On the shape of barchan dunes
Soft Condensed Matter
2009-11-11 v1
Abstract
Barchans are crescent-shaped sand dunes forming in aride regions with unidirectional wind and limited sand supply. We report analytical and numerical results for dune shapes under different environmental conditions as obtained from the so-called `minimal model' of aeolian sand dunes. The profiles of longitudinal vertical slices (i.e. along the wind direction) are analyzed as a function of wind speed and sand supply. Shape transitions can be induced by changes of mass, wind speed and sand supply. Within a minimal extension of the model to the transverse direction the scale-invariant profile of transverse vertical cuts can be derived analytically.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0501152,
title = {On the shape of barchan dunes},
author = {Klaus Kroy and Sebastian Fischer and Benedikt Obermayer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0501152},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
to appear in J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 17 (2005)