Open AccessEffect of nonerodible grains on wind erosion control
Author(s) -
Mu Qingsong
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2010jd014221
Subject(s) - drag , roughness length , surface finish , surface roughness , wind tunnel , aeolian processes , erosion , partition (number theory) , mechanics , exponential function , wind speed , geology , drag coefficient , meteorology , geometry , wind profile power law , physics , materials science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , geomorphology , thermodynamics , composite material , combinatorics
A simple drag partition scheme for rough surfaces of various roughness densities is presented to explain the effect of roughness density on apparent threshold friction velocity, the validity of which is confirmed by comparison with measured data sets. Based on this drag partition scheme, we assume that the presence of nonerodible rough grains affects the wind erosion of an erodible surface in two ways: (1) protecting part of the erodible underlying surface from wind erosion by directly covering it and (2) leading to a decrease of the shear stress acting on the uncovered part of the erodible underlying surface by absorbing some wind momentum. Involved with the two hypotheses, a mathematical formula with an exponential form that describes the dependence of mass erosion rate on the free‐stream wind velocity and the roughness density is developed by dimensional analysis. The mathematical formula of wind erosion rate fits well some data sets of laboratory experiments and field observations.