Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239 257

www.elsevier.com/locate/earscirev

Geomorphology of desert sand dunes: A review of recent progress

Ian Livingstone a,, Giles F.S. Wiggs b , Corinne M. Weaver b
a
School of Applied Sciences, The University of Northampton, Northampton NN2 7AL, UK
b
Oxford University Centre for the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
Received 6 April 2006; accepted 29 September 2006
Available online 30 November 2006

Abstract

Through the 1980s and 1990s studies of the geomorphology of desert sand dunes were dominated by field studies of wind flow
and sand flow over individual dunes. Alongside these there were some attempts numerically to model dune development as well as
some wind tunnel studies that investigated wind flow over dunes. As developments with equipment allowed, field measurements
became more sophisticated. However, by the mid-1990s it was clear that even these more complex measurements were still unable
to explain the mechanisms by which sand is entrained and transported. Most importantly, the attempt to measure the stresses
imposed by the wind on the sand surface proved impossible, and the use of shear (or friction) velocity as a surrogate for shear stress
also failed to deliver. At the same time it has become apparent that turbulent structures in the flow may be as or more important in
explaining sand flux. In a development paralleled in fluvial geomorphology, aeolian geomorphologists have attempted to measure
and model turbulent structures over dunes. Progress has recently been made through the use of more complex numerical models
based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Some of the modelling work has also suggested that notions of dune equilibrium
form may not be particularly helpful. This range of recent developments has not meant that field studies are now redundant. For
linear dunes careful observations of individual dunes have provided important data about how the dunes develop but in this
particular field some progress has been made through ground-penetrating radar images of the internal structure of the dunes.
The paradigm for studies of desert dune geomorphology for several decades has been that good quality empirical data about
wind flow and sand flux will enable us to understand how dunes are created and maintain their form. At least some of the difficulty
in the past arose from the plethora of undirected data generated by largely inductive field studies. More recently, attention has
shiftedalthough not completelyto modelling approaches, and very considerable progress has been made in developing models of
dune development. It is clear, however, that the models will continue to require accurate field observations in order for us to be able
to develop a clear understanding of desert sand dune geomorphology.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: aeolian; geomorphology; dune; transverse dune; linear dune; turbulence

1. Introduction Ralph Bagnold (e.g. 1941), Bagnold's work concentrat-

Although reviews of the geomorphology of desert
sand dunes routinely start with reference to the work of
Corresponding author. Fax: +44 1604 720636.
E-mail address: ian.livingstone@northampton.ac.uk
(I. Livingstone).
0012-8252/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2006.09.004
ed largely on the physics associated with the movement
of individual sand grains in the wind rather than on the
development of landforms. His work was ground-
breaking in providing systematic empirical measure-
ments of wind flow, particularly velocity profiles, and
of sand flux, but his work on dunes was rather
more descriptive and often speculative. A significant
240 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257

