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Optimal array of sand fences

Sand fences are widely applied to prevent soil erosion by wind in areas affected by desertification. Sand fences also provide a way to reduce the emission rate of dust particles, which is triggered mainly by the impacts of wind-blown sand grains onto the soil and affects the Earth’s climate. Many di...

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Autores principales: Lima, Izael A., Araújo, Ascânio D., Parteli, Eric J. R., Andrade, José S., Herrmann, Hans J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5364526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28338053
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep45148
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author Lima, Izael A.
Araújo, Ascânio D.
Parteli, Eric J. R.
Andrade, José S.
Herrmann, Hans J.
author_facet Lima, Izael A.
Araújo, Ascânio D.
Parteli, Eric J. R.
Andrade, José S.
Herrmann, Hans J.
author_sort Lima, Izael A.
collection PubMed
description Sand fences are widely applied to prevent soil erosion by wind in areas affected by desertification. Sand fences also provide a way to reduce the emission rate of dust particles, which is triggered mainly by the impacts of wind-blown sand grains onto the soil and affects the Earth’s climate. Many different types of fence have been designed and their effects on the sediment transport dynamics studied since many years. However, the search for the optimal array of fences has remained largely an empirical task. In order to achieve maximal soil protection using the minimal amount of fence material, a quantitative understanding of the flow profile over the relief encompassing the area to be protected including all employed fences is required. Here we use Computational Fluid Dynamics to calculate the average turbulent airflow through an array of fences as a function of the porosity, spacing and height of the fences. Specifically, we investigate the factors controlling the fraction of soil area over which the basal average wind shear velocity drops below the threshold for sand transport when the fences are applied. We introduce a cost function, given by the amount of material necessary to construct the fences. We find that, for typical sand-moving wind velocities, the optimal fence height (which minimizes this cost function) is around 50 cm, while using fences of height around 1.25 m leads to maximal cost.
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spelling pubmed-53645262017-03-28 Optimal array of sand fences Lima, Izael A. Araújo, Ascânio D. Parteli, Eric J. R. Andrade, José S. Herrmann, Hans J. Sci Rep Article Sand fences are widely applied to prevent soil erosion by wind in areas affected by desertification. Sand fences also provide a way to reduce the emission rate of dust particles, which is triggered mainly by the impacts of wind-blown sand grains onto the soil and affects the Earth’s climate. Many different types of fence have been designed and their effects on the sediment transport dynamics studied since many years. However, the search for the optimal array of fences has remained largely an empirical task. In order to achieve maximal soil protection using the minimal amount of fence material, a quantitative understanding of the flow profile over the relief encompassing the area to be protected including all employed fences is required. Here we use Computational Fluid Dynamics to calculate the average turbulent airflow through an array of fences as a function of the porosity, spacing and height of the fences. Specifically, we investigate the factors controlling the fraction of soil area over which the basal average wind shear velocity drops below the threshold for sand transport when the fences are applied. We introduce a cost function, given by the amount of material necessary to construct the fences. We find that, for typical sand-moving wind velocities, the optimal fence height (which minimizes this cost function) is around 50 cm, while using fences of height around 1.25 m leads to maximal cost. Nature Publishing Group 2017-03-24 /pmc/articles/PMC5364526/ /pubmed/28338053 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep45148 Text en Copyright © 2017, The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Lima, Izael A.
Araújo, Ascânio D.
Parteli, Eric J. R.
Andrade, José S.
Herrmann, Hans J.
Optimal array of sand fences
title Optimal array of sand fences
title_full Optimal array of sand fences
title_fullStr Optimal array of sand fences
title_full_unstemmed Optimal array of sand fences
title_short Optimal array of sand fences
title_sort optimal array of sand fences
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5364526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28338053
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep45148
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