Premium
Evaluation of a wind erosion model in a desert area of northern Asia by eddy covariance
Author(s) -
Fratini Gerardo,
Santini Monia,
Ciccioli Paolo,
Valentini Riccardo
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.1857
Subject(s) - aeolian processes , eddy covariance , erosion , desert (philosophy) , covariance , environmental science , geology , orientation (vector space) , field (mathematics) , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , hydrology (agriculture) , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , ecosystem , geometry , geography , mathematics , ecology , philosophy , statistics , epistemology , biology , pure mathematics
For the first time, vertical fluxes of mineral dust measured by Eddy Covariance in two desert sites of Northern Asia have been used to test the performances of a wind erosion model in the field. Soil parameters required by the model were obtained through field and laboratory determinations. Model predictions and direct measurements have been compared. The main finding was that the direction of the horizontal wind relative to the orientation of nebkhas played a crucial role in determining the emission of particles in one of the investigated sites. Being unable to simulate such interaction, the model generally overestimated the actual emission. It provided, instead, reliable predictions ( r 2 = 0·87) when the wind direction was suitable in detaching loose erodible elements placed on nebkhas thanks to their normal orientation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.