speculation was his suggestion that thermally-generated Single-dune studies concentrated on measurements of
roll vortices were the origin of linear sand dunes wind flow and sand flux (the methods of the period are
(Bagnold, 1953). Despite his clear acknowledgment of summarised by Knott and Warren (1981)). Wind flow
the speculative nature of his theory, it became widely was largely measured by rotating-cup anemometers,
quoted, and it was not until 30 years later that it was often at a single height; wind direction was measured
challenged on the basis of careful field observation and variously by the orientation of ripple marks, paper flags
measurement of linear dunes (e.g. Tsoar, 1983). or by tracking meteorological balloons or kites; and sand
Tsoar's work was just one of a wave of single-dune flux was measured by using sand traps, sometimes based
studies that were undertaken in the 1970s and 1980s on the design of Bagnold (1941). Many of these studies
(Table 1). These were attempts to understand the basic began to provide good fundamental basic data about how
controls on the development of the form of individual the dunes behaved. In particular, Tsoar and Livingstone
dunes rather than the development of groups of dunes as were able to show that on two very different linear dunes
sand seas (e.g. Wilson, 1973) or the movement of there was no evidence to support Bagnold's roll-vortex
individual grains (e.g. Bagnold, 1941). This trend was hypothesis. Both their studies showed linear dunes
part of a wider trend in geomorphology (and even more responding to bi-directional wind regimes, albeit with
widely in geography (Burton, 1963) and geology some difference of opinion about the mechanism (e.g.
(Merriam, 2004)) towards the measurement of small- Livingstone, 1988; Tsoar, 1990).
scale processes and the use of statistics to analyse the These single-dune studies spawned a series of rather
data collected, frequently termed the quantitative more sophisticated studies (e.g. Wiggs, 1993; Frank and
revolution. In fluvial geomorphology this started in Kocurek, 1996a,b; Lancaster et al., 1996; Wiggs et al.,
the 1950s and manifested itself as small catchment 1996; McKenna Neuman et al., 1997). This increasing
studies (e.g. Leopold et al., 1964). Aeolian geomorphol- sophistication was partly a consequence of rapidly
ogy took rather longer to catch this wave (although improving computer technology; the data loggers used
Coursin's work (1964) was somewhat ahead of the pace) to collect and store information from anemometers
but what may be termed the single-dune studies of the improved very rapidly through the 1980s and 1990s.
1970s and 1980s were aeolian geomorphology's equiv- Loggers became able to store much more data from a
alent of the small catchment studies. Alongside these, larger number of devices and laptop computers were
there has been a number of studies based variously on available for downloading and analysing data. More
satellite and aerial photographic imagery, repeated accurate anemometers were developed including hot
ground survey or on a combination of imagery with wire anemometers although there was an issue of
survey that provide measurements of dune movement. robustness in field situations. Equipment such as the
Saltiphone (Spaan and Van den Abele, 1991) and the
Table 1
Examples of field studies of single dunes
Sensit probe (Stockton and Gillette, 1990) were
developed to count the impacts of saltating grains in
Dune type Location Reference
transport. Often this trend for field monitoring and
Barchan dune Mauritania Coursin (1964) measurement meant that large amounts of hardware
Various locations, USA Frank and Kocurek
were installed for these single-dune studies (Fig. 1).
(1996a,b)
Salton Sea, CA, USA Lancaster et al. (1996) Although enabled by improving technology, the
Tenere Desert Warren and Knott (1983) increased sophistication was driven more fundamentally
Oman Wiggs (1993); Wiggs by the realisation that simple wind-speed measurements
et al. (1996) at a single height were not enough to characterise the
Linear dune Sinai Desert Tsoar (1982, 1983)
wind flow over the dune. Even though Bagnold (1941)
(longitudinal, Namib Desert, Namibia Livingstone (1989, 2003)
seif) Strzelecki Desert, Tseo (1990, 1993) and others had related sand transport rates to wind speed,
Australia sand transport has been more commonly related to the
Taklimakan, China Wang et al. (2003, 2004) stress imparted at the sand surface by the wind. Using
Others Silver Peak, NV, USA McKenna Neuman et al. wind speed as a surrogate for shear stress was a
(transverse dunes) (1997, 2000)
pragmatic response to the difficulty of measuring shear
Wahiba Sands, Oman Warren (1988); Warren
(dune networks) and Kay (1987) stress directly. Many single-dune studies in the 1990s
Mexico (star dune) Lancaster (1989) attempted to measure wind speeds at different heights in
Algodones, CA, Havholm and Kocurek order to produce a velocity profile from which shear
USA (complex (1988) stresses could be inferred via the calculation of shear (or
transverse dunes)
friction) velocity, u.
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 1. Anemometers and sand traps on a dune in the Salton Sea, California, USA. Measurement of airflow on the windward slopes of sand dunes
often resulted in spectacular arrays of equipment on dune surfaces (photo: Nick Lancaster).
In recent years the number of single-dune studies has
dropped considerably. There are two main reasons for
this. The first was the realisation that links between wind
and sand flow around dune forms are more complicated
than perhaps was envisaged 20 or 30 years ago and
instrumentation in real-world environments was not
delivering the link between the essentially turbulent
nature of the wind and sand flux. Even on the most
fundamental of free dunestransverse dunesit was
not possible to make measurements of wind speed using
anemometers that would give reliable values of surface
shear stress. The second realisation was that single-dune
studies were oversimplifying dune systems where there
