Splash–Saltation of Sand due to Wind‐Driven Rain

Abstract

Although transport of sediment under wind‐driven rains is generally not accounted for in equations for sediment transport by wind, the contribution of this rainsplash–saltation process can be substantial. Wind‐tunnel experiments, in which vertical deposition fluxes were measured at 23 distances from a sand tray, were conducted to study sediment transport under wind‐driven rain and rainless wind conditions. It was shown that the vertical deposition flux could be described by a double exponential equation. By integration of the vertical deposition flux over the distance of deposition, the sediment transport rate was computed. A power‐law function including both the normal component of the kinetic energy or momentum of the raindrops and the wind shear velocity was presented. However, including the wind shear velocity in the equation increased the model performance only slightly. When comparing the sediment transport rates as determined under the wind‐driven rain events with those that were observed when rain was absent, it was shown that in the latter case, the transport rate is much higher at high wind shear velocities. However, at low wind shear velocities and moisture conditions where no motion is predicted by aeolian equations, saltation due to rainsplash is likely to occur and can be predicted with the presented model.