will only take up approximately 2 Kbytes.
z The log file describing the model set-up, the statistics of the files used
and created during the simulation and a message for each time step
completed. The file extension of this file, which will also be placed in
your present working directory, is log and it will only take up to 200
Kbytes on the disk.
z A file for the continuation of a simulation, the hot file. This file only
takes up disk space equivalent to 9 times the space taken up by the
bathymetry file. This mean that the hot file will not take up more space
than 100 - 200 Kbytes.
6.8.2 Large Files

The amount of data generated by a simulation may be very large. There-
fore you should only save as much data as is needed for your further work.
Nevertheless very large files will often be generated.
If you wish to calculate the disk space required for a single output data file
the following formula can be used. The result is in bytes:
  N last − N first   J −J +1
4 ⋅ 3 ⋅   + 1 ⋅ last first
  N   J frequency
 frequency 
K last − K first + 1
⋅ + 1052
K frequency
where N denotes time steps, J denotes points in the x-direction and K

points in the y-direction.

Please note that MIKE 21 does not check whether or not you have enough
free disk space for your requested output files.
60 MIKE 21 HD
Eddy Viscosity
6.9 Eddy Viscosity

The effective shear stresses in the momentum equations contain momen-
tum fluxes due to turbulence, vertical integration and subgrid scale fluctu-
ations. The terms are included using an eddy viscosity formulation to
provide damping of short-wave length oscillations and to represent sub-
grid scale effects (see e.g. Madsen et al., 1988; Wang, 1990).
The formulation of the eddy viscosity in the equations has been imple-
mented in two ways:
z Flux based formulation
∂  ∂P  ∂  ∂P 
E +  E  (x- momentum)
∂x  ∂x  ∂y  ∂y 
where P is the flux in the x-direction and E is the eddy viscosity coeffi-
cient.
z Velocity based formulation
∂  ∂u  ∂  ∂u 
 h⋅E +  h ⋅ E 
∂x  ∂x  ∂y  ∂y 
where u is the velocity in the x-direction and h the water depth.
Strictly speaking the first formulation is only correct at a constant depth

and should be applied with great care in order to avoid falsification of the
flow pattern.
The velocity based formulation, which is more correct, is unfortunately

also more difficult to implement in the numerical algorithm. This is
because the system uses the fluxes as the unknown parameters and not the
velocities. Therefore the velocity-based formulation is implemented by
using the velocities from the previous time step. This can, however, lead
to stability problems when the eddy viscosity coefficient E becomes large.
The coefficient must fulfil the criterion:
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Reference Manual
E ⋅ ∆t 1
≤
∆x 2
2
6.9.2 Specifying the Eddy Viscosity

The eddy viscosity coefficient E can be specified in three different ways:
z As a constant value for the entire computational domain

z From a type 2 data file giving the value at each grid point
z A time-varying function of the local gradients in the velocity field.
This formulation is based on the so-called Smagorinsky concept,
which yields:
∂U 2 1 ∂U ∂V ∂V
E = C s2 ∆ 2  ------- + ---  ------- + ------ +  ------
 ∂x  2  ∂y ∂x   ∂y 
where U,V are depth-averaged velocity components in the x- and y-direc-

tion, ∆ is the grid spacing and CS is a constant to be chosen in the interval
of 0.25 to 1.0.
The Smagorinsky facility is combined with the following formulation of

the shear stresses, i.e.
∂  ∂U  ∂  1  ∂U ∂V 
 hE +  hE  +  
∂x  ∂x  ∂y  2  ∂y ∂x 
which is in agreement with Rodi (1980) and Wang (1990). For more
details on this formulation, the reader is referred to Smagorinsky (1963),
Lilly (1967), Leonard (1974), Aupoix (1984), and Horiuti (1987).
If you choose the Smagorinsky formulation you must specify the Sma-
gorinsky factor CS.

In the same way as for the bed resistance you can use the eddy coefficients
to damp out numerical instability (see Bed Resistance (p. 48)). You should
only use this as a last resort to your stability problem: the schematisation
of the bathymetry and the boundary conditions are the primary causes for
a blow-up.
62 MIKE 21 HD
Evaporation
When you use the Smagorinsky formulation of the turbulence the CPU
time for a simulation is increased. Please see CPU Time (p. 58) for an esti-
mate of the additional time required.
6.10 Evaporation
In applications where the evaporation is important, you can include evapo-
ration in your simulation.
This is done either as a constant value or as a time series (type 0 data file),
which then is applied to the entire model area, or as a time series of maps
(type 2 data file) in which case each grid point is assigned its own value.
The evaporation rate is specified in mm/day.
You can include evaporation in your simulation in three different ways.
z If your simulation does not include any density variations you can
include evaporation by specifying the evaporation rate in the Source
and Sink dialog.
z You can also use the precipitation facility to include evaporation in
your simulation. This is simply done by selecting the "included as net-
precipitation" option and specifying a negative precipitation. See the
Precipitation (p. 71) description for more details.
z If your simulation on the other hand include density variations (or
more precisely, temperature variations) you should select "AD feed-
back on HD" option and the heat exchange option on the AD dialogs
(see AD Feed Back on HD (p. 95) and Heat Exchange (p. 107)). This
implies that the evaporation rate can be calculated as a function of the
latent heat flux.
6.11 Flooding and Drying

