Sand particle dislodgement in windblown sand

Abstract

The incipient motion of sand particle from sand bed plays a very important role in the prediction of windblown sand. In this paper, we proposed a new method for predicting the incipient motion of sand particle based on wind speed fluctuation as follows, when the wind speed is larger than the critical wind speed, if the total impulse on sand particle is larger than the critical impulse, incipient motion of sand particle would take place, otherwise if not. Furthermore, from the analysis of entrainment in the rolling and lifting modes, we come to the following conclusion. When the average wind speed is smaller than the critical wind speed, if the average wind speed is used to judge the incipient motion of sand particle, one will underestimate the number of sand particles jumping from the bed, if the instantaneous wind speed is used to judge incipient motion of sand particle, one will overestimate the number of sand particles jumping from the bed; When the average wind speed is larger than the critical wind speed, either the average or the instantaneous wind speeds is used to judge the incipient motion of sand particles, one will overestimate the number of sand particles jumping from the bed.