| Abstract: | The rate, with respect to area and time, at which grains are dislodged from a sand bed for given wind conditions is an important factor in determining the grain transport rate and the intensity of grain activity in each of the transport modes. The literature of the subject contains little direct information about particle dislodgement. The paper describes a series of experiments in which dyed sand grains, spread on the surface of quartz dune sand in a wind-tunnel, were photographed at five second intervals while the sand was exposed to wind. The data on rate of loss of coloured grains was used, for two of three chosen size fractions, to deduce the dislodgement rate for each size fraction. The variation of this dislodgement rate with shear velocity is shown graphically for values of u* between 24 cm s?1 and 50 cm s?1. Because of the artificial method of distribution of the coloured sand grains, the results should be applied with caution to natural conditions. The interpretation of the observations of dyed grain loss involved the numerical simulation of the process which comprises removal of coloured grains, slightly offset by replenishment as upwind coloured grains settle briefly in the observed zone. An estimation of grain excursion length has to be incorporated in the simulation. This estimation was made by trial, but general corroboration was found from earlier work. Comparisons are made between dislodgement rates obtained thus and rates estimated by Anderson (1986) and by Jensen and Sorensen (1986). Reasonable agreement with the latter is found in the u* range 30 cm s?1. |
