Height profile of particle concentration in an aeolian saltating cloud: A wind tunnel investigation by PIV MSD

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 30; no. 19; pp. 2004 - n/a
• Main Authors: Dong, Zhibao, Wang, Hongtao, Zhang, Xiaohang, Ayrault, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 01.10.2003; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Boundary layer processes; Erosion and weathering; Geodesy and Gravity; Land/atmosphere interactions; Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics; Ocean/Earth/atmosphere interactions; Planetology; Solid Surface Planets
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2003GL017915

Attempt is made to define the particle concentration in an aeolian saltating cloud and its variation with height using artificial spherical quartz sand in a wind tunnel. The height profiles of the relative particle concentration in aeolian saltating cloud at three wind velocities were detected by the state of the art PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) MSD (Mie Scattering Diffusion) technique, and converted to actual concentration based on sand transport rate and the variation with height of velocity of the saltating cloud. The particle concentration was found to decay exponentially with height and to increase with wind velocity. It decayed more rapidly when the wind velocity decreased. The volume/volume concentration in the near‐surface layer was at the order of 10−4. The results obtained by PIV MSD technique were in good agreement with those derived from the sand flux and velocity profiles, the former being about 15% greater than the later.