A very valuable facility in MIKE 21 is its capability to include and
exclude computational areas dynamically during the simulation or, in
other words, compute the flow in an area which sometimes dries out and
sometimes is flooded (e.g. tidal flats).
Continuity is fully preserved during the flooding and drying process as the
water depths at the points which are dried out are saved and then reused
when the point becomes flooded again.
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Reference Manual
You should use this facility whenever points in your model might be
flooded or dried out.
6.11.2 Specifying Flooding and Drying

You enable the possibility of flooding and drying of areas in the Flood and
Dry dialog. You will then be asked at what depth the computationsal
points should be taken out and reentered into the computations.
6.11.3 Recommended values

The Drying Depth can normally be specified in the range 0.1 - 0.2 m and
the Flooding Depth in the range 0.2 - 0.4 m. A difference between the two
depths of 0.1 m is recommended. If the water level variations occur very
rapidly (compared to the time step) you can increase the difference to 0.2
m or even more.

The CPU time increases when you request that checks be made for flood-
ing and drying. For an estimate please see CPU Time (p. 58).
In order to avoid drying and flooding following rapidly after each other
(which will lead to instabilities in the computations) a point is not dried
out if the water depths at the four grid points immediately below, above, to
the right and to the left all are larger than the flooding depth. However, if
the depth at the point in question is nearly zero, it is always dried out.
A point is flooded if the water level at one of the four grid points immedi-
ately below, above, to the right or to the left is more than the value you
have specified as the minimum flooding depth.
If you have instabilities in your model, you might be able to avoid them by
first of all checking for flooding and drying after each time step. If the
problems persist, you can increase the drying and flooding depths and, in
particular, the difference between the two.
6.12 Friction Factor

See Wind Conditions (p. 84).
64 MIKE 21 HD
Hot Data
6.13 Hot Data

You can start your simulation either from scratch (a "cold start") or on the
basis of a previous simulation (a "hot start"). In the latter case you need to
save information about the simulation you wish to continue. These data
are called "hot data".
The hot data consist of the following model information:
z Model dimensions and grid spacings, time step and time at end of sim-
ulation, information on flooding and drying, the latitude of the model
and its orientation (relative to true north), and the value above which a
point is always considered to be land
z Bathymetry
z Initial surface elevation (i.e. the surface elevation at the last time step
in the previous simulation)
z Fluxes in the x-direction at the last time step
z Fluxes in the y-direction at the last time step
z Fluxes in the x-direction a full time step before the last one
z Fluxes in the y-direction a full time step before the last one
z Water depth in dried out points (if you had chosen the flooding and
drying facility).
Thus, if you use a hot start, you need not (and cannot) specify the data
listed above.
6.13.2 Specifying the Hot Data

You specify that you wish to be able to continue the simulation you are
about to execute by selecting "Generate Hot Start" in the Results dialog,
and then writing the name of the hot data file.
You specify that you wish to do a simulation as a continuation of a previ-

ous one by selecting "Hot Start" in the Bathymetry dialog, and then writ-
ing name of the hot data file created earlier.
6.14 Initial Surface Elevation

See Additional Area Description (p. 45).
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6.15 Inundation statistics

Inundation statistics can be calculated and stored as a dfs2 file. Four quan-
tities are calculated and stored as separate items in the output file:
1 maximum water depth, Hmax (j,k)

2 time at maximum water depth, T@Hmax (j,k)
3 maximum flux magnitude, Fmax (j,k)
4 time at maximum flux magnitude, T@Fmax (j,k)
These are all initialized as delete values and subsequently updated accord-
ing to the specified update frequency (wet points only).
Water depths grid cell centered values. For flux magnitude, however, the
off centered values sqrt( p(j,k)2 + q(j,k)2 ) are used.
Please note that the 8 characters "Aaa.dfs2", are added to the user speci-
fied file name automatically. Here "Aaa" is an area number identification
where the uppercase "A" is fixed and "aa" is replaced by the respective
area number (e.g. "A01" for the main area, area number 1, and "A02" for
area number 2, etc).
6.16 Manning Number

See Bed Resistance (p. 48).
6.17 Orientation
See Additional Area Description (p. 45).
6.18 Output Files

Computers are not yet so powerful that a simulation can be run each time a
plot of, for example, the current field is needed. Therefore it is necessary
to store the basic results from the simulations. On the other hand, the
amount of output produced by a single simulation is often so large that it is
necessary to limit the amount of output saved. You therefore have the
option of saving up to 18 output files.
66 MIKE 21 HD
Pier Resistance
6.18.2 Specification of Output Files

In the Results dialog you first specify how many output files you wish to
produce from the simulation (maximum is 18). You can then specify the
contents of each data file:
z Specify the output files type: 1 (point series), 2 (line series) or 2 (area
series).
z Specify the number of the computational area to be included in the out-
put file.
z Specify the spatial and temporal sub-set of the data. This is best done
using the pop-up dialogs, which is activated with the buttons in the col-
umn after the 'Time' column. Grid line series (type 1 data files) is spec-
ified by choosing identical 'First Point' and 'Last Point' in either 'J
direction' or 'K direction'. For points series (type 0 data files) you can
choose the number of points in each file.
z Specify the data file (name) and title of the output file.
z Finally select the desired output items. Note, that selection of the first
item (Water level) or first three items (Water level, P flux and Q flux)
correspond to the standard 'level' (data type = -1) or 'level and flux' out-
put files (data type = 1), respectively. When storing e.g. velocities
and/or shear stresses in the two directions the data type is 0.

