A new second-order modified hydrostatic reconstruction for the shallow water flows with a discontinuous topography (Q2227752)

The authors present a new effective and reliable modified second-order HR (hydrostatic reconstruction) scheme for the shallow water equations with discontinuous bottom topography based on the water surface level, the depth-averaged velocity, and the bottom topography. The reconstruction at the wet-dry front is modified to maintain the stationary solution and to preserve the non-negative water depth. In order to correctly reflect the acceleration due to the sloped bottom, the intermediate bottom level is redefined at the cell interface. The discretization of the source term is also modified when the fluid has enough mechanical energy to climb the step. The new scheme is proved to be exactly well-balanced and positivity-preserving. In particular, this scheme can correctly reflect the wave pattern for the shallow downhill flow over steps.