The status of research on the development and characteristics of mass-flux-density profiles above wind-eroded sediments: a literature review

Abstract

The mass-flux-density profile above wind-eroded sediments (MFDP) plays an important role in defining the characteristics and impacts of wind–sand flows, and, therefore, has great theoretical and practical significance. As a result, it has been extensively studied from the perspectives of geography, mechanics, physics, and engineering. This paper reviews the research work that has been conducted since Bagnold’s pioneering efforts, summarizes the research achievements, discusses the problems that have not yet been solved, and proposes future research directions. This field of research has progressed from field observations to theoretical analyses and numerical simulations, accompanied by increasing sophistication in the research, and the research scope includes land with mobile sands, wind-eroded farmland, gravel gobis, and degraded grasslands. Many mathematical functions have been proposed to describe MFDP, including exponential, power, modified exponential, modified power, and polynomial functions. This variation results from differences in the study conditions and in the parameters included in a given model and on differences between wind-tunnel experiments and field observations. However, there are the limitations of both wind tunnel experiments and theoretical derivations, and the key parameters of the profile lack a clear physical meaning, which limits the practical application of these functions. Future research must aim to solve these problems.