are frequently complicated combinations of a variety of
single-dune forms. It became apparent that single-dune
studies could only take us so far in our understanding of
dune dynamics and development.
As a consequence the international conference on
aeolian research (ICAR) held every 4 years saw a drop
in the number of papers reporting single-dune studies
more or less to zero in 1998 and 2002 (see editorials by
Livingstone, 1999; Livingstone and Nickling, 2004).
They were replaced by a burgeoning interest in dust
entrainment and transport and in palaeoenvironmental
studies of aeolian environments driven in part by the
explosion of interest in luminescence dating which has
revolutionised dating of aeolian sediments.
Furthermore, aeolian geomorphology has seen some-
thing of the wider methodological debate about whether
reductionist studies can deliver explanations of dune
form and pattern. The argument has been that
241
understanding the physical processes at the grain scale
will not deliver an explanation of what is happening at
the dune scale because the relationships are complex;
equally dune-scale processes do not help us to under-
stand patterns at the dunefield or sand sea scale. The
complexity is a result of a number of factors, not least
the non-linearity of the physical relationships. The
clearest general explanation of the thinking behind non-
linearity and complex systems is provided by Phillips
(1999, 2003). Most straightforwardly, a system is non-
linear if the outputs are not proportional to the inputs
across the entire range of inputs (Phillips, 1999, p.4).
More than a decade ago Werner (1995) suggested that
dunes provided good examples of complex systems and
he showed that he could model the development of
dunefield patterns without reference to the small-scale
grain-to-grain processes that have been the focus of
many single-dune studies. More recently, Kocurek and
Ewing (2005) suggested that we should view dunes as
self-organised complex systems and argued that reduc-
tionism breaks down because the relationships are non-
linear. Yet non-linearity in itself is not sufficient to
eschew so-called reductionist studies; the most reduc-
tionist studies at the grain scale are able to deal with non-
linearity in threshold equations for grain entrainment.
Kocurek and Ewing suggested that viewing dunes as
complex systems represented a paradigm shift but it is
probably fairer to suggest that there has been a paradigm
reappraisal. It is not the case that geomorphologists have
ceased to be interested in questions associated with how
dunes develop as landforms. While single-dune studies
242 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
continue, other approaches are being explored, in
particular those in which there is greater control on the
variables in the system. Modelling approachesboth
hardware in wind tunnels and softwareprovide this
option. This paper now considers how the complexity of
desert dunes is being examined.
2. Transverse dunes
2.1. Field studies of transverse dunes
The most actively studied dune type in terms of
processes and dynamics is the barchan dune. The
apparent simplicity of the barchan form, its reflection
of an aerodynamic structure, the limited sand supply
involved, and its existence within a uni-directional wind
regime all provide motivation to generate interest and the
desire for measurement. During the 1980s and 1990s this
motivation was prompted by the improved understand-
ing that sand dune dynamics was not a simple response to
regional wind patterns but a complex interaction be-
tween dune morphology and wind flow. The data gen-
erated from process studies at this time (e.g. Lancaster,
1985, 1987; Watson, 1987; Wiggs, 1993; Frank and
Kocurek, 1996a,b; Lancaster et al., 1996; Wiggs et al.,
1996) highlighted the role of secondary flow regimes in
dune maintenance and dynamics whereby the compres-
sion of streamlines on the windward slope of a dune, and
the separation of airflow at the brink and in the lee-side
created airflow structures that impacted upon the
sedimentary processes acting on the dune (Fig. 2).
Dunes were thus not just responding to the wind regime,
Fig. 2. Field measurements of wind speed over a 10m high barchan dune
in Oman, represented as fractional speed-up ratios (from Wiggs et al.,
1996).
Fig. 3. The search for flow-form equilibrium. A summary of bedform
dynamic processes linking flow field, sand flux and bedform change in
the fluvial environment (modified from Leeder, 1983). These dynamic
linkages also formed the basis for experimental design in many aeolian
dune studies in the 1980s and 1990s.
but creating their own secondary flow regimes that
interacted with the dune and had a significant role to play
in the dynamics of the dune and its development. This
improved understanding lent itself to the continued
development of the concept of dynamic equilibrium, first
expounded in the aeolian case by Wilson (1972), but
with a particular emphasis on investigating the notion of
the equilibrium dune'.
Many investigations in the 1980s and 1990s focused
on determining the inter-relationships and feedbacks
between airflow structures, sediment transport and dune
geomorphological change in an effort to identify the
balance between these dynamic parameters that might
explicate the equilibrium dune form. Such investiga-
tions were allied to those researching sedimentary
bedforms in fluvial environments and the research
structure that was used in both aeolian and fluvial work
is well summarised by Best (1996) (see Fig. 3).
The aspiration of these single-dune studies was that the
measurement of shear velocity (u), rather than the previ-
ously relied upon wind speed, would enable a far greater
understanding of downwind changes in sediment flux
across dune surfaces. This expectation of shear velocity
measurements was generated by successes in wind tunnel
experiments where the shear velocity exerted by the wind
had been recognised as a primary driving force for the
aeolian transport of sand (e.g. Butterfield, 1993).
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257 243

