Analysis of an optical gate device for measuring aeolian sand movement

Abstract

Abstract Movement of sand in response to wind is the most important feature of aeolian sediment transport on Earth and other planets. Through sand blasting during saltation, large amounts of dust are ejected into the atmosphere and transported long distances, impacting climate and human health. Despite continuing improvements, currently available devices for field measurement of sand movement have limitations. An optical gate device (OGD) for detecting the movement, size, and possibly speed of individual sand grains during aeolian sediment transport was analyzed. The approach uses the highly time resolved signal from these sensors, which consist of a light emitter and a photosensitive sensor. A specific OGD that is manufactured by Optek (Carrollton, Texas, USA) was tested in a sediment transport wind tunnel alongside trap-style devices. The OGD device provided particle counts and total signal response that were well correlated with sand trap data (R2 between 0.66 and 0.88). Inter-comparison among eight identical units of the OGD showed excellent repeatability (R2 > 0.98 for 7 of 8 units). Subsequent tests revealed that the response of the phototransistor (light sensor) can be linear when operated within certain workable limits. Practical implications of this are that there is potential for extracting size distribution information. Limits imposed by noise levels in the signal and interferences from extraneous light sources were also identified. Despite the results presented being specific to the OGD model tested, much of the approach outlined is applicable to any OGD-type device (including Wenglor®) if the signal of the photo detector can be accessed directly.