Equilibrium Saltation: Mass Fluxes, Aerodynamic Entrainment, and Dependence on Grain Properties

An examination is given of the way in which the saltation layer isaffected by the characteristics of the particles. Special attentionis given to the potential importance of aerodynamic entrainmentduring steady state saltation, a topic for which the discussion is still unresolved. A new numerical model for saltation in steady stateis presented, which is focused on the computation of the horizontalmass flux. The numerical computations, combined with physical arguments, suggest that aerodynamic entrainment plays a more important role thangenerally assumed so far. A comparison of the model results is made with previous models, and with measurements of snow saltation that have been reported in the literature.

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