Fig. 4. Mean wind speed profiles from a Namib Desert sandy plain (Weaver, unpublished) demonstrating the characteristic loglinear relationship
with height. Such profiles allow the straightforward calculation of mean shear velocity (u) using the law-of-the-wall.

Shear velocity (u) is proportional to the gradient of
the wind velocity profile plotted on a logarithmic height
scale (Fig. 4) and is associated with surface shear stress
(that is the driving force of erosion) by:
s qu2
where s = the surface shear stress, = the density of air
and u = the shear velocity.
Numerous sediment transport formulae have been
developed from wind tunnel investigations that relate
the sediment flux (q) to the third power of shear velocity
q u3 (e.g. Bagnold, 1941; Kawamura, 1951; Zingg,
1953; Owen, 1964; Lettau and Lettau, 1977; White,
1979). The discussions between Lancaster (1985, 1987)
and Watson (1987) therefore promoted the idea that
studies of dune dynamics should be focussed on
attempting to measure wind velocity profiles on dune
surfaces. From these data shear velocities could be
determined in order to predict sediment flux and the
local surface height change on a dune (h/t) could then
be determined from downwind changes in sand flux
(q(x)):
Wiggs et al., 1996) due to streamline compression was
analogous to wind flow over low hills (Jackson and
Hunt, 1975). Measurements of sand flux gained from
sand traps were also highly informative concerning the
relationships between velocity acceleration, dune shape
1 and rate of change of sediment transport rates (Wiggs et
al., 1996; Fig. 5). However, the studies demonstrably
failed in the correct determination of shear velocity
across dune surfaces, and so they failed successfully to
link the processes controlling wind velocity to those of
sand flux. The reasons for this failure were two-fold.
First, due to the varied acceleration of velocity with
height as flow approaches the dune crest, velocity
profiles become increasingly non-log-linear up wind-
ward slopes (Fig. 6). This prevents the successful

