Jump at the Onset of Saltation

Abstract

We reveal that the transition in the saturated flux for aeolian saltation is generically discontinuous by explicitly simulating particle motion in turbulent flow. This is the first time that a jump in the saturated flux has been observed. The discontinuity is followed by a coexistence interval with two metastable solutions. The modification of the wind profile due to momentum exchange exhibits a maximum at high shear strength.