Well-balanced second-order approximation of the shallow water equation with continuous finite elements

Abstract

This paper investigates a first-order and a second-order approximation technique for the shallow water equation with topography using continuous finite elements. Both methods are explicit in time and are shown to be well-balanced. The first-order method is invariant domain preserving and satisfies local entropy inequalities when the bottom is at. Both methods are positivity preserving. Both techniques are parameter free, work well in the presence of dry states, and can be made high order in time by using strong stability preserving time stepping algorithms.