POD-Galerkin model order reduction for parametrized nonlinear time-dependent optimal flow control: an application to shallow water equations

Abstract In the present paper we propose reduced order methods as a reliable strategy to efficiently solve parametrized optimal control problems governed by shallow waters equations in a solution tracking setting. The physical parametrized model we deal with is nonlinear and time dependent: this leads to very time consuming simulations which can be unbearable, e.g., in a marine environmental monitoring plan application. Our aim is to show how reduced order modelling could help in studying different configurations and phenomena in a fast way. After building the optimality system, we rely on a POD-Galerkin reduction in order to solve the optimal control problem in a low dimensional reduced space. The presented theoretical framework is actually suited to general nonlinear time dependent optimal control problems. The proposed methodology is finally tested with a numerical experiment: the reduced optimal control problem governed by shallow waters equations reproduces the desired velocity and height profiles faster than the standard model, still remaining accurate.