Dq x Dh=Dt 2

Such research designs were popularly adopted and

were frequently directed at exemplifying the processes
highlighted in Fig. 3 based on measurement of two-
dimensional transects along barchan dune centre-lines.
Such studies were highly successful in demonstrating
that velocity acceleration up dune windward slopes (e.g. Fig. 5. Field measurements of sand flux on the windward slope of a
Frank and Kocurek, 1996a,b; Lancaster et al., 1996; barchan dune (from Wiggs, 2001).
244 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257

calculation of u, which requires a loglinear velocity

profile (Mulligan, 1988; Frank and Kocurek, 1996a,b).
Second, wind tunnel data indicate that the velocity
acceleration also produces a gradient of shear stress
close to the surface toward the crests of dunes that is
extremely strong (Wiggs et al., 1996). The consequence
of this is that in order to determine wind parameters that
are relevant to sand flux, measurements must be made
very close to the surface (b 10 cm). Such measure-
ments are difficult in the natural dune environment on
occasions where saltation is active and attempts to
measure u above this critical layer result in data
indicating a reduction in mean u from toe to crest
(Lancaster et al., 1996; Fig. 7). Such data are illogical to Fig. 7. The imperfect measured relationship between shear velocity
the natural dynamics of sand dunes. (u) and the distance up the stoss slope of a barchan dune (from
These difficulties initiated a rapid demise in field Lancaster et al., 1996).
investigations of aeolian dune processes. The failure of
such process studies adequately to determine sand gusts with cyclical velocity variations and periodicities
transport rates on single dunes led to some researchers less than 20 seconds that might be expected to give
abandoning measurements of flow parameters and higher sand transport rates than steady winds of the
resorting to direct measurement of sand flux using same mean wind speed have been observed (Butterfield,
sand traps. Additionally, some questioned the relevance 1998). Mounting empirical evidence for the role of
of mean values of shear velocity and wind speed to the turbulence in sediment transport by water (e.g. Lapointe,
transport of sand on dunes. For example, Wiggs et al. 1992; Bennett and Best, 1995, 1996; Buffin-Blanger
(1996) noted that the decrease in mean wind speed et al., 2000), where high levels of instantaneous stress
upwind of dunes due to an increasing pressure gradient were thought to be the driving mechanism behind the
was not associated with a commensurate decrease in detachment and transport of sediment (Nearing and
sand flux. Wind tunnel investigations by the authors Parker, 1994), has also led to a change in the emphasis
resulted in the suggestion that observed increases in of aeolian studies from investigations of mean wind
wind turbulence due to streamline curvature in this toe parameters to those of higher frequency turbulence.
region of the dune might counteract the influence of the
wind-speed reduction (Fig. 8). The potential role of
turbulence in sand transport was also highlighted in
wind tunnel investigations where naturally occurring

