Non-hydrostatic layer-averaged approximation of Euler system with enhanced dispersion properties

A new family of non-hydrostatic layer-averaged models for the non-stationary Euler equations is presented in this work, with improved dispersion relations. They are a generalisation of the layer-averaged models introduced in Fernández-Nieto et al. (Commun Math Sci 16(05):1169–1202, 2018), named LDNH models, where the vertical profile of the horizontal velocity is layerwise constant. This assumption implies that solutions of LDNH can be seen as a first order Galerkin approximation of Euler system. Nevertheless, it is not a fully (x, z) Galerkin discretisation of Euler system, but just in the vertical direction (z). Thus, the resulting model only depends on the horizontal space variable (x), and therefore specific and efficient numerical methods can be applied (see Escalante-Sanchez et al. in J Sci Comput 89(55):1–35, 2021). This work focuses on particular weak solutions where the horizontal velocity is layerwise linear on z and possibly discontinuous across layer interfaces. This approach allows the system to be a second-order approximation in the vertical direction of Euler system. Several closure relations of the layer-averaged system with nonhydrostatic pressure are presented. The resulting models are named LIN-NHk models, with k = 0, 1, 2. Parameter k indicates the degree of the vertical velocity profile considered in the approximation of the vertical momentum equation. All the introduced models satisfy a dissipative energy balance. Finally, an analysis and a comparison of the dispersive properties of each model are carried out.We show thatModels LIN-NH1 and LIN-NH2 provide a better dispersion relation, group velocity and shoaling than LDNH models.