Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8

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Aeolian Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aeolia

Effect of wind speed on aggregate size distribution of windblown sediment T

a,⁎ a b c c c
Rende Wang , Qing Li , Na Zhou , Chunping Chang , Zhongling Guo , Jifeng Li
a
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Heibei Academy Sciences/Hebei Engineering Research Center for Geographic Information Application, Shijiazhaung Hebei 050011,
China
b
College of Management Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Economics and Business, 47 Xuefu Road, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
c
College of Resource and Environment Sciences/Hebei Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Ecological Construction, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhang Hebei
050024, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Wind speed is critical in wind erosion and dust emission processes; however, previous studies, especially field
Aggregate size distribution measurements, have been unable to verify the effect of wind speed on particle size distribution of windblown
Friction wind velocity sediment. The aim of this study was to elucidate changes in the aggregate size distribution of windblown se-
Windblown sediment diment in relation to friction wind velocity based on field observations conducted during 2012–2018 in Bashang
Dust emission efficiency
District (North China). The results showed that for loamy, sandy, and sandy loam soils, the geometric mean
Bashang District
diameter of sediment increased exponentially with increasing friction wind velocity. The mass percentages of
particles with diameters of < 0.05, 0.10–0.50, 0.50–0.80, and 0.80–1.00 mm in the sediment increased with
increasing friction wind velocity, whereas that of particles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm decreased. The
proportion of dust (< 0.05 mm) to saltation particles (0.1–0.8 mm) increased linearly with increasing friction
wind velocity for all the three types of soil; however, the trend was only significant for loamy and sandy loam
soils (p < 0.01), not for sandy soil (p > 0.1). Correlations in the aggregate size distribution between wind-
blown sediment and in-situ soil were enhanced with increasing friction wind velocity. The results indicate the
influence of wind speed on particle size distribution of windblown sediment should be considered when de-
termining dust emission efficiency, or when analyzing the influence of the particle size distribution of soil on that
of windblown sediment.

1. Introduction
Wind erosion is considered an irreversible soil degradation process
that has had adverse effects on agricultural activities for centuries
(Colazo and Buschiazzo, 2014). The loss of windblown sediment not
only constitutes an on-site challenge that decreases the ability of soils to
sustain vegetation and livestock, but also causes off-farm impacts re-
lated to the spread of dust and atmospheric pollution (Riksen and de
Graaff, 2001). Wind force is generally considered a principal driver of
the transportation of airborne sediment (Shao, 2008). The need to un-
derstand the wind erosion mechanism and the modeling of soil loss or
dust emission by wind erosion has inspired a considerable amount of
research regarding the effects of wind force on windblown sediment
(Shao et al., 1993; Chen and Fryrear, 1996; Jason and Bruce, 2006;
Hagen et al., 2010).
Traditionally, the movement of sediment by wind is described as
occurring via one of three modes: creep, saltation, and suspension (Pye
and Tsoar, 1990; Goudie and Middleton, 2006). In most regions,
saltation is the dominant driver of the wind erosion process (Shao,
2001). The emission mechanism of dust transported in suspension has
been identified as including aerodynamic entrainment, saltation bom-
bardment, and aggregate disintegration (Shao, 2008; Kok et al., 2012).
Of these, saltation bombardment is the principal mechanism via which
dust is ejected into airflow (Shao et al., 1993; Cahill et al., 1996). Many
studies have suggested that vertical dust flux is proportional to hor-
izontal saltation flux (Gillette, 1977; Shao, 2001; Gillette et al., 2004;
Hagen et al., 2010). The proportion of vertical dust flux to horizontal
saltation flux, also known as dust emission efficiency or saltation effi-
ciency, appears a reasonably stable constant that is almost independent
of wind speed and changes only with soil type (Shao et al., 1993;
Marticorena and Bergametti, 1995; Houser and Nickling, 2001; Xing
and Guo, 2008). However, some earlier studies suggested that dust
emission efficiency might increase with increasing wind speed (Gillette
and Walker, 1977; Nickling et al., 1999), and this has since been proven
by other researchers (Niemeyer et al., 1999; Jason and Bruce, 2006;
Kok et al., 2012). The influence of wind speed on the ratio of vertical