Fig. 6. The non-log-linear characteristics of a velocity profile measured

at the crest of a sand dune (from Mulligan, 1988). Streamline Fig. 8. Turbulent intensities measured over a model barchan in a wind
compression and flow acceleration result in a curved profile that makes tunnel. Data indicate increased turbulent mixing at the toe and upwind
the calculation of shear velocity (u) problematic. of the dune (from Wiggs et al., 1996).
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 9. Quadrant plot of the four coherent turbulent flow structures,
based on horizontal (u) and vertical (w) velocity fluctuations (from
Best, 1993).
2.2. The potential role of turbulence
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, following the
development of turbulence instrumentation such as
electromagnetic current meters and laser Doppler
anemometers, turbulence has been recognised as the
driving force behind sediment transport in river flows
Fig. 10. Characteristics of three streamer patterns in plan view (left) and cross section (right) (from Baas and Sherman, 2005).
245
(e.g. Lapointe, 1992, 1996; Bennett and Best, 1995,
1996; Kostaschuk and Villard, 1996), tidal estuaries
(e.g. Simpson et al., 2004) and ocean currents (e.g.
Heathershaw and Thorne, 1985; Thorne et al., 1989) and
is believed to be a key component for the formation and
stability of subaqueous bedforms (e.g. Nelson et al.,
1993, 1995; Best and Kostaschuk, 2002; Best, 2005;
Venditti and Bauer, 2005).
This recognition has spurred a move away from the
empirical approach of using mean flow properties for
predicting sediment transport toward investigations of
high-frequency events where instantaneous flow veloc-
ities exceed and fall below the time-averaged flow
velocity. These stress excursions are commonly detected
using quadrant analysis after Lu and Willmarth (1973)
(Fig. 9). Depending on the relative sign of these
deviations, four discrete turbulent events have been
identified. Sweeps and ejections act as positive
contributions to the shear stress and outward and inward
interactions act as negative contributions.
In the aeolian domain, research into the role of
turbulent flow in sediment mobility has somewhat
lagged behind that of its fluvial counterpart. This is
primarily due to the fundamental difference in the fluid
dynamics of sediment transport between that of air and
that of water. Buoyancy effects are orders of magnitude
246 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 11. A model of dune dynamics that emphasises the influence of streamline curvature on shear stress (from Wiggs et al., 1996).
lower in air than in water and so the overall effectiveness
of vertical motions in entraining and transporting
sediment is inherently less in aeolian environments
(Walker, 2005). Moreover, the problems involved in
measuring such small-scale motions in the airstream in
the presence of high energy saltation have resulted in the
absence of literature detailing the role and importance of
turbulence within the aeolian sediment transport system.
The aeolian literature does make reference to
structural, event-like phenomena such as sand snakes,
streamers and saltation pulses (Butterfield, 1991;
Baas and Sherman, 2005). These are believed to
constitute individual eddies of high and low wind
velocities that subsequently result in spatially discrete
sediment transport events (Fig. 10). Wind tunnel work
carried out by Butterfield in the early 1990s revealed
that temporally varying winds, of the order of seconds,
could potentially induce unsteady, or even discontinu-
ous, two-dimensional behaviour in saltation through
time (Butterfield, 1991, 1993, 1998). This marked the
beginning of a shift in the aeolian research community
away from the accepted traditional mean approach,
towards investigating the role of instantaneous wind
velocity, shear stress and turbulent structures in
sediment transport (Walker, 2005) and wind flow
structure (Hommema and Adrian, 2003a,b).
Only a handful of aeolian field researchers has been
successful in measuring sediment transport and wind
speed at a frequency high enough to determine the
existence of turbulence within the wind flow. This has
been made possible by the recent advances in the
development of high-frequency instrumentation capable
of simultaneously measuring the three-dimensional
nature of the wind flow (e.g. ultrasonic anemometry;
see Walker, 2005 for a review) and sediment flux (e.g.
grain impact sensors; see Baas, 2004). Studies con-
ducted by Sterk et al. (1998, 2002), Schnfeldt and von
Lwis (2003), Van Boxel et al. (2004), Baas and
Sherman (2005) and Leenders et al. (2005) have
attempted to relate sediment flux events to the turbulent
bursting process. Sterk et al. (1998) failed to find a well-
defined relationship between the instantaneous shear
stress and saltation flux. Rather, they observed that flow
events (sweeps and outward interactions) that were
associated with high saltation fluxes had an instanta-
neous horizontal wind speed that was higher than
average (u N 0).
Results presented by recent field studies involving
more robust experimental set-ups (e.g. Schnfeldt and
von Lwis, 2003; Leenders et al., 2005) are in agreement
with the original findings by Sterk et al. and highlight the
importance of the instantaneous horizontal wind speed
for sediment transport. This supports the conclusion
made by a number of researchers, both in the aeolian and
fluvial environments (e.g. Heathershaw and Thorne,
1985; Jackson and McCloskey, 1997; Butterfield, 1998;
Stout, 1998; Baas and Sherman, 2005), that in the
intermittent case, sediment transport should not be
predicted on the basis of mean shear stress (or friction
velocity) alone, unlike the majority of the current
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257 247

Fig. 12. A conceptual model of lee-side flow regions over a transverse dune. Labelled regions represent: A, outer flow; B, overflow; C, upper wake;
D, lower wake; E, separation cell; F, turbulent shear layer; G, turbulent stress maximum; H, turbulent shear zone; I, internal boundary layer (from
Walker and Nickling, 2002).