One way of following the progression of your simulation is by following
the number of time steps written in your log file (or one of them). In most
post-processing tasks you start by specifying the data name and after hav-
ing done so, you are presented with the description of the data. This
description includes the number of time steps already written and thus fin-
ished.
6.19 Pier Resistance

The impact of bridge piers on the flow conditions can be included in the
hydrodynamic calculations by activating the pier resistance option.
The MIKE 21 solution method involves the use of a finite difference grid
with a selected grid mesh size. A typical choice of say 100-1000 metres
implies that bridge piers with a typical horizontal dimension of say 5-10
metres are not directly resolvable in the computational grid. Therefore, the
presence of piers must be modelled by a subgrid scaling technique.
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The resistance to the flow due to the piers is modelled by calculating the
current induced drag force on each individual pier and equate this force
with a shear stress contribution compatible with the MIKE 21 momentum
formulation.
Thus
τ p ⋅ ∆x ⋅ ∆y = n ⋅ F
where
τp: equivalent shear stress
F: drag force on one pier (the sign of F is such that τp acts against the
current direction)
n: number of piers allocated to one grid point (density of piers)
∆x, ∆y: grid spacing
The resulting shear stress at the bottom is then implemented as the sum of
τp and the bottom shear stress, τo.
The drag force is determined from

1 2
F = --- ρC D B e H e ⋅ v
2
where
CD: drag coefficient
ρ: density of water
Be: effective width of pier
He: height of pier exposed to current
v: current speed
6.19.2 Specifying the Pier Resistance

If the resistance effect on the flow from bridge piers has to be included in
the simulation, the position and geometrical layout of the piers must be
specified.
This various information must be grouped together in a pier data file. A

pier data file is a type 1 data file where the number of time steps in fact is
68 MIKE 21 HD
Pier Resistance
the number of piers, i.e. the time axis in the data file is not a true time axis.
In the same way, the spatial axis is not a true spatial axis, but merely a col-
lection of data describing the pier.
The pier data file has the layout depicted in Figure 6.14.
Figure 6.14 Layout of pier data file
The data file is created with the Profile Editor tool. In the following the
parameters of the file are described:
z The x- and y-coordinates must be specified as map projection coordi-

nates, e.g. UTM-33 coordinates. The item description must include the
string 'PROJ=' followed by the relevant projection system, e.g.
PROJ=UTM-33
z The type 1 data file must have Data Type=800.

z The angle is measured from projection north to the alignment, positive
clockwise and in degrees. Note that projection north is not the same as
geographical north.
z The number of sections means the number of pier segments, i.e. the
number of parts with different geometrical layout.
z The streamline factor is a factor that is multiplied on the total drag
force to take into account the increased flow velocity due to the block-
ing of piers. A typical value is 1.02.
z The following five parameters describe the geometrical layout of one
pier section. These five parameters have to be repeated at each section
of the pier. The pier section type can be one of:
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0: circular
1: rectangular
2: elliptical
See Figure 6.15 and Figure 6.16 below for a definition sketch.
For a circular pier section please note: Both width and length should be
equal to the diameter of the pier section and the parameter “Radius of
rounded corners” is not used but should be assigned a value e.g. 0 or 1.
Figure 6.15 Pier definition sketch
70 MIKE 21 HD
Precipitation
Figure 6.16 Definition sketch. Effective height
6.20 Precipitation
In applications where the rainfall is important for the flow, you can
include precipitation in your simulation. This is done either as a constant
value or as a time series (type 0 data file), which then is applied to the
entire model area, or as a time series of maps (type 2 data file) in which
case each grid point is assigned its own value. The precipitation rate is
specified in mm/day. You can use the Time Series Editor or the Grid
Editor tool to create your precipitation data.
You can also use the precipitation facility to include evaporation in your
simulation. This is simply done by selecting the "included as net-precipi-
tation" option and specifying a negative precipitation.
The precipitation rate is specified in the Source and Sink (p. 34) dialog.
Please note that, in simulations with temperature variations the evapora-

tion may be calculated as part of the latent heat flux if the heat exchange
option is selected (see Heat Exchange (p. 107)). Thus you should be care-
ful not to specify evaporation from both options.
If you have selected the Heat Exchange (p. 107) option and you choose to
include precipitation as net-precipitation, then evaporation obtained
through the latent heat flux is not considered.
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6.21 Simulation Type

There are two ways of starting your simulation:
z From scratch, also called a "cold start", which means that you have to
specify the model bathymetry as well as all other model parameters.
z As the continuation of a previous simulation, also called a "hot start",
in which case you must prepare "hot data" when doing the previous
simulation. This is done by requesting that a file containing "hot data"
be prepared in the Results dialog.
When your simulation is a continuation of a previous one, the bathymetry
together with the additional area description from the previous simulation,
is reused and cannot be changed. The rest of the model parameters you
specify as for a "cold start".