⁎
Corresponding author at: Institute of Geographical Sciences, Heibei Academy Sciences, 80 Fanxi Road, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei Province, China.
E-mail address: wangrende10@163.com (R. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2018.10.001
Received 27 June 2018; Received in revised form 19 October 2018; Accepted 22 October 2018
1875-9637/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
R. Wang et al.
dust flux to horizontal saltation flux appears unclear, although several
studies have investigated separately the effect of wind speed on vertical
dust flux or horizontal saltation flux (Gillette and Passi, 1988; Nickling
and Gilles, 1993; Wang et al., 2015).
Interestingly, the wind tunnel studies or field experiments (Gillette,
1977; Shao et al., 1993; Xing and Guo, 2008) that have suggested dust
emission efficiency is unrelated to wind speed all used sandy soil or
similar material as test samples, and the findings mainly reflect the
effect of saltation bombardment on dust entrainment by wind. Corre-
spondingly, the experiments (Gillette et al., 1997; Niemeyer et al.,
1999; Jason and Bruce, 2006) that have supported the conclusion that
dust emission efficiency is related to wind speed mainly used natural
loamy or sandy loam soils as test samples, manifesting the compre-
hensive effects of aerodynamic entrainment, aggregate disintegration,
and saltation bombardment on dust release. Thus, the variation of dust
emission efficiency with wind speed appears to differ between loamy
and sandy soils. Moreover, some researchers have found that variation
of dust emission efficiency with wind speed depends on soil condition
(Shao, 2001). To date, few studies have investigated the change of the
aggregate size distribution of sediment and the variation of dust emis-
sion efficiency with wind speed for different textures of soil (Gillette,
1977; Xing and Guo, 2008).
Most studies on the relationship between the particle size distribu-
tion of sediment and wind speed have focused on wind tunnel experi-
ments (Shao et al., 1993; Houser and Nickling, 2001; Jason and Bruce,
2006; Xing and Guo, 2008; Kok et al., 2012). However, the limited
space of wind tunnel sections means extrapolation of the derived results
to natural conditions is difficult (López, 1998). Many factors that affect
wind erosion and dust emission, e.g., clod structure, crusting, and soil
shear strength, are difficult to simulate concurrently in a wind tunnel;
thus, the results of wind tunnel experiments cannot completely reflect
the change of the particle size distribution of sediment with wind speed
(Gillette et al., 1997). It is preferable to study the effect of wind speed
on the particle size distribution of sediment through field observation.
However, it is difficult to collect completely and determine accurately
the particle size distribution of sediments at different wind speeds in the
field (Goossens et al., 2000; Mendez et al., 2011), which means suitable
field data are very limited.
The present study was a continuation of the work of Wang et al.
(2018) and focused on the influence of wind speed on the aggregate size
distribution of windblown sediment. Specifically, this study in-
vestigated the relationship between the aggregate size distribution of
windblown sediment and wind speed based on long-term field ob-
servations (2012–2018) for three different soil textures (loam, sandy
loam and sand). The study had three primary objectives: (1) to clarify
the effect of wind speed on the dry aggregate size distribution of
windblown sediment; (2) to determine the effect of wind speed on ratio
of dust to saltation for different soil textures; and (3) to reveal the in-
fluence of wind speed on the relationship between aggregate size dis-
tribution of windblown sediment and of soil.
2. Materials and methods
The field observations were performed in Kangbao County, Bashang
District of Hebei Province, North China (Fig. 1). This region belongs to a
rain-fed agropastoral ecotone with farmland and grassland occupying
69.0% and 21.0%, respectively, in area. The climate is semiarid tem-
perate monsoon with obvious continental characteristics. The conven-
tional tillage (summer wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) or oat (Avena sativa
L.)–winter fallow rotation) makes the loose soil surface of farmland
being exposed to strong winds during winter and spring. This district is
one of typical regions in northern China suffering severe wind erosion
and desertification.
Three observation sites were selected in farmland with soil textures
of loam, sandy loam, and sand. Soils of these three textures cover >
75% of the area of northern China (Zou et al., 2018). The observation
2
Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8
sites for the loamy soil (Site 1: 42°5́47″N, 114°35́43″E) and for the
sandy soil (Site 2: 42°7́01″N, 114°34́56″E) were both located in the
northwest of Kangbao County, approximately 2.5 km apart. The ob-
servation site for the sandy loam soil (Site 3: 42°7́57″N, 114°48́17″E)
was located in the northeast of Kangbao County, 19.4 km from Site 1
(Fig. 1). All the three field sites were flat and rectangular with length
and width being > 500 m. A non-erodible surface (natural grassland)
was maintained upwind (north and west) of the field sites. The fields
were plowed by chisel plough and raked by machine in autumn. Staying
bare and flat in winter and spring by plowing and raking is a common
land management practice in Bashang district. To ensure consistency of
the field surface, the plowing and raking methods were the same for all
the sites in different years.
The wind speed profile was observed using a gradient wind profile
sensor comprising a mast of nine rotating-cup anemometers
(Changchun Meteorological Instrument Ltd.) mounted 0.05, 0.1, 0.2,
0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 m above the soil surface (Wang et al.,
2018). The anemometers automatically measured the average wind
speed at 1.0-min intervals with resolution of 0.1 m s−1 within a range of
0.3–30.0 m s−1. Every year, the anemometers were calibrated in wind
tunnel before used in the field. For each sampling period the aero-
dynamic roughness (z0) and friction wind velocity (u*) were derived
from measured wind speed profile by a curve fitting method of the least
squares used by Zhang et al., (2004). The measured wind speed profiles
were fit through the least square regression to the relation
uz = A + B lnz (1)
where uz is wind speed at height z and A, B are regression coefficients.
In (1), z0 can be obtained when uz = 0; therefore
z 0 = exp( A/B ) (2)
z0 is aerodynamic roughness length. The friction wind velocity (u*)
was calculated from the wind speed profile using least squares regres-
sion to fit the well-known Prandtl-van Karman equation:
u 1 z
= ln( )
u k z0 (3)
where u* is friction wind velocity; u is the wind speed at height z; k is
van Karman's constant (0.4).
Windblown sediment was collected using a new flat opening (NFO)
sampler designed by Wang et al. (2013). The NFO sampler, comprising
a base, a flat opening sampler, and a vane, has a total height of 1.1 m
and a collecting height of 0.6 m (Wang et al., 2018). The vane orients
the openings of the sampler toward the wind at all times. The NFO
sampler consists of a set of 30 square-shaped sampling heads that in-
tercept sediment at successive elevations from the soil surface to the
height of 0.6 m. The inlet of each sampling head is 20 × 20 mm. The
windblown sediment is separated and collected in downward chambers.
The rear upside of each chamber is screened with wire-mesh cloth
(0.04 mm openings) that ventilates air but prevents escape of the col-
lected sediment. The flat opening sampler inserted in the base could be
replaced quickly by a new one. When replacing the sampler, all op-
erations are conducted at the leeward position of the sampler in order
to avoid the disturbance from artificial trampling on the soil surface
near sampler.
At each observation site, one gradient wind profile sensor and two
NFO samplers were mounted in the middle of a field with about 230 m
from the upwind non-erodible boundary. Based on previous experience
of field observations in Bashang District, on the conditions of
u* ≥ 0.25 m s−1 in loamy and sandy loam soils, and u* ≥ 0.20 m s−1 in
sandy soils, the amount of windblown sediment collected by NFO
samplers meets the requirement for determining the dry aggregate size
distribution, so the 1-min average u* ≥0.25 m s−1 in loamy and sandy
loam soils, and ≥ 0.20 m s−1 in sandy soils were defined as the effective
u* in the study. Sediment was collected at intervals of 1 or 2 h for u*
of < 0.5 m s−1 and every 20 or 30 min for u* of > 0.5 m s−1. At each
R. Wang et al. Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8

