Analytical mesoscale modeling of aeolian sand transport

Abstract

The mesoscale structure of aeolian sand transport determines a variety of natural phenomena studied in planetary and Earth science. We analyze it theoretically beyond the mean-field level, based on the grain-scale transport kinetics and splash statistics. A coarse-grained analytical model is proposed and verified by numerical simulations resolving individual grain trajectories. The predicted height-resolved sand flux and other important characteristics of the aeolian transport layer agree remarkably well with a comprehensive compilation of field and wind tunnel data, suggesting that the model robustly captures the essential mesoscale physics. By comparing the saturation length with field data for the minimum sand-dune size, we can reconcile conflicting previous models for this most enigmatic emergent aeolian scale and elucidate the importance of intermittent turbulent wind fluctuations for field measurements.

16 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• The physics of sediment transport initiation, cessation, and entrainment across aeolian and fluvial environments
• The Cessation Threshold of Nonsuspended Sediment Transport Across Aeolian and Fluvial Environments
• Aeolian sand transport: Scaling of mean saltation length and height and implications for mass flux scaling
• Single-dopant band bending fluctuations in MoSe${}_2$ measured with electrostatic force microscopy
• Scaling laws for planetary sediment transport from DEM-RANS numerical simulations
• Anomalous Scaling of Aeolian Sand Transport Reveals Coupling to Bed Rheology
• Emergence of wind ripples controlled by mechanics of grain-bed impacts
• From lab to landscape-scale experiments for the morphodynamics of sand dunes
• Modeling the dynamics of aeolian meter-scale bedforms induced by bed heterogeneities
• Coarse Graining Nonisothermal Microswimmer Suspensions