Variations in the specific charge of saltating sand in a windsand flux over a desertified area

Abstract

The probability distribution of specific charge of saltating sand over a desertified area has been obtained for the first time. The specific charge of the saltating sand varied between 10 and 150 μC/kg (48.5 μC/kg on the average) according to measurements over a desertified area in Kalmykia (July 2014). An original setup has been designed whereby the saltating sand concentrations, electric current fluctuations, and turbulent pulsations of the wind velocity have been measured over the desertified area in Kalmykia. Regularities in transformations of the statistical parameters from the wind speed to the sand grain concentration and further to the electric current of the saltation due to nonlinear processes in a windsand flux have been ascertained for the first time, including variations in the empirical distribution functions and fluctuation power spectra.