A nonlinear multigrid solver for a semi-Lagrangian potential vorticity-based shallow-water model on the sphere

In an earlier paper, we developed a new formulation of the shallow-water equations on the sphere, based on the semi-Lagrangian advection of potential vorticity. An important feature of our two-time-level model is that forward extrapolation of the nonlinear terms is avoided. In this paper, we develop a multigrid algorithm for solving the resulting system of three coupled nonlinear equations. We include a discussion of basic multigrid methods, along with some more advanced techniques required for the development of the multigrid scheme for this system. Results are presented showing that usual optimal multigrid efficiency is obtained.