Fig. 1. Locations of the field observation sites.

observation period, the soil water content in the upper 30 mm of the
soil was measured using the standard drying method.
Field observations at Site 1 were undertaken during April–May from
2012 to 2015. Field observations at Site 2 were performed during
April–May from 2015 to 2016. Field observations at Site 3 were un-
dertaken during April–May 2018. To determine the effect of wind speed
on the particle size distribution of windblown sediment, 17 typical wind
erosion periods were selected for loamy soil and divided into eight
grades of u* (0.32 ± 0.1, 0.37 ± 0.1, 0.43 ± 0.2, 0.48 ± 0.2,
0.58 ± 0.1, 0.62 ± 0.1, 0.65 ± 0.2, 0.72 ± 0.1); 19 typical wind
erosion periods were selected for sandy soil and divided into eight
grades of u* (0.32 ± 0.1, 0.37 ± 0.2, 0.41 ± 0.1, 0.44 ± 0.1,
0.46 ± 0.1, 0.52 ± 0.1, 0.57 ± 0.1, 0.61 ± 0.1); 32 typical wind
erosion periods were selected for sandy loam soil and divided into eight
grades of u* (0.41 ± 0.1, 0.46 ± 0.1, 0.49 ± 0.2, 0.52 ± 0.2,
0.58 ± 0.2, 0.61 ± 0.1, 0.64 ± 0.1, 0.68 ± 0.1) (Tables 1–3). It was
required that all the selected wind erosion periods at each site had the
same wind direction (NW), similar soil moisture content (< 2.0%), and
similar surface characteristics (i.e., plowed and raked land). Further-
more, it was essential that sufficient sediment (> 5.0 g) was collected
during each wind erosion period to satisfy the particle size analysis.
Sediment obtained from each wind erosion period was air dried at
25 ± 5 °C for 5 days before being weighed and separated into dry ag-
gregate size fractions of < 0.05, 0.05–0.10, 0.10–0.50, 0.50–0.80, and
0.80–1.00 mm using a nest of flat sieves (21 cm in diameter) and a
three-dimensional shaker (Nanjing Soil Instrument Ltd.). The high vi-
bration frequency (24 Hz) and low vibration amplitude (0.5 mm/s)
ensures the least breakdown of aggregate during the sieving process.
The sediment mass in each NFO sampler was corrected to account for
sampling inefficiency. Wind tunnel tests by Wang et al. (2017) have
shown the average collecting efficiencies of the NFO sampler are
54.85%, 59.59%, 52.62%, 21.00%, and 13.20% for sediment fractions
of 0.85–1.00, 0.50–0.85, 0.10–0.50, 0.05–0.10, and < 0.05 mm, re-
spectively. The sampling efficiencies change irregularly with increased
u* from 0.34 to 0.68 m s−1. Hence, the average efficiencies of the NFO
sampler for different sizes of particles were applied to revise the ag-
gregate size distribution of the sediment collected by the samplers
(Tables 1–3).
The upper 50 mm of the soil profile at each of the three field sites
was sampled by ring-knife before the wind erosion events.
Conventional tillage and sowing operations at the sites have resulted in
uniform mixing of the upper 300 mm of the soil profile. Samples (ap-
prox. 1.0 kg) were collected near the NFO samplers. These soil samples
were air dried at 25 ± 5 °C for 5 days and then evenly divided into two
parts. One part of the samples (about 0.5 kg) was used to determine the
aggregate size distribution of the surface soil using the same method as
sediment above. The aggregate size distribution of the parent soil was
separated into size fractions of < 0.05, 0.05–0.10, 0.10–0.50,