In most applications all simulations will be "cold started". However, if you
have very long simulations or your computer system often stops (planned
or unplanned) it is wise to use the "hot start" facility.
6.22 Smagorinsky Formulation

See Eddy Viscosity (p. 61).
6.23 Soft Start

In order to avoid numerical shocks in the simulation it can often be a good
idea to introduce the hydrographic forcing parameters in a gentle way.
This is achieved by the "warm up" parameters.
6.23.2 Specifying Soft Start

The soft start parameter gives the number of time steps to be used in build-
ing-up the forcing parameters from zero to their specified value.
The following parameters are affected by the soft start:
z boundary conditions, except for type 1 and transfer data

z wind, except for 2 dimensional wind maps
72 MIKE 21 HD
Source and Sink
z radiation stresses.

Note that level boundary conditions are not increased from a zero value
but from the value indicated by the initial surface elevation.
It is very important to have a long soft start period when including radia-
tion stresses in the simulation, see Wave Radiation Stresses (p. 81).
6.24 Source and Sink

The effects of rivers, intakes and outlets from power stations etc. can be
included in a simulation. These sources and sinks are included in the
hydrodynamic equations in the following way:
z If your source or sink has a magnitude of Q m3/s, then the additional

term on the right hand side of the continuity equation is
Q / (∆x ⋅ ∆y )
z If, for sources, you specify a speed of V m/s in direction θ, then the
additional term on the right hand side of the momentum equations are
Q ⋅ V ⋅ sin ( θ - θ NYC ) (x- direction)
Q ⋅ V ⋅ cos ( θ - θ NYC ) (y- direction)

where θNYC is the orientation of the model (see Orientation (p. 66)).
6.24.2 Specifying Sources and Sinks

In your model you can have up to a total of 256 sources and sinks. The
sources and sinks are then numbered in succession and you specify (or
edit) each of them by giving the corresponding number.
For a source you specify:
z The source location is specified as a constant in time and space.

z The source direction of the flow is specified as a constant in time and
space.
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z The source discharge and flow speed can be specified as a constant in

time and space or as a time series. The discharge is given in m3/s and
the flow speed in m/s.
For the above specifications, the only requirement is that the source data
be specified for the complete simulation period.
For a sink you specify:
z The location (in grid coordinates). The location is a constant in time

and space.
z Either a constant intake (in m3/s) or the name of a data file as described
for a source but with only one item, the intake discharge.

You should if possible avoid placing sources and sinks in points that are
subjected to flooding and drying. If you have a source or sink in such a
point, it will be inactivated when the point is dry during a sweep. But a
separate mass budget is performed at all dried source/sink points such that
the mass outlet/intake at a source/sink is correct. That is, for sources at
dried points the mass outlet is accounted for untill the particular point
eventually floods (i.e. water depth increases the flooding depth) and thus
enters the computations in the usual way. For sinks at dried points the sink
intake is subtracted from the particular point untill the water depths
becomes very small (MIKE 21 cannot handle artificially generated non-
positive water depths).
6.25 Standard vs. nested HD module

The purpose of this section is to enable the user to use the Nested Hydro-
Dynamic module of MIKE 21 Flow Module, the MIKE 21 NHD. As most
features in MIKE 21 NHD are identical to the features in the standard
Hydrodynamic Module, the MIKE 21 HD, this manual only describes the
nested facilities.
The nested hydrodynamic module, MIKE 21 NHD, solves the hydrody-

namic equations simultaneously in a user-defined number of dynamically
nested grids.
The advantage of applying the nested grid facility compared to the stand-
ard approach of using only one grid is mainly the reduced CPU require-
ments. Typical applications of the hydrodynamic module have a limited
74 MIKE 21 HD
Standard vs. nested HD module
physical area of main interest, which covers only a smaller part of the total
modelling area. To obtain a satisfactory spatial resolution of the model
within this area of interest, the standard hydrodynamic module can be
used. But this will often result in a very large number of computational
grid points, many of which are often wasted in areas of only limited inter-
est for the application, and accordingly this approach will require much
computer time and memory. Applying the nested module, the spatial reso-
lution can be optimised to save computer time. See Figure 6.17 for an
example.
Figure 6.17 Example of a nested model set-up applied in an investigation of the

