Saltation in wind blown sand

The Boltzmann equation of the sand particle velocity distribution function in wind-blown sand two-phase flow is established based on the motion equation of single particle in air. And then, the generalized balance law of particle property in single phase granular flow is extended to gas-particle two-phase flow. The velocity distribution function of particle phase is expanded into an infinite series by means of Grad's method and the Gauss distribution is used to replace Maxwell distribution. In the case of truncation at the third-order terms, a closed third-order moment dynamical equation system is constructed. The theory is further simplified according to the measurement results obtained by stroboscopic photography in wind tunnel tests.

Experimental Investigation Of Particle Velocity Distributions In Windblown Sand Movement

With the PDPA (Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer) measurement technology, the probability distributions of particle impact and lift-off velocities on bed surface and the particle velocity distributions at different heights are detected in a wind tunnel. The results show that the probability distribution of impact and lift-off velocities of sand grains can be expressed by a log-normal function, and that of impact and lift-off angles complies with an exponential function. The mean impact angle is between 28 degrees and 39 degrees, and the mean lift-off angle ranges from 30 degrees to 44 degrees. The mean lift-off velocity is 0.81-0.9 times the mean impact velocity. The proportion of backward-impacting particles is 0.05-0.11, and that of backward-entrained particles ranges from 0.04 to 0.13. The probability distribution of particle horizontal velocity at 4 mm height is positive skew, the horizontal velocity of particles at 20 mm height varies widely, and the variation of the particle horizontal velocity at 80 mm height is less than that at 20 mm height. The probability distribution of particle vertical velocity at different heights can be described as a normal function.

Wind Tunnel Experimental Investigation Of Sand Velocity In Aeolian Sand Transport

Sand velocity in aeolian sand transport was measured using the laser Doppler technique of PDPA (Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer) in a wind tunnel. The sand velocity profile, probability distribution of particle velocity, particle velocity fluctuation and particle turbulence were analyzed in detail. The experimental results verified that the sand horizontal velocity profile can be expressed by a logarithmic function above 0.01 in, while a deviation occurs below 0.01 m. The mean vertical velocity of grains generally ranges from -0.2 m/s to 0.2 m/s, and is downward at the lower height, upward at the higher height. The probability distributions of the horizontal velocity of ascending and descending particles have a typical peak and are right-skewed at a height of 4 turn in the lower part of saltation layer. The vertical profile of the horizontal RMS velocity fluctuation of particles shows a single peak. The horizontal RMS velocity fluctuation of sand particles is generally larger than the vertical RMS velocity fluctuation. The RMS velocity fluctuations of grains in both horizontal and vertical directions increase with wind velocity. The particle turbulence intensity decreases with height. The present investigation is helpful in understanding the sand movement mechanism in windblown sand transport and also provides a reference for the study of blowing sand velocity. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Numerical investigation of particle velocity distributions in aeolian sand transport

Particle velocity distribution in a blowing sand cloud is a reflection of saltation movement of many particles. Numerical analysis is performed for particle velocity distribution with a discrete particle model. The probability distributions of resultant particle velocity in the impact-entrainment process, particle horizontal and vertical velocities at different heights and the vertical velocity of ascending particles are analyzed. The probability distributions of resultant impact and lift-off velocities of saltating particles can be expressed by a log-normal function, and that of impact angle comply with an exponential function. The probability distribution of particle horizontal and vertical velocities at different heights shows a typical single-peak pattern. In the lower part of saltation layer, the particle horizontal velocity distribution is positively skewed. Further analysis shows that the probability density function of the vertical velocity of ascending particles is similar to the right-hand part of a normal distribution function, and a general equation is acquired for the probability density function of non-dimensional vertical velocity of ascending particles which is independent of diameter of saltating particles, wind strength and height. These distributions in the present numerical analysis are consistent with reported experimental results. The present investigation is important for understanding the saltation state in wind-blown sand movement. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

巴丹吉林沙漠近40a风沙活动规律浅析

Based on the data of wind from 11 meteorological observation stations in recent 40 years, the paper analyzed the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of resultant drift potential in the Badain Jaran Desert. The 84 sand samples were collected and analysed from three compound crescentic dunes developped on southeast part of The Badain Jaran Desert. Through the statistics and computation of wind data and the analysis of Grain Size over compound crescentic dunes in The Badain Jaran Desert, this paper analyzed the characteristics of the blown sand activities in in this area. The following viewpoints were obtained: 1　Most parts of The Badain Jaran Desert are dominated by northwest wind and sub－dominated by west wind, while prevailing wind in southeast part of The Badain Jaran Desert is southeast, different froms other places. 2 The Badain Jaran Desert is strongly zoned from its surounding meteorological observation stations. It has impressively high DP and RDP value. Except for Ding Xin Station in medium wind power environment, the left stations are all belongs to high wind－power districts. 3 From the seventies till now, the value of DP and RDP in The Badain Jaran Desert shows a decending trend except for the RDP value of Guai Zihu Station in the north. This trend indicates that the wind power for the moment of The Badain Jaran Desert is far lower than it in the seventies. 4 Adopting sand rose map for classification of wind environments in defferent parts of The Badain Jaran Desert, Ejinaqi is Narrow unimodal wind regimes, Ding xin, Bayinmaodao and Ayouqi districts obtuse bimodal and Guaizihu complex. 5 Resultant drift directions in most parts of the Badain Jaran desert are southeast, which indicates annual net sand in these areas drifted from the northwest to the southeast of the desert, which consists with the analysis results of grain size of predecessors. RDD in Ayouqi staion shows the net sand drifted from the southeast to the northwest in the recent 40 years, which may attribute to the reason that, the Badain Jaran desert lies in the zone influenced by both northwest and southeast wind, the southeast monsoon was strengthened and northwest wind became weaker than a former time. So, if sand mareria is sufficient, there are two different drift directions, namely two sorts of sand source, existed in Badain Jaran desert at least. 6 Based on analysis results of meteorologic data and grain size, blown sand activities is that, in most parts of Badain Jaran desert in the past 40 years, northwest wind transported net sand from the northwest part to the southeast part of The Badain Jaran Desert.And besides this, analysis of collected sand samples also shows that, in the southeast part of Badain Jaran desert, grain size do fined from southeast to northwest. Combining results of meteorologic data in the southeast part, it can infered that southeast monsoon took blown sand to the inner desert from its southeast part.

Importance of soil ecology in vegetation rehabilitation on a North Stradbroke Island sand mine

Sibelco Australia Limited (SAL), a mineral sand mining operation on North Stradbroke Island, undertakes progressive rehabilitation of mined areas. Initial investigations have found that some areas at SAL’s Yarraman Mine have failed to redevelop towards approved criteria. This study, undertaken in 2010, examined ground cover rehabilitation of different aged plots at the Yarraman Mine to determine if there was a relationship between key soil and vegetation attributes. Vegetation and soil data were collected from five plots rehabilitated in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and one unmined plot. Cluster (PATN) analysis revealed that vegetation species composition, species richness and ground cover differed between plots. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted ten soil attributes that were then correlated with vegetation data. The attributes extracted by PCA, in order of most common variance, were: water content, pH, terrolas depth, elevation, slope angle, leaf litter depth, total organic carbon, and counts of macrofauna, fungi and bacteria. All extracted attributes differed between plots, and all except bacteria correlated with at least one vegetation attribute. Water content and pH correlated most strongly with vegetation cover suggesting an increase in soil moisture and a reduction in pH are required in order to improve vegetation rehabilitation at Yarraman Mine. Further study is recommended to confirm these results using controlled experiments and to test potential solutions, such as organic amendments.