Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-wtssw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-21T04:18:58.490Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adaptation of the near-surface wind to the development of sand transport

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Ian K. Mcewan  and
Brian B. Willetts
Ian K. Mcewan
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Fraser Noble Building, Kings College, Aberdeen AB9 2UE, UK
Brian B. Willetts
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Fraser Noble Building, Kings College, Aberdeen AB9 2UE, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A model of wind-blown sand transport is described with particular emphasis on the feedback between the grain cloud and the near-surface wind. The results from this model are used to develop Owen's (1964) hypothesis that ‘the grain layer behaves, so far as the flow outside it is concerned, as increased aerodynamic roughness whose height is proportional to the thickness of the layer’. The hypothesis is developed to show the influence this dynamic roughness has on the turbulent boundary layer above the saltation layer. Two processes are identified which influence the path of the system towards equilibrium. The first is the feedback between the near-surface wind and the grain cloud in which the quantity of sand transported is limited by the carrying capacity of the wind. The second is due to the temporal development of an internal boundary layer in response to the additional roughness imposed on the flow above the grain layer by the grain cloud. A similarity is noted between the temporal response of a turbulent boundary layer to sand transport and the spatial response of a turbulent boundary layer downstream of a step increase in surface roughness. Finally it is noted that the work may have important implications for transport rate prediction in unsteady winds.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 252 , July 1993 , pp. 99 - 115
Copyright
© 1993 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Al-Sudairawi, M. 1992 The effect of non-erodible elements on sand transport rate. PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen.
Anderson, R. S. & Haff, P. K. 1988 Simulation of aeolian saltation. Science 241, 820–823.Google Scholar
Anderson, R. S. & Haff, P. K. 1991 Wind modification and bed response during saltation of sand in air. Acta Mechanica, Suppl. 1, 21–52.Google Scholar
Antonia, R. A. & Luxton, R. E. 1971 The response of a turbulent boundary layer to a step change in surface roughness. Part 1. Smooth to rough. J. Fluid Mech. 48, 721–761.Google Scholar
Bagnold, R. A. 1941 The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes. Methuen.
Bradley, E. F. 1968 A micrometeorological study of velocity profiles and surface drag in the region modified by a change in surface roughness. Q. J. R. Met. Soc. 94, 361–379.Google Scholar
Butterfield, G. R. 1991 Grain transport rates in steady and unsteady turbulent airflows. Acta Mechanica, Suppl. 1, 97–122.Google Scholar
Caldwell, D. R. & Elliot, W. P. 1972 The effect of rainfall on the wind in the surface layer. Boundary—Layer Met. 3, 146–151.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, A. C. 1983 Roughness length of sea, sand and snow. Boundary—Layer Met. 25, 405–409.Google Scholar
Charnock, H. 1955 Wind stress on a water surface. Q. J. R. Met. Soc. 81, 639–640.Google Scholar
Elliot, W. P. 1958 The growth of the atmospheric internal boundary layer. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 39, 1048–1054.Google Scholar
Hicks, B. B. 1972 Some evaluation of drag and bulk transfer coefficients over water bodies of different sizes. Boundary—Layer Met. 3, 201–213.Google Scholar
Hunt, J. C. R. & Nalpanis, P. 1985 Saltating and suspended particles over flat and sloping surfaces. In Proc. Intl Workshop on Physics of Blown Sand, Memoirs 8, Dept. of Theoretical Statistics, Aarhus University, Denmark, pp. 37–66.
Jensen, J. L. & Sorensen, M. 1986 Estimation of some aeolian saltation transport parameters: A re-analysis of Williams’ data. Sedimentol. 33, 547–558.Google Scholar
Jensen, N. O. 1978 Change of surface roughness and the planetary boundary layer. J. R. Met. Soc. 104, 351–356.Google Scholar
Kawamura, R. 1951 Study of sand movement. Rep. Inst. Sci. Tech. Univ. Tokyo, vol. 5, pp. 1–2 (In Japanese). (Available in English as NASA Tech. Trans. F-14, 215pp.)
Kind, R. J. 1976 A critical examination of the requirements for model simulation of wind induced erosion/deposition phenomena such as drifting snow. Atmos. Environ. 10, 219–227.Google Scholar
Kitaigorodskii, S. A. 1969 Small scale atmosphere-ocean interactions. Izv. Atmos. Ocean Phys. 5, 1114–1131.Google Scholar
McEwan, I. K. 1991 The physics of sand transport by wind. PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen.
McEWAN, I. K. & Willetts, B. B. 1991 Numerical model of the saltation cloud. Acta Mechanica, Suppl. 1, 53–66.Google Scholar
McEwan, I. K., Willetts, B. B. & Rice, M. A. 1993 The grain/bed collision in sand transport by wind. Sedimentology 39, 971–981.Google Scholar
Maeno, N., Araoka, K., Nishimura, K. & Kaneda, Y. 1979 Physical aspects of the wind–0snow interaction in blowing snow. J. Faculty of Sci. Hokkiado Univ. VII (Geophys.) 6, No. 1.Google Scholar
Owen, P. R. 1964 Saltation of uniform grains in air. J. Fluid Mech. 20, 225–242.Google Scholar
Radok, U. 1968 Deposition and erosion of snow by wind. US Cold Regions Res. and Engng Lab. Res. Rep. 230.
Rasmussen, K. R. & Mikkelsen, H. E. 1988 Aeolian transport in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Geoskrifter 28. Geologisk Institut, Aarhus Universitet.
Rasmussen, K. R. & Mikkelsen, H. E. 1991 Wind tunnel observations of aeolian transport rates. Acta Mechanica, Suppl. 1, 135–144.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, K. R., Sorensen, M. & Willetts, B. B. 1985 Measurement of saltation and wind strength on beaches. In Proc. Intl Workshop on Physics of Blown Sand, Memoirs 8, Dept. of Theoretical Statistics, Aarhus University, Denmark, pp. 301–326.
Schlicting, H. 1968 Boundary Layer Theory, 6th edn. McGraw-Hill.
Sorensen, M. 1991 An analytic model of wind-blown sand transport. Acta Mechanica, Suppl. 1, 67–82.Google Scholar
Tabler, R. D. 1980 Self-similarity of wind profiles in blowing snow allows outdoor modelling. J Glaciol. 26, 421–434.Google Scholar
Ungar, J. E. & Haff, P. K. 1987 Steady state saltation in air. Sedimentol. 34, 289–299.Google Scholar
Werner, B. 1990 A steady state model of wind-blown sand transport. J. Geol. 98, 1–17.Google Scholar
White, B. R. & Schulz, J. C. 1977 Magnus effect in saltation. J. Fluid Mech. 81, 497–512.Google Scholar
Willetts, B. B. & Rice, M. A. 1985 Inter-saltation collisions. In Proc. Intl Workshop on Physics of Blown Sand, Memoirs 8, Dept. of Theoretical Statistics, Aarhus University, Denmark, pp. 83–100.
Wu, J. 1969 Wind stress and surface roughness at the air—sea interface. J. Geophys. Res. 74, 444–455.Google Scholar