Øresund Link, Denmark-Sweden. The nested model contains four
model areas: an outer area (the main area) with a resolution of 900
m, two intermediate areas of 300 m resolution, and an inner area
with a resolution of 100 m
The possibility of applying multiple grids of different spatial resolution is

also available within the standard MIKE 21 HD, where e.g. a coarse grid
regional model is first run and the results are stored and subsequently used
to force a fine grid model. (See Boundary Conditions (p. 50)). In this case
the grids are not coupled dynamically. This means that there is no feed-
back from the fine resolution grid to the enclosing coarser grid with
respect to phenomena being resolved only with the fine resolution (narrow
channels and constructions). In the MIKE 21 NHD the grids are dynami-
cally coupled and interact accordingly. The two-way nesting secures a
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dynamically exchange of mass and momentum between the modelling

grids of different resolution.
6.25.2 Nested Bathymetries

The standard hydrodynamic module, MIKE 21 HD, can only be applied
with one bathymetry with a certain spatial resolution. The nested version,
MIKE 21 NHD, can work with up to nine bathymetries (model areas) of
different resolutions. The bathymetries can be nested into each other with
a progressive increase in resolution and/or with more than one model area
at each level of equal spatial resolution, cf. Figure 6.18 and Figure 6.19.
Figure 6.18 Sketch showing possible nesting of bathymetries
As with the standard hydrodynamic module, specification of the bathy-

metric information is very important. There are a number of rules to obey
when preparing nested bathymetries to obtain compatibility between a
subarea (fine grid) and its enclosing area (coarse grid):
z The ratio between the horizontal spatial resolution at one level to the
next level must be 3, i.e.
∆xCOARSE = 3∆xFINE
The factor of 3, which is fixed, has been found appropriate for a wide
range of applications.
z Model areas at the same level must not overlap. The distance between
model areas at the same level should be at least three times
∆xCOARSE
76 MIKE 21 HD
z Corners of sub-areas must be placed in grid points (integer values) of

the respective enclosing grid. This means that, in each horizontal direc-
tion, every third grid point of the fine grid is common to a grid point in
the coarse grid, a so-called common grid point.
z Open boundaries are only allowed in the coarsest grid, referred to as
the main area.
z Model sub-areas must be placed at least three grid points within the
boundary of the enclosing area if the closest boundary point is a
water point. If the boundary point is a land point, a distance of one grid
point is sufficient.
z The water depths in common grid points along borders between areas
must be equal in the coarse grid and in the fine grid. The water depths
in the two border grid points of the fine grid between two common grid
points must have values which are linearly interpolated from the water
depths of the two surrounding common grid points. That is, the border
bathymetry should be fully resolved in the coarse grid.
z To avoid instabilities, it has been chosen to demand that the water
depths across borders should be equal within a band of ∆xCOARSE on
each side of the border. This means that the water depth in the coarse
grid must be equal in three points orthogonal to the border (one point at
the border and one point on each side). In the fine grid, the water depth
in the first four grid points orthogonal to the border should be equal. If
the border is land, this rule does not need to be satisfied.
z Moving along a border from a water point towards a land point (if
any), the last water point before reaching land should be common in
the coarse grid and the fine grid. This is an important rule, which might
not seem quite obvious, cf. Figure 6.19, but keep in mind that at the
border the topography should be fully resolved on the coarse grid
scale.
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Reference Manual
Figure 6.19 Principle of water depths and land-water boundary along a border
line
z Finally, all interior common points should have equal water depth in
the coarse grid and in the fine grid. As the nested model does not per-
form any coarse grid calculations in the area covered by the fine grid,
this rule is only included in order to ease pre- and post-processing. Fine
grid solutions of any model quantity are always copied to the coarse
grid.
Please be very careful when choosing the extents of sub-areas. Many

hours of annoyance during an application could be avoided, if some time
is spent choosing the sub-domain structure. Borders and the positions of
these should be treated with equally care as the open boundaries of your
model.
A pre-processing tool for border adjustment of nested bathymetries

should be applied prior to the MIKE 21 NHD module, see also Pre- and
Post-Processing Tools (p. 80).
6.25.3 Nested Model Specifications

Most model specifications in MIKE 21 NHD are identical to those in
MIKE 21 HD. The major difference is that in the nested model you have
to specify most of the model parameters (coefficients, initial fields, maps,
etc.) separately for each area. A few comments are listed below:
z For a "cold start", you first of all specify how many areas you want to
include. Then you select the main area and all sub-areas supplied with
origin in enclosing grid coordinates (integers). Notice that the model
orientation and origin in geographical coordinates should be supplied
with the type 2 data file for the main area bathymetry.
78 MIKE 21 HD
z For a "hot start", you select your hot data files, one for each area. The
other information mentioned above is contained in the hot data files
and cannot be changed.
z Specifications given for the simulation period are common to all areas.
z You enter your choice of turbulence formulation which is common to
all areas. Parameters for constant eddy viscosity and for the Smagorin-
sky should be specified for each area.
z Bed resistance parameters (constants or maps) should also be specified
for each area. The selected bed resistance formulation (Manning or
Chezy) will be common for all areas.
z Wave radiation stresses can be included in one or more areas.
z Open boundary conditions in the nested MIKE 21 Flow Model are
specified exactly as for the standard MIKE 21 Flow Model. Remember
that open boundaries must be in the main area, see Nested
Bathymetries (p. 76).
z Initial surface elevation should be specified for each area. Flooding
and drying depths are common to all areas.
z Source/sink specifications are the same as for the standard MIKE 21
model, except that you also specify the number of the area in which the
source/sink is located. This area number must correspond to the finest
grid covering the source location. Evaporation and precipitation rates
are common to all areas.
z The wind specifications are identical to those in the standard MIKE 21.
A possible type 2 data file is specified for the main area only and the
wind field is interpolated automatically by MIKE 21 NHD to match the
finer grids.
z You specify bridge piers in MIKE 21 NHD as in the standard MIKE 21
and, in addition, you supply the area number for the location(s) of the
pier(s). Bridge piers must be embedded within one area only, i.e.
within the finest grid covering the pier locations, and the line of piers
should not intersect with area borders.
z In the output specifications, each output area must be related to an
associated model area. For hot files, one file for each area must be
specified
Time Step
The time step (which is the same in all areas) to be used in a MIKE 21
Nested Flow Model simulation is determined in the same way as in the
standard MIKE 21 Flow Model. In the nested version, though, it is neces-
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Reference Manual
sary to calculate the Courant number within each model area based on the
respective grid spacing and maximum water depth as well as the time step.
CPU Time
The CPU time for a MIKE 21 NHD simulation is proportional to the
number of computational water points in all areas (neglecting the 'hidden'
water points due to nesting). The computational speed (points per second)
of MIKE 21 NHD is roughly speaking 10% lower than for the standard
MIKE 21 HD due to an overhead for handling of the nesting.
Disk Space
The disk space requirements of a MIKE 21 NHD simulation can be deter-
mined in the same way as for a standard MIKE 21 HD simulation, see
Disk Space (p. 59). The system-generated files are the two ASCII files of
extension m21 and log.
6.25.4 Pre- and Post-Processing Tools

