Surface renewal as a significant mechanism for dust emission

Abstract. Wind tunnel experiments of dust emissions from different soil surfaces are carried out to better understand dust emission mechanisms. The effects of surface renewal on aerodynamic entrainment and saltation bombardment are analyzed in detail. It is found that flow conditions, surface particle motions (saltation and creep), soil dust content and ground obstacles all strongly affect dust emission, causing its rate to vary over orders of magnitude. Aerodynamic entrainment is highly effective, if dust supply is unlimited, as in the first 2–3 min of our wind tunnel runs. While aerodynamic entrainment is suppressed by dust supply limits, surface renewal through the motion of surface particles appears to be an effective pathway to remove the supply limit. Surface renewal is also found to be important to the efficiency of saltation bombardment. We demonstrate that surface renewal is a significant mechanism affecting dust emission and recommend that this mechanism be included in future dust models.