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The paper describes a new numerical algorithm for pure advection at large Courant numbers. The DISCUS scheme uses an accurate and proven control volume algorithm (QUICKEST) within a Lagrangian treatment of advection. By being in sympathy with the information flow dictated by characteristic lines, the scheme performs exceedingly well at Courant numbers greater than one. In contrast to existing Lagrangian schemes which use the characteristics to determine the grid points from which concentrations are interpolated, in DISCUS the characteristics are used to determine the appropriate location for the control volume. The scheme is of comparable accuracy to Eulerian schemes at Courant numbers less than one, but it increasingly outperforms them as the Courant number increases. Indeed, the results reported illustrate the futility of using an Eulerian scheme at high Courant numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]