On the Wind Erosion Rate of Dry and Loose Soils

ABSTRACT

The widely used physical model for wind erosion faces challenges in defining parameters with clear mechanical meaning that can be readily constrained by direct measurements. To address this issue, the impact crater scaling law is combined with the saltation transport model to derive a formula with undetermined constants, which are subsequently constrained using three wind tunnel datasets. The resulting expression for dry, loose soil under saltation bombardment closely resembles Owen's sand transport rate in form, with the effective size of saltating particles appearing as an additional parameter. This work proposes a conceptually interpretable scaling framework for estimating wind erosion on loose soils, while acknowledging that further experimental validation is needed to reduce predictive uncertainty.