Bulk transportation of sand particles in quantitative simulations of dune field evolution

Bulk transportation of sand particles is a key process controlling and quantifying the evolution of aeolian dune field. Sand amount eroded by wind within a given period is usually depicted in terms of ‘sand body elements’, whose thickness and transportation distance have direct impact on the accuracy of simulated spatiotemporal scales and the efficiency of quantitative simulations. This paper presents a detailed analysis to the rule of determining the thickness and transportation distance of ‘sand body elements’, which can be described in analytical formulas with respect to sand diameter, frictional wind velocity, and time interval of computational simulations. Following this model, the efficiency of quantitative simulations of dune field evolution is greatly enhanced without losing accuracy.