All the standard MIKE 21 pre- and post-processing tools (i.e. data file edi-
tors, data type conversion programs, graphics, etc.) can be applied in con-
nection with MIKE 21 NHD. One tool has been developed especially for
nested grid:
z border adjustment: A pre-processing tool developed to aid adjusting

nested bathymetries prior to a MIKE 21 NHD simulation, see Nested
Bathymetries (p. 76). This tool takes as input two type 2 bathymetry
data files, corresponding to a fine grid and its enclosing coarser grid,
and produces two new type 2 bathymetry data files. Since the produced
modifications are not necessarily the most ideal, it is strongly recom-
mended always to check the new bathymetries – coarse as well as fine
grid – along borders that cross a land-water boundary. Possibly you
need to edit the bathymetries using e.g. the GridEdit tool.
If you plan to apply MIKE 21 NHD with more than one sub-level, you
should apply border adjustment 'inside-out'. That is, considering the
example sketched in Figure 6.18, the sequence of border modifications
should contain: Apply the border adjustment program with areas 3 and
5, then apply border adjustment on the main area (i.e. area 1) and the
modified area 3.
6.26 Time Step

6.26.1 Selecting the Time Step
The time step for your simulation is selected as follows:
80 MIKE 21 HD
Wave Radiation Stresses
z First you determine the grid spacing, ∆x, as described under 6.25.2.
z Secondly you decide on the maximum allowed Courant number, Cr, as
described under Courant Number (p. 58).
z Then you can determine the maximum time step, ∆tmax, which can be
used in the model from the definition of the Courant number:
Cr
∆ t max = ∆x
c
where c is the celerity (see Courant Number (p. 58) for a description).
The time step to be used in the model, ∆t, can then be chosen as a "con-
venient" number not greater than∆tmax.
z Finally you have to check that the Courant number based on the current
speed, (the transport courant number) Cr,U, instead of the wave celerity,
is less than 1 for the time step chosen. If not, you must reduce the cho-
sen time step. Cr,U is defined as
U V 
Cr,U = ∆t ⋅  + 
 ∆x ∆y 
where U,V is the current speed in the x-direction and y-direction. For
all points within the model U and V must follow the above formula. As
you have not yet carried out the simulation you will have to make an
estimate and then check this after the simulation.
Please note that formally U and V in the above expression should be

replaced by P/H and Q/H, respectively, where P and Q are the magnitudes
of the fluxes in the x- and y- directions and H is the local water depth.
Often the two expressions – based on current speeds or on the flux magni-
tudes – yield almost the same value, but care should be taken in models
with large surface and/or bottom gradients.
6.27 Wave Radiation Stresses

You can include the wave induced flow in the model area by specification
of the so called "Wave Radiation Stresses".
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By averaging the equations of motion over depth and time (the wave
period) wave radiation stress terms will be included in the momentum
equations.
The additional terms are:
x − momentum :
∂S xx ∂S xy
+
∂x ∂y
y − momentum :
∂S yy ∂S xy
+
∂y ∂x
where SXX, SXY and SYY are the three components of radiation stress.
6.27.2 Specifying the Wave Radiation Stresses.

The inclusion of wave radiation stresses in MIKE 21 should be specified
by a map similar to that for bed resistance except that it should contain
three items (SXX, SXY, SYY) and a prefix item (bathymetry).
The stresses are kept constant in time (steady state wave situation), but by
specifying a so-called soft start, the stresses will be linearly increased
from zero to the input values over the requested number of time steps.
The data file (type 2) containing the wave radiation stresses can be gener-
ated directly by the wave models MIKE 21 NSW or MIKE 21 PMS.