Table 1
Characteristics of wind speed, soil surface and windblown sediment in the eight selected friction wind velocity (u*) grades for loamy soil.
Grades of u* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of sampling 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2
Mean u*/S.D., m s−1 0.32/0.01 0.37/0.01 0.43/0.02 0.47/0.01 0.58/0.01 0.62/0.01 0.65/0.02 0.72/0.01
Max. u*, m s−1 0.51 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.69 0.73 0.81 0.91
Soil moisture/S.D., % 1.66/0.02 1.92/0.01 1.30/0.02 1.75/0.01 1.83/0.02 1.39/0.01 1.56/0.01 1.11/0.02
Aerodynamic roughness/S.D., mm 0.85/0.00 0.89/0.00 0.90/0.01 0.88/0.01 0.96/0.00 0.83/0.00 0.94/0.00 0.94/0.01
Fraction of sediment with different sizes (Mean/S.D.) < 0.05 mm 0.19/0.03 0.24/0.05 0.23/0.03 0.28/0.09 0.36/0.06 0.34/0.08 0.35/0.03 0.41/0.05
0.05–0.1 mm 0.52/0.07 0.47/0.10 0.45/0.07 0.38/0.12 0.29/0.05 0.30/0.09 0.27/0.03 0.23/0.02
0.1–0.5 mm 0.29/0.05 0.28/0.07 0.31/0.05 0.34/0.09 0.33/0.07 0.34/0.01 0.35/0.01 0.33/0.03
0.5–0.8 mm 0 0.01/0.00 0.01/0.00 0.01/0.00 0.01/0.00 0.02/0.00 0.02/0.00 0.02/0.00
0.8–1.0 mm 0 0 0 0 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 0.01/0.00

S.D. is standard deviation.

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R. Wang et al. Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8

Table 2
Characteristics of wind speed, soil surface and windblown sediment in the eight selected friction wind velocity (u*) grades for sandy soil.
Grades of u* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of sampling 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 2
Mean u*/S.D., m s−1 0.32/0.01 0.37/0.02 0.41/0 0.44/0 0.47/0.01 0.52/0.01 0.57/0.01 0.61/0
Max. u*, m s−1 0.44 0.46 0.58 0.55 0.58 0.63 0.66 0.66
Soil moisture/S.D., % 1.05/0.02 1.27/0.04 1.12/0.02 1.12/0.01 1.12/0.01 1.03/0.02 1.03/0.02 1.03/0.02
Aerodynamic roughness/S.D., mm 0.55/0.01 0.31/0.00 0.37/0.00 0.35/0.00 0.35/0.01 0.32/0.01 0.27/0.01 0.33/0.00
Fraction of sediment with different sizes(Mean/S.D.) < 0.05 mm 0.06/0.02 0.05/0.03 0.05/0.04 0.05/0.03 0.06/0.01 0.06/0.01 0.07/0.03 0.08/0.04
0.05–0.1 mm 0.56/0.04 0.56/0.02 0.59/0.06 0.60/0.07 0.57/0.02 0.49/0.02 0.47/0.01 0.49/0.05
0.1–0.5 mm 0.38/0.02 0.38/0.05 0.36/0.01 0.35/0.03 0.38/0.01 0.45/0.01 0.45/0.04 0.42/0.01
0.5–0.8 mm 0 0 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 0.01/0.01
0.8–1.0 mm 0 0 0 0 0 < 0.01 < 0.01 > 0.01

S.D. is standard deviation.

