Mesh generation and editing tools are provided. The mesh generation and editing tools can be implemented using MATLAB® and are platform-independent, usable in any number of different operating systems and configurations. The mesh generation tool uses a graphical user interface to receive user inputs of boundary and bathymetry information and automatically generates a mesh based on the input information and user selections of the number of mesh refinements based on the bathymetry that should be run. The mesh generation tool also performs a check of the computing resources needed to construct a mesh with the selected parameters and allows the user to change the parameters before generating the mesh if necessary to avoid excessive resource use. The mesh editing tool includes a fully automated master smoothing script that applies a set of “best practices” mesh operations to a mesh, and further includes a set of mesh editing tools that can be applied individually to edit and refine a mesh to best suit a user's needs. Meshes generated in accordance with the present invention can include properly formatted ADCIRC grid files (fort.14 file) that can be used to represent coastal ocean dynamics in a discrete computational framework.