Since the wave radiation stresses describe the average flow over one wave
period, the stresses are connected to a certain water depth. Application of
the wave radiation stresses in simulations with time varying water depths
(e.g. tide and/or storm surges) is possible, but the error introduced by the
changes in water depth should be considered.
If the "Flood and Dry" facility is applied, the user should be sure that the
wave radiation stresses are well defined in all grid points which will be
flooded during the simulation.
82 MIKE 21 HD
Wave Radiation Stresses
In general, it is not recommended to use wave radiation stresses together

with the "Flood and Dry" facility.
The main problems connected to simulations with wave radiation stresses

are related to the open boundary conditions. A MIKE 21 Toolbox pro-
gram; Wave Generated Current and Setup, can be used for generation of
level or flux transfer boundary data based on the two dimensional wave
radiation stress data file.
Below is listed a typical sequence step by step to follow in simulations

which include effects from wave radiation stresses:
z A type 2 data file containing the three wave radiation stress compo-
nents should be prepared. This file can be generated directly by MIKE
21 NSW or MIKE 21 PMS.
z Generate transfer boundary data (only contribution from wave radia-
tion stresses) for all open boundaries in the model area, using "Wave
Generated Current and Setup".
z Run the HD simulation to obtain the stationary flow field.
The last step is not necessary if for example tide and/or storm surge also
should be included, but it is still recommended for checking purposes
(besides it contributes to the understanding of the final combined flow
field).
If additional effects from for example tidal waves should be included in

the HD simulation the following additional steps are typical.
z Run the HD simulation with the tidal effects alone.

Normally this run will be made in a much larger model area (and with
larger grid spacing) than with the wave radiation stresses alone. This is
because the wave generated current is a very local phenomenon (the
surf zone) and accordingly has to be described in a very fine grid (nor-
mally less than 50 m in grid spacing), whereas the tide (long waves)
can be described with a much larger grid spacing. Very often the tidal
information to be used as boundary conditions is only known at sta-
tions relatively far away from the local area of interest, and accord-
ingly the model area needs to be extended.
z Generate transfer boundary data (only contribution from the tide) for
all open boundaries in the local model area using the data transfer tool
in the MIKE 21 Toolbox.
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z Superimpose the two contributions to the boundary data, using "Wave

Generated Current and Setup".
z Run the final HD simulation.
Please note that this simulation needs a warm-up period before the
wave generated flow has become stationary. The length of the warm-up
period is approximately the simulation period until stationarity
obtained in the HD simulation with the wave radiation stresses alone.
6.28 Wind Conditions

You can include the effects of a wind blowing over the model area in the
following way. The driving force due to this wind is calculated from the
following quadratic law:
ρ air 2
C w -------------- W (6.6)
ρ water
where CW is the wind friction coefficient, ρ is the density (the ratio equals
1/800) and W is the wind velocity in m/s 10 m above the sea surface.
Notice that the direction of the wind is given in degrees blowing from
(relative to true north (see Figure 6.20)).
Figure 6.20 Definition of wind direction
6.28.2 Specifying the Wind Conditions

The wind conditions can be specified in three ways:
84 MIKE 21 HD
Wind Conditions
z As a wind which is blowing from the same direction and with the same
magnitude over the whole model area for the whole simulation period.
z As a wind where the magnitude and direction varies during the simula-
tion period but is the same over the whole model area.
You have to prepare a data file (type 0) containing the wind speed and
direction before you set up the hydrodynamic simulation. This can be
done by entering the data in an ASCII file using your normal editor and
then reading this file into the standard data file format from the data
file editor.
The wind speed and wind direction must be given as two separate
items in the data file. The time step of the wind input data file does not,
however, have to be the same as the time step of the hydrodynamic
simulation. A cubic interpolation will be applied if the time steps dif-
fer. The only requirement is that the wind data be specified for the
complete simulation period.
In both cases you can specify a start up period during which the wind
speed is increased linearly from 0 to the specified wind speed in order to
avoid shock waves being generated in the model.
z As a wind where the magnitude and direction varies during the simula-
tion period and over the model area.
You have to prepare a data file (type 2) containing the wind speed com-
ponents and air pressure before you set up the hydrodynamic simula-
tion. This can be done by either using one of the two MIKE 21 wind
generating programs (cyclone generated wind and pressure, or wind
generated on the basis of digitised pressure fields). Or you can enter
the data in an ASCII file using your normal editor and then reading this
file into the standard data file format from the data file editor.
The wind speed and pressure must be given as three separate items in
the data file. The first item should be the pressure in hPa, the two next
ones should be the wind speed in the x-direction and y-direction,
respectively. The time step of the wind input data file does not, how-
ever, have to be the same as the time step of the hydrodynamic simula-
tion.
A linear interpolation will be applied if the time steps differ. The only
requirements are that the wind map matches the bathymetry map and
that the wind data covers the complete simulation period.
In addition to the name of the wind data file you have to specify a ref-
erence or neutral pressure level. It is the pressure at the start of the sim-
85
Reference Manual
ulation when it is assumed to be constant over the whole model and the
initial surface is horizontal.
6.28.3 Specifying the Wind Friction