0.50–0.80, 0.80–1.00, and > 1.00 mm (Table 4). The other part was
used to measure the soil textures by a Malvern Mastersizer laser dif-
fractometer (Malvern Ltd.) (Table 4).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Change in aggregate size distribution of sediment with increasing wind
speed
The results of the field observations showed the aggregate size
distribution of the sediment varied with increasing u*. The geometric
mean diameter of the sediment increased exponentially with increasing
u* (Fig. 2). Specifically, the geometric mean diameter of the sediment
for loamy soil increased from 0.09 mm at 0.32 m s−1 to 0.11 mm at
0.72 m s−1. The geometric mean diameter of the sediment for sandy soil
increased from 0.11 mm at 0.32 m s−1 to 0.12 mm at 0.61 m s−1. The
geometric mean diameter of the sediment for sandy loam soil increased
from 0.10 mm at 0.42 m s−1 to 0.13 mm at 0.68 m s−1. These results
indicated enhanced transportation capacity by the wind and increased
content of coarse particles in the sediments.
With increasing u*, the changing trends in the mass percentages for
different sizes of sediment were different. The results showed that the
mass percentages for particles with diameters of < 0.05, 0.10–0.50,
0.50–0.80, and 0.80–1.00 mm in the sediments increased with in-
creasing u*. Conversely, the mass percentages for particles with dia-
meters of 0.05–0.10 mm decreased with increasing u* for all the three
soil textures (Fig. 3).
The divergence in the changing trends of mass percentages of par-
ticles between 0.05 and 0.10 mm and other size fraction with increasing
u* can be explained by the difference in changing rate of horizontal
mass transport with u* for different sizes of particles. The results of
wind tunnel tests (Wang et al., 2017) have shown the index of the fit-
ting power function equation between horizontal mass transport and u*
is smaller for particles of 0.05–0.10 mm (4.27) than for other particle
sizes (5.34, 10.08, 6.89, and 7.56 for size fractions 0.85–1.00,
0.50–0.85, 0.10–0.50, and < 0.05 mm, respectively). This indicates the
increasing rate of horizontal mass transport with increasing u* is slower
for particles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm than for other sizes of
particles (Fig. 4). Hence, with increasing u*, the percentage of particles
of 0.05–0.10 mm in the sediments decreased, while the percentages of
the other size fractions increased.
A further reason for this divergence could be attributed to the dis-
tinct erodibility by wind (erodibility for short) for different sizes of
particles. Previous studies (Dong and Li, 1998) have shown that parti-
cles with diameters close to 0.10 mm are most easily eroded and that
they have a minimum threshold friction speed in comparison with other
size fractions. Larger particles require stronger wind speeds to initiate
their movement because of their greater weight, whereas smaller par-
ticles (diameter: < 0.05 mm) have increased cloddiness and therefore
larger pressure fluctuations are required to initiate their movement
(Colazo and Buschiazzo, 2010). Thus, because particles with diameters
of 0.05–0.10 mm are more erodible than other sizes of particles in low
wind conditions, as shown in Fig. 4, they presented higher proportion in
the sediments for all three soil types (> 45%). The contents of particles
with diameters of < 0.05 and > 0.10 mm in the sediments were rela-
tively low at low u* because of the effects of stronger inter-particle
cohesion or gravity.
With increasing u*, the ability of the wind to transport sediment was
shown to increase. At faster wind velocities, the effects of both saltation
bombardment and aggregate disintegration are greater (Loosmore &
Hunt, 2000; Shao, 2001). Many fine and coarse particles that are not
easily transported at low u* do begin to move under stronger wind
conditions. Therefore, it was found that their contents in the windblown
sediments increased with increasing u*. In contrast, the limitation of
source supply (i.e., the contents of particles with diameters of
0.05–0.10 mm were < 25% for all three soil textures) prevented the
contents of particles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm in sediments from
increasing rapidly. Consequently, the mass fractions of particles with
diameters of < 0.05 and > 0.10 mm in sediments increased, while that
of particles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm decreased gradually with
increasing u*. Overall, the divergence in erodibility for different sizes of
particles under different wind speed conditions resulted in the change
of the aggregate size distribution of the sediments with increasing u*.

Table 3
Characteristics of wind speed, soil surface and windblown sediment in the eight selected friction wind velocity (u*) grades for sandy loam soil.
Grades of u* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of sampling 2 2 8 5 7 4 2 2
Mean u*/S.D., m s−1 0.42/0.01 0.46/0.01 0.49/0.01 0.52/0.01 0.58/0.01 0.61/0.00 0.64/0.00 0.68/0.00
Max. u*, m s−1 0.58 0.60 0.64 0.70 0.75 0.82 0.76 0.78
Soil moisture/S.D., % 1.98/0.01 1.98/0.01 1.98/0.03 1.09/0.03 1.09/0.04 1.09/0.02 1.09/0.01 0.51/0.00
Aerodynamic roughness/S.D., mm 0.90/0.00 0.90/0.00 0.90/0.01 0.95/0.02 0.95/0.02 0.95/0.01 0.95/0.01 0.82/0.00
Fraction of sediment with different sizes(Mean/S.D.) < 0.05 mm 0.08/0.03 0.10/0.07 0.12/0.05 0.14/0.05 0.13/0.07 0.21/0.05 0.21/0.00 0.24/0.04
0.05–0.1 mm 0.44/0.06 0.43/0.12 0.42/0.13 0.36/0.13 0.38/0.04 0.29/0.03 0.25/0.09 0.19/0.01
0.1–0.5 mm 0.48/0.11 0.47/0.19 0.46/0.14 0.49/0.15 0.48/0.09 0.49/0.04 0.52/0.07 0.55/0.02
0.5–0.8 mm < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 0.01/0.00 0.01/0.00 0.01/0.00 0.02/0.01 0.02/0.01
0.8–1.0 mm 0 0 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01

