Quantification of Barchan Dune Evolution over Monthly to Interannual Time Scales Using Airborne LIDAR and Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Barchan dunes are among the most rapidly evolving landforms on Earth, with migration rates of up to 100 m/yr. Despite the central importance of barchan dunes in aeolian geomorphology and the relative ease of quantifying changes in their shape and position, basic questions remain about barchan dune evolution. For example, how does the position of a dune relative to its neighbors affect the evolution of a dune? The presence of a dune influences the air flow around the dune, potentially modifying the evolution of neighboring dunes. Also, a dune may grow in size more rapidly if neighboring dunes are located immediately upwind of the dune, thus providing additional sources of sand for the dune relative to the case of an isolated dune. To address these questions, we quantified the change in the position of 14 dunes, and the sand flux among them, in the Salton Sea dune field over two time scales: 1 month and 3 years. The 1-month change map was created using two TLS surveys completed in the summer of 2013, and the 3-year change map was created using the results of a TLS survey in 2013 and an airborne LIDAR survey from 2010. The PHOENICS Computational Fluid Dynamics solver was used to predict the change in the positions of the dunes and the flux of sand among them. PHOENICS was used to model the shear stress over the dune field using DEM data from the beginning of each interval of study, together with data on the wind profile collected at the study site using a wind tower. The output of PHOENICS was used as input to a shear-stress-dependent aeolian transport formula with the effect of slope on the threshold of entrainment included. Preliminary analyses of the ALSM- and TLS-derived change maps indicate that clustered dunes interact via boundary layer effects to alter the migration and growth rates of their downwind neighbors. Additionally, the effects of subdominant, southeasterly winds were observed in the 1-month change map in the form of sand wedges deposited along the southeast-facing portions of all studied slip faces. These wedges are likely the result of a stagnation zone created by the interaction between the subdominant wind direction and the slip face. Further PHOENICS modeling will be performed using the subdominant wind data to determine the amount and source of the sand flux required to create these wedges. The results of this study will provide important constraints on numerical models of barchan dune field evolution.