AN APPROPRIATE ALGORITHM IN PARALLEL COMPUTATIONS FOR 3-DIMENSIONAL HYDRODYNAMICS

There are a number of numerical methods for solving three-dimensional hydrodynamical models. An important aspect of any method is its effici ent use of parallel computer architectures in an effort to minimize th e clock time requirements in certain simulations such as oil spill mod eling which uses three-dimensional hydrodynamics. The vertical-horizon tal splitting (VHS) algorithm, using the method of characteristics for the two-dimensional horizontal plane and a generalization of the Cran k-Nicholson method for vertical integration, is well-suited for the pa rallel architecture of the CM-2 machine.