S.D. is standard deviation.

4
R. Wang et al. Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8

Table 4
Dry aggregate size distribution and texture of parent soils.
location Dry aggregate size distribution of parent soils (%, mm) Dispersed particle size distribution of parent soils (%, μm) Soil texture (International
standards)
> 1.0 0.8–1.0 0.5–0.8 0.1–0.5 0.05–0.1 < 0.05 Sand (20–2000) Silt (2–20) Clay (< 2)

Site 1 Mean 29.3 2.56 6.95 33.28 9.62 18.28 49.73 41.61 8.66 Loamy soil
S.D. 5.53 0.12 0.27 2.55 0.76 2.65 0.03 0.03 0.05
Site 2 Mean 3.09 0.18 2.77 69.41 21.86 2.68 94.69 5.06 0.25 Sandy soil
S.D. 1.17 0.05 0.17 2.33 1.07 0.84 0.07 0.06 0.07
Site 3 Mean 18.95 2.77 11.70 44.99 14.89 6.70 77.57 20.22 2.21 Sandy loam soil
S.D. 4.85 0.71 2.12 3.33 2.05 1.30 0.05 0.03 0.01

S.D. is standard deviation.

Fig. 2. Change in geometric mean diameter of windblown sediment with in-

creasing friction wind velocity.

3.2. Effect of wind speed on proportion of dust to saltation

According to the studies of Goossens (1985) and Sharratt (2011),

the mass fraction of suspension in sediment increased with height; the
mass fraction of saltation in sediment decreased with height. In the
study, for all the three types of soils, under a strong wind speed con-
dition (u* > 0.6), the mass fraction of particles with diameter of < 0.05
and 0.05–0.1 mm increased with height; the mass fraction of particles
with diameter of 0.1–0.5 and 0.5–0.8 mm decreased with height; and
the mass fraction of the particles with diameter of 0.8–1.0 mm was very
low and only existed near the soil surface (Fig. 5). The result indicated
that the particles < 0.1 mm were mainly transported by suspension; the
particles with diameter of 0.1–0.8 mm were mainly transported by
saltation; and the particles with diameter of 0.8–1.0 mm were mainly
transported by creep. Some studies (Goudie and Middleton 2006) fur-
ther showed that fine suspended particles with diameter of < 0.05 mm
can be transported for long distances in air. Thus, in the paper, the fine
particles with diameter of < 0.05 mm were defined as dust; the parti-
cles with diameter of 0.1–0.8 mm were defined as saltation.
The proportion of dust to saltation was used to reflect the dust
emission efficiency (or saltation efficiency) in the study, as suggested by
Mirzamostafa et al. (1998). The calculated results showed the propor-
tion of dust to saltation increased linearly with increasing u* for all
three soil textures. However, the trend was only significant for loamy
and sandy loam soils (p < 0.01), not for sandy soil (p > 0.1) (Fig. 6).
This result indicates decline of the influence of wind speed on dust
emission efficiency as the soil texture changes from fine to coarse. This Fig. 3. Change of mass percentage for different sizes of sediments with in-
finding is consistent with Gillette and Walker (1977), who reported that creasing friction wind velocity: (a) loamy soil, (b) sandy soil, and (c) sandy
loam soil.
the proportion of fine particles to large particles in windblown sediment
increased relative to the wind speed for fine soil but not for coarse soil.
Many studies have suggested that vertical dust flux is proportional

5
R. Wang et al. Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8

Fig. 4. Change of horizontal mass transport for different sizes of particles with
increasing friction wind velocity (Wang et al., 2017).

