Barchan dunes in two dimensions: Experimental tests for minimal models

Titelangaben

Groh, Christopher ; Wierschem, Andreas ; Aksel, Nuri ; Rehberg, Ingo ; Krülle, Christof A.:
Barchan dunes in two dimensions: Experimental tests for minimal models.
In: Physical Review E. Bd. 78 (2008) Heft 2 . - Art.Nr. 021304.
ISSN 1550-2376
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.78.021304

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Abstract

A well-defined two-dimensional single barchan dune under the force of a shearing water flow is investigated experimentally. From an initially prepared triangular heap a rapid relaxation to a steady-state solution is observed with constant mass, shape, and velocity. This attractor exhibits all characteristic features of barchan dunes found in nature, namely a gently inclined windward side, crest, brink, and steep lee face. The relaxation time towards the steady state increases with mass. For small dunes we find significant deviations from a fixed height-length aspect ratio. As predicted by recent theoretical models, the migration velocity scales reciprocal to the length of the dune.