Eur. Phys. J. E (2014) 37: 126
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2014-14126-x

Regular Article

Intermittency of aeolian saltation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, P.R. China
² Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, P.R. China

^* e-mail: wangzht@lzu.edu.cn
^** e-mail: clzhang@bnu.edu.cn

Received: 2 November 2014
Revised: 29 November 2014
Accepted: 1 December 2014
Published online: 23 December 2014

Abstract

Saltation motion of sand grains in a steady wind was measured using a high-speed camera at very high frequency in a wind tunnel. A Heaviside-type function was defined to quantificationally describe an inherent property of saltation, i.e. intermittency. Kurtosis and periodicity of state function are statistical manifestations of intermittency. In addition, the strong autocorrelation of time series of volume concentration clearly confirms that saltation is not a completely random process at the timescale of subsecond. Formation mechanism, especially turbulent structures responsible for intermittent saltation, remains to be revealed from the viewpoint of classical mechanics.