Experimental study of aeolian sand ripples in a wind tunnel

The topographic parameters and propagation velocity of aeolian sand ripples reflect complex erosion, transport, and deposition processes of sand on the land surface. In this study, three Nikon cameras located in the windward (0-1m), middle (4.5-5.5m), and downwind (9-10m) zones of a 10m long sand bed are used to continuously record changes in sand ripples. Based on the data extracted from these images, this study reaches the following conclusions. (1) The initial formation and full development times of sand ripples over a flatbed decrease with wind velocity. (2) The wavelengths of full development sand ripples are approximately twice the wavelengths of initially formed sand ripples. Both wavelengths increase linearly with friction velocity. During the developing stage of sand ripples, the wavelength increases linearly with time. (3) The propagation velocity of full development sand ripples is approximately 0.6 times that of the initially formed sand ripples. The propagation velocity of both initial and full development of sand ripples increase as power functions with respect to friction velocity. During the developing stage of sand ripples, the propagation velocity decreases with time following a power law. These results provide new information for understanding the formation and evolution of aeolian sand ripples and help improve numerical simulations. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.