New insights on wind-dust relationship using wind tunnel and field observations

Various dust models have been developed to parameterize dust emission, most of which
are based on the wind-dust relationship observed in the wind tunnels. Parameterizations for vertical
dust mass flux used in these models can be broadly grouped into two categories, with saltation and
without saltation. Saltation models first parameterize horizontally saltating mass flux proportional
to a certain power of threshold friction speed. Many wind tunnel observations are consistent in
showing that the saltating flux is proportional to the cubic power of friction speed for most soil
types. After calculating the saltating mass flux, saltation models calculate the vertical mass flux
using a sandblasting mass efficiency factor which is a function of clay content. In non-saltation
models, vertical dust mass flux is expressed directly in terms of power of surface wind speed
without considering saltation. Unlike with saltation, relationship between vertical dust mass flux
and friction velocity observed in wind tunnel is less robust. The power of friction speed in vertical
dust mass flux vs. friction velocity plot for different soil types and field conditions varies from 2-
5. In spite of the greater uncertainty, non-saltation models are still used in many dust models
because of their simplicity.
In this work, we systematically analyze the factors contributing to the uncertainty in vertical dust
mass flux estimation. We hypothesize that more accurate measurement of vertical dust mass flux
in the wind tunnel can give improved wind-dust relationship. We measure the dust mass directly
from the substrate bed to get location-independent measurements. Unlike traditional sampling
techniques, such location-independent measurements are not sensitive to the height and distance
of sampling and provide more accurate measurement of vertical dust mass flux. We expose the
substrate bed (clay) to saltating grains in the wind tunnel and analyze the geometric properties of
the scour formed on the substrate bed by creating a digital elevation model. We measure the
vertical dust mass removed from the substrate bed in terms of the volume of scour formed in the
substrate bed after numerous saltation events. We then relate the volume of dust mass so measured
to the wind speed and saltating mass flux. We also compare the resulting dust mass flux against
mean dust concentration measured by a GRIMM spectrometer located downwind to partition the
dust between saltation and direct entrainment. Since it is extremely difficult to reproduce the field
geomorphic conditions of dust source region in the laboratory, the wind-dust relationship observed
in the wind tunnel experiments needs to be evaluated against field observations in dust source
regions. In order to make the wind-dust relationship applicable to unique geomorphic types found
in dust source region, we finally constrain the wind tunnel based parameterization against wind-
dust relationship observed near a range of geomorphic types using remote sensing and ground
based observations.