  In an effort to study the applicability of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR)
techniques to atmospheric models an interpolation-based spectral element
shallow water model on a cubed-sphere grid is compared to a block-structured
finite volume method in latitude-longitude geometry. Both models utilize a
non-conforming adaptation approach which doubles the resolution at fine-coarse
mesh interfaces. The underlying AMR libraries are quad-tree based and ensure
that neighboring regions can only differ by one refinement level.
  The models are compared via selected test cases from a standard test suite
for the shallow water equations. They include the advection of a cosine bell, a
steady-state geostrophic flow, a flow over an idealized mountain and a
Rossby-Haurwitz wave. Both static and dynamics adaptations are evaluated which
reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the AMR techniques. Overall, the AMR
simulations show that both models successfully place static and dynamic
adaptations in local regions without requiring a fine grid in the global
domain. The adaptive grids reliably track features of interests without visible
distortions or noise at mesh interfaces. Simple threshold adaptation criteria
for the geopotential height and the relative vorticity are assessed.
