Development and testing of a micro wind tunnel for on-site wind erosion simulations

Strong, Craig; Leys, John; Raupach, M. R.; Bullard, Joanna E.; Aubault, Hélène A.; Butler, Harry; McTainsh, Grant Harvey

doi:10.1007/s10652-016-9478-8

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many individuals have contributed to this 2 development, and Dr. Michael R. Raupach (1950Raupach ( -2015 has played a pivotal role. Raupach 3 worked intensively on wind erosion problems for about a decade (1985 -1995), during which 4 time he applied his deep knowledge of turbulence to aeolian research problems and made 5 profound contributions with far-reaching impact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aeolian 5 processes are highly relevant topics in the earth sciences because of the need to: (1) better 6 quantify the dust cycle for climate projections; (2) assess the anthropogenic impact on natural 7 and human environments; (3) prevent soil loss from wind erosion in land-conservation practice; 8 and 4) understand aeolian processes and landform development on other planets in particular, 9 Mars and Venus, as well as moons such as Titan. Many individuals have contributed to this 10 development, and Dr. Michael R. Raupach (1950Raupach ( -2015 was one of the most outstanding 11 (Steffen, 2015). 12 13 For colleagues in aeolian research, and in climate research at large, Michael R. Raupach is Mike, 14 but he used to abbreviate his name MR 2 , a format that we shall adopt in this paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A tribute to Michael R. Raupach for contributions to aeolian fluid dynamics

et al. 2015

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A tribute to Michael R. Raupach for contributions to aeolian fluid dynamics

et al. 2015

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“…The wind tunnel was a duct‐type design equipped with a sediment collection trap in which sterile filter papers were fitted. Further details of design and operation have previously been described by Strong et al (). The wind tunnel was run on dune flanks because they are relatively flat, and being naturally eroded by saltation impact from the dune sand above during windy conditions, they likely act as an inoculum source to surrounding areas more so than the higher dune areas.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Stability in Drylands Is Influenced by Dispersal Strategy of Soil Bacteria

et al. 2019

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Microbial adaptations for survival and dispersal may directly influence landscape stability and potential for dust emission in drylands where biological soil crusts (biocrusts) protect mineral soil surfaces from wind erosion. In the Lake Eyre basin of central Australia we operated a wind tunnel on sandy soils and collected the liberated material, which was subjected to DNA sequencing to identify the microbial community composition. Microbial composition of entrained dust was compared with that of the source sand dune soil in addition to nearby claypan and nebkha soils and water channels that together form a recycling sediment transport system. Wind was found to preferentially liberate 359 identified taxa from sand dunes, whereas 137 identified taxa were found to resist wind erosion. Water channel communities included many taxa in common with the soil samples. We hypothesize that the ease with which soil microbes become airborne is often linked to whether the organism is adapted for dispersal by wind or vegetative growth and that biocrust organisms found in water channels may sometimes use a fluvial dispersal strategy, which exploits rare flooding events to rapidly colonize vast pans that are common in drylands. We explain likely geomorphic implications of microbial dispersal strategies which are a consequence of organisms engineering the environment to provide their particular needs. By identifying microbes fitting expectations for these dispersal strategies based on differential abundance analyses, we provide a new perspective for understanding the role of microbiota in landscape stability.

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“…The use of a wind tunnel for wind erosion studies is one of the most effective measurement techniques and is widely used (Bagnold, 1954). The usefulness and validity of wind tunnels depend on their ability to adequately simulate the dynamic processes of wind erosion (Chepil, 1953; Strong et al, 2016). The use of wind tunnels in the field for wind erosion studies can be difficult and expensive to deploy due to physical limitations such as site access, steepness of slopes, and labour cost required to reach and operate the tunnel (Strong et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining the effectiveness of some soil stabilizers in wind erosion prevention using wind tunnel experiments

et al. 2021

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Laboratory wind tunnel simulations were carried out to determine the effectiveness of some soil stabilizers in reducing soil loss by wind erosion under turbulent flow conditions driven by the reference wind velocities of 9 and 11 m s−1. Particle fractions of 0.5–1 mm of two different soil types: silty clay loam (SiCL) and sandy loam (SL) were used in the experiments as erodible test surfaces after stabilizer treatments. Molasses (M), cement (Cm), a mixture of cement and molasses (Cm + M), and hydrogel (H) were applied at four different application doses, and later those materials were subjected to incubation at room temperature for 24 hr before the trays were placed in the tunnel for wind tests. During simulations under turbulent air‐flow conditions, soil losses [(qs), g m−2 min−1] were gauged for 10‐min duration immediately following the first lift‐off movement of the particles. Experimental results on qs were compared to those of two controls [untreated control (C) and water‐treated control (Cw)], which indicated that the H applications were highly effective at the doses ≥ 13.33 g m−2 for every soil type and wind velocity combination. In addition, at the application doses ≥ 13.33 g m−2, Cm and Cm + M treatments were as effective as H statistically in reducing qs at 9 m s−1 by successfully forming resistant crust layers against stronger turbulent swirls on the research test surfaces. From the point of being more easily accessible and more cost‐effective, using less expensive Cm and Cm + M treatments could be a good alternative to utilizing hydrogel in reducing wind erosion in wide field applications.

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Development and testing of a micro wind tunnel for on-site wind erosion simulations

Cited by 14 publications

References 27 publications

A tribute to Michael R. Raupach for contributions to aeolian fluid dynamics

A tribute to Michael R. Raupach for contributions to aeolian fluid dynamics

Surface Stability in Drylands Is Influenced by Dispersal Strategy of Soil Bacteria

Determining the effectiveness of some soil stabilizers in wind erosion prevention using wind tunnel experiments

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