Collision dynamics of two barchan dunes simulated by a simple model

Abstract

The collision processes of two crescentic dunes called barchans are systematically studied using a simple computer simulation model. The simulated processes, coalescence, ejection and reorganization, qualitatively correspond to those observed in a water tank experiment. Moreover we found the realized types of collision depend both on the mass ratio and on the lateral distance between barchans under initial conditions. A simple set of differential equations to describe the collision of one-dimensional (1D) dunes is introduced.

4 pages, 5 figures : To be published in Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

References in corpus (5)

• Selection of dune shapes and velocities. Part 1: Dynamics of sand, wind and barchans
• Minimal model for aeolian sand dunes
• Corridors of barchan dunes: stability and size selection
• Modelling a Dune Field
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• Emergence of a Barchan Belt in a Unidirectional Flow: Experiment and Numerical Simulation
• Morphodynamics of barchan-barchan interactions investigated at the grain scale
• 3D Dune Skeleton Model as a Coupled Dynamical System of 2D Cross-Sections
• Stability of transverse dunes against perturbations; a theoretical study using dune skeleton model
• When dunes move together, structure of deserts emerges
• Modeling the large-scale structure of a barchan dune field