to horizontal saltation flux and that the proportion is unrelated to wind

speed (Gillette, 1977; Shao et al., 1993; Marticorena and Bergametti,
1995; Houser and Nickling, 2001; Gillette et al., 2004; Xing and Guo,
2008; Hagen et al., 2010). However, other studies have found that in-
creasing wind speed could increase the proportion of fine particles in
windblown sediments (Gillette and Walker, 1977; Nickling et al., 1999;
Niemeyer et al., 1999; Jason and Bruce, 2006; Kok et al., 2012). These
findings appear controversial concerning the relationship between wind
speed and dust emission efficiency in the wind erosion process. Classic
wind tunnel experiments (Shao et al., 1993) that have proven the dust
emission efficiency is unrelated to wind speed were conducted to pro-
vide evidence for the effects of saltation bombardment on the en-
trainment of dust by wind. Therefore, they used sand and dust as test
samples in upwind and downwind areas, respectively, and they avoided
interference from aerodynamic entrainment and aggregate disintegra-
tion as far as possible. Field data used to verify the results of such tunnel
experiments were generally obtained from areas with sandy soils
(Gillette, 1977), in which saltation bombardment plays the dominant
role in ejecting dust into airflow. However, regardless of the nature of
the study, i.e., field observations or wind tunnel simulations (Niemeyer
et al., 1999; Jason and Bruce, 2006), the experiments that supported
the conclusion that dust emission efficiency is related to wind speed
mainly used natural loamy or sandy loam soils as test samples. These
materials included greater proportions of fine particles and aggregates,
and they were prone to the effects of aerodynamic entrainment and
aggregate disintegration, as well as saltation bombardment. It may be
that the proportion of vertical dust flux to horizontal saltation flux was
indeed independent of wind speed in cases considering only the effect
of saltation bombardment, which is the most important mechanism of
dust emission (Cahill et al., 1996). However, aerodynamic entrainment
and aggregate disintegration are also important dust emission me- Fig. 5. Change of mass fraction for different sizes of sediments with increasing
chanisms that exist in almost every dust emission process (Shao, 2008), height: (a) loamy soil, (b) sandy soil, and (c) sandy loam soil.
especially for loamy soils. With increasing wind speed, the stronger
effects of aerodynamic entrainment and aggregate disintegration in have shown that the expression for vertical dust flux (F) as a function of
loamy soils, which might produce larger proportions of dust than ob- u·is F u·4 (Gillette and Passi, 1988; Fairchild and Tillery, 1982). This
tained from only saltation bombardment, could account for the increase expression has also been used in dust emission models (Gillette and
of dust emission efficiency with increasing wind speed. Similarly, some Passi, 1988) or in dust emission modules in models of global dust cir-
researchers have found that dust emission efficiency increases with culation (Joussaume, 1990; Tegen and Fung, 1994; Ginoux, et al.,
increasing friction wind velocity (Nickling et al., 1999; Kok et al., 2012) 2001). Therefore, it seems reasonable that F/Q u·, which is consistent
and that this increase is dependent on soil conditions (Shao, 2001). with the conclusion of this paper. Although many studies have shown
The theory (Owens, 1964; Anderson and Hallet, 1986; Sorensen, that the power indexes for the functions of Q to u· or F to u· are variables
1991) and experimenting (Leatherman, 1978; Fryberger et al., 1984; (Borrman and Jaenicke, 1987; Nickling and Gilles, 1993; Wang et al.,
Ssrre, 1988) studies both showed that the expression for the horizontal 2001), which are influenced by soil type, non-erodible aggregates, or
saltation flux (Q) as a function of u·is Q u·3. This expression is used in roughness elements, the power function relationships of Q u·m and
wind erosion models such as RWEQ (Fryrear et al., 1998) and WEPS F u·n always exist. Thus, dust emission efficiency can be expressed as F/
(Hagen, 1991). Moreover, observations from several field-based studies Q u·n-m. As long as the power index m is not equal to n, dust emission