Normally a wind friction coefficient of 0.0026 will give good results for
moderate and strong winds in the open sea. For weak winds, however,
smaller coefficients can be used.
If you specify a varying wind speed you might also need to specify a vary-
ing friction coefficient. Consequently, the possibility of varying the fric-
tion coefficient linearly as a function of the wind speed is included,
yielding

 c0 ; W < W0

 c thld – c 0
Cw =  c 0 + --------------------- W ; W 0 ≤ W < W thld (6.7)
 W thld

 c thld ; W ≤ W thld


You can use the wind friction factor as a parameter in your model calibra-
tion.
Note, that level boundaries can optionally be adjusted according to
level = boundary data – ( P – P neutral ) ⁄ ( ρg ) (6.8)
when you use pressure or elevation boundary variations.
6.29 List of References

Aupoix, B. Eddy Viscosity Subgrid Scale Models for Homogeneous Tur-
bulence, in Macroscopic Modelling of Turbulent Flow, Lecture Notes in
Physics, Proc. Sophie-Antipolis, France, 1984.
Horiuti, K. Comparison of Conservative and Rotational Forms in Large

Eddy Simulation of Turbulent Channel Flow, Journal of Computational
Physics, 71, pp 343-370, 1987.
86 MIKE 21 HD
List of References
Leonard, A. Energy Cascades in Large-Eddy Simulations of Turbulent

Fluid Flows, Advances in Geophysics, 18, pp 237-247, 1974.
Lilly, D.K. On the Application of the Eddy Viscosity Concept in the Iner-
tial Subrange of Turbulence, NCAR Manuscript No. 123, National Center
for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, 1966.
Madsen, P.A., Rugbjerg, M. and Warren, I.R. Subgrid Modelling in Depth

Integrated Flows, Coastal Engineering Conference, 1, pp 505-511,
Malaga, Spain, 1988.
Rodi, W. Turbulence Models and Their Application in Hydraulics - A

State of the Art Review, Special IAHR Publication, 1980.
Smagorinsky, J. General Circulation Experiment with the Primitive Equa-

tions, Monthly Weather Review, 91, No. 3, pp 99-164, 1963.
Wang, J.D. Numerical Modelling of Bay Circulation, The Sea, Ocean

Engineering Science, 9, Part B, Chapter 32, pp 1033-1067, 1990.
87
Reference Manual
88 MIKE 21 HD
INDEX
89
Index
E
Evaporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 63
H
High precision calculation . . . . . . . 28
I
Inundation statistics . . . . . . . . . . 66
P
Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 71
90 MIKE 21 HD

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MIKE 21 FLOW MODEL

DHI Software 2007

G:\f-share\MikeZero\new\source\manuals\M21\m21hd\Cover.fm 22 January 2007 6:21 am

1 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

This User Guide is complemented by the Online Help.

1.2 Assumed User Background

In this case, “common sense” means a background in coastal hydraulics

2.1 General Description

The hydrodynamic (HD) module is the basic module in the MIKE 21

The hydrodynamic module simulates water level variations and flows in

z bottom shear stress

2.1.1 Application Areas

z modelling of tidal hydraulics

As MIKE 21 HD is a very general hydraulic model, it can easily be set up

z secondary circulations, eddies and vortices

z Wind set-up example:

3.2 Wind set-up in a rectangular lake

The problem is to determine the wind set-up in a lake.

The test conditions are:

z The lake is rectangular in shape with a length of 5 km in the east/west

Figure 3.1 Wind set-up in a small lake, model layout

Additional information required by MIKE 21 is:

3.2.2 Extracting Data for Plotting

Figure 3.2 Time series of the wind set-up in a rectangular lake

3.2.3 Evaluating the Results

3.3 Donegal Bay

"The existing drainage system in Donegal town is a combined sys-

To cater adequately for existing demands and to allow for future

from Donegal town are adequate in terms of protection of the envi-

In order to do the required investigation a number of different MIKE 21

3.3.2 Defining the Hydrodynamic Model

The model area was chosen based on the following considerations:

The time step was chosen to be 60 seconds, as this results in a maximum

3.3.3 Collecting Data

Tidal measurements, collection of wind data and measurements of flow in

3.3.4 Setting Up the Model

Figure 3.4 Model bathymetry, Donegal Bay

Simultaneous measurements of the water level close to the open boundary

3.3.5 Calibrating and Verifying the Model

Figure 3.5 Flow pattern during verification simulation at Donegal Bay

Most of the calibration work consisted of obtaining a correct schematisa-

3.3.6 Running the Production Simulations

3.3.7 Presenting the Results

In addition to plots showing the verification results (as in Figure 3.5),

3.3.8 List of Data and Specification Files

3.4 Turtle Bay

The model set-up includes:

z two-level nesting with an outer 120 m grid and an inner 40 m grid

3.4.2 About the Model

Bathymetry: Having generated the bathymetry files (using e.g. the

Figure 3.7 Nested bathymetries for the Turtle bay example

The AD components on the open boundaries are specified as constants on

Eddy viscosity: The velocity based Smagorinsky formulation has been

Source specifications: A single constant source has been placed at grid

3.4.3 Data and Specification Files Supplied with This Example

4 BASIC PARAMETERS DIALOG OVERVIEW

Module Selection (p. 27)

4.1 Module Selection

z Hydrodynamic only, i.e. the HD module alone

If the bathymetry is located significantly above mean sea level it is recom-