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.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1405.0624,
title = {Analytical mesoscale modeling of aeolian sand transport},
author = {Marc Lämmel and Klaus Kroy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1405.0624},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
16 pages, 8 figures