6
R. Wang et al.
Fig. 6. Change in proportion of dust to saltation with increasing friction wind
velocity.
efficiency should be affected by wind speed. As a critical input para-
meter of dust emission models, dust emission efficiency (F/Q) has been
used both as a constant (Gillette and Passi, 1988) and as a variable
dependent on either aggregate size distribution of soil (Shao et al.,
1996) or clay content (Marticorena and Bergametti, 1995), but never as
a variable related to wind speed. According to the results of this study,
neglect of the impact of wind speed on dust emission efficiency, espe-
cially for loamy soils, might result in underestimation of the vertical
dust flux.
3.3. Influence of wind speed on relationship between aggregate size
distribution of windblown sediment and of soil
Many researchers (Gillette and Walker, 1977; Chen and Fryrear,
1996; Leys and McTainsh, 1996; Li et al., 2009; Sharratt, 2011) have
described the particle size distributions of surface soil and of wind-
blown sediments at a range of heights. It has been shown that the ag-
gregate size distribution of eroded sediment close to the ground
strongly reflects the size distribution of the loose material within the
parent soil. In this paper, comparison of the aggregate size distribution
of windblown sediments trapped at different wind speeds with that of
the surface soils showed that the aggregate size distributions of sedi-
ments were indeed influenced by the in-situ soils. The correlation
coefficients of aggregate size distribution between sediment and surface
soil were 0.63, 0.69 and 0.73 in average for loamy, sandy and sandy
loam soils, respectively (Fig. 7). The results of the study further showed
that the aggregate size distribution of sediments was significantly dif-
ferent from that of the surface soil at low u*. The statistical results
showed (Fig. 7) that the correlation coefficients between the aggregate
size distribution of the sediments and of the surface soils were low at u*
of < 0.5 m s−1 for all three soil textures (average of 0.50, 0.63, and
0.65 for loamy, sandy, and sandy loam soils, respectively). With in-
creasing u*, the difference between the aggregate size distribution of
the sediments and of the surface soils narrowed and the correlation
coefficients increased. For example, for a u* of > 0.6 m s−1, the average
correlation coefficient for all three soil textures was > 0.75, i.e., much
higher than for a u* of < 0.5 m s−1 (Fig. 7).
This study showed that the aggregate size distribution of windblown
sediment collected at low u* differed obviously from that of the erodible
surface soil, inconsistent with the results of previous studies that did not
consider the influence of wind speed (Chen and Fryrear, 1996; Leys and
McTainsh, 1996; Li et al., 2009; Sharratt, 2011). The influence of wind
speed on the correlation between the aggregate size distribution of the
windblown sediments and of the surface soil can be explained by the
divergence in erodibility for different sizes of particles at different u*.
7
Aeolian Research 36 (2019) 1–8
Fig. 7. Change in correlation coefficient of aggregate size distribution between
sediment and surface soil with increasing friction wind velocity.
The results of wind tunnel experiments (Wang et al., 2017) showed the
gaps in the horizontal mass transport for different sizes of particles were
very large at low u* (Fig. 4). For example, the horizontal mass transport
for particles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm (1.98 g m−2 s−1) was
96.27, 6.21, and 24.89 times greater than for particles with diameters
of 0.50–0.85, 0.10–0.50, and < 0.05 mm, respectively, at a u* of
0.34 m s−1. This indicates the gaps in erodibility for different sizes of
particles are very large at low u*. The selective removal of more easily
erodible particles in the wind erosion process resulted in obvious dif-
ferences between the aggregate size distributions of the parent soil and
of the windblown sediments at low wind speeds. With increasing u*, the
gaps in the horizontal mass transport for different sizes of particles
narrowed (Fig. 4). For example, the horizontal mass transport for par-
ticles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm (41.10 g m−2 min−1) was only
2.07, 0.89, and 2.41 times greater than for particles with diameters of
0.50–0.85, 0.10–0.50, and < 0.05 mm, respectively, at a u* of
0.68 m s−1. This indicates that the gaps in erodibility for different sizes
of particles had become smaller. The narrowed gaps in erodibility for
different sizes of particles at higher u* resulted in similar removal ca-
pacities from the soil, which increased the correlation between the
aggregate size distribution of the parent soil and of the windblown
sediment. Thus, it can be deduced that the correlation between the
aggregate size distribution of the parent soil and of the windblown
sediment might become further enhanced if the u* were to be increased.
Therefore, when analyzing the effect of soil aggregate size distribution
on that of windblown sediment, the influence of wind speed should be
considered.
4. Conclusions
As the driving force of wind erosion, wind speed plays a critical role
in the wind erosion and dust emission processes. However, field mea-
surements are generally inadequate to verify the effect of wind speed on
the particle size distribution of windblown sediment. In this study, the
change in aggregate size distribution of windblown sediment with u*
was examined for loamy, sandy and sandy loam soils based on field
observations acquired during 2012–2018 from Bashang District in
North China. The results showed that the geometric mean diameter of
sediment increased exponentially with increasing u*. The mass fractions
of particles with diameters of < 0.05, 0.10–0.50, 0.50–0.80, and
0.80–1.00 mm in sediment increased with increasing u*; the mass
fraction of particles with diameters of 0.05–0.10 mm decreased with
increasing u*. The proportion of dust to saltation increased linearly with
increasing with increasing u* for all three soil textures, but the trend
was significant for loamy and sandy loam soils, not for sandy soil. The
R. Wang et al.
aggregate size distribution of sediments was influenced by in-situ soils,
their correlation enhanced with increasing u*. Thus, when analyzing the
effect of soil aggregate size distribution on that of windblown sediment,
the influence of wind speed should be considered. The divergence in
erodibility for different sizes of particles at different wind speeds plays a
critical role in changing regularity of the aggregate size distribution of
windblown sediment with increasing wind speed. The findings of this
study could contribute to greater understanding of the critical effect of
wind speed in the wind erosion and dust emission processes, and pro-
vide guidelines for optimizing the wind factor in dust emission models.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their
insightful suggestions. This study was supported by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China, China (Grant Nos. 41630747,
41301291) and the Science and Technology Project of Hebei Academy
Sciences, China (Grant Nos. 17103). We thank James Buxton MSc from
Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn./ac), for editing
the English text of this manuscript.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2018.10.001.
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