transport equations. Rather, it is more useful to
incorporate some aspect of the instantaneous horizontal
wind speed as a driving variable.
The small number of investigations concerning
properties of aeolian turbulence and sediment flux is
insufficient to draw firm conclusions and there is much
scope for development. What is also lacking is the
coherent application of our embryonic understanding of
turbulent flow and sediment flux to the dynamics of
dunes. The wind tunnel studies such as those of Finnigan
et al. (1990), Castro and Wiggs (1994) and Wiggs et al.
(1996) attribute much significance to the impact of
streamline curvature and changes in Reynolds stresses
and turbulence intensity to the maintenance of shear and
sediment transport on the windward slopes of sand
dunes, particularly in the toe region where velocity
stagnation occurs (Fig. 11). In contrast, further wind
tunnel experiments conducted by Walker and Nickling
(2002, 2003) over both isolated and closely spaced dunes
found little evidence for the maintenance of shear stress
in this region. However, despite the apparent decline in
time-averaged shear stress measurements observed by
Walker and Nickling (2002, 2003), the variability in the
shear stress signal increased to the dune toe indicating
flow unsteadiness and increased turbulence. Such results
might be attributed to the effect of streamline curvature
generating increased instantaneous and higher frequency
fluctuating horizontal and vertical velocity components
that are not apparent in time-averaged estimates of shear
stress (Walker and Nickling, 2003).
Results presented by Walker and Nickling (2003)
show the existence of a direct link between near-surface
flow acceleration and increasing steadiness in surface
shear stress up the stoss or windward slope of a dune.
Similar wind tunnel results showing a decline in
turbulence intensity up the windward slopes of dunes
were presented by Wiggs et al. (1996). These data
suggest that mean streamwise accelerations, rather than
turbulent structures or eddies, contribute more to stoss
slope dynamics toward the crestal region of the dune.
248 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
These results support the findings of McKenna Neuman
et al. (2000). These authors investigated the effects of
non-uniform airflow on the magnitude and intermittency
of sediment transport on the stoss slope of a low
transverse dune and their results represent one of the
very few field studies of the impact of unsteady winds or
turbulence on dune dynamics. Their results suggested
that wind gusts of short duration, that are in the range of
those associated with turbulent fluctuations in the
atmospheric boundary layer, were relatively inconse-
quential in terms of the total amount of sediment
transport and therefore the modification of the stoss
slope.
Similarly, turbulence may have an important role to
play in the lee of sand dunes (Fig. 12). It has been
recognised that lee-side flow patterns may exert a
significant influence on the dynamics of the stoss slope
and may play a larger role in dune morphology than
simply recycling sediment back toward the dune (e.g.
Hoyt, 1966; Sweet and Kocurek, 1990). Walker and
Nickling (2003) discovered that complex secondary
flow patterns exert control on boundary layer develop-
ment in the lee and hence, on surface shear stress and
sediment transport. In their wind tunnel experiments
over isolated and closely spaced transverse dunes,
reversed flows within the separation cell generated
significant stresses of approximately 3040% of the
maximum, despite the existence of flow expansion and
deceleration in this region. Shear stress variability
continued to increase until a peak value at the point of
flow reattachment. This feature is indicative of the
impact of turbulent eddies on the surface generated by
flow separation. Consequently, although streamwise
shear stress at the point of reattachment appears to be at
a low level, the gustiness of the flow in this area of the
dune will ultimately inhibit sediment deposition.
Additionally, the characteristics of flow in the lee side
of aeolian dunes bear many similarities to the flow in the
wake of fluvial bedforms (see the recent review by Best
(2005)). Investigations carried out by Nelson et al.
(1993), McLean et al. (1994) and Venditti and Bauer
(2005) found that turbulence created in the wake region
of fixed two-dimensional bedforms occasionally im-
pinged on the boundary layer, thereby profoundly
affecting the near-bed sediment dynamics.
Evidently, research into the effects of turbulence and
coherent flow structures on sediment transport is in its
infancy. The role of turbulence in dune dynamics is not
at all clear and there is enormous scope for more field
studies that effectively test the conclusions of Wiggs
et al. (1996) and Walker and Nickling (2002, 2003).
Before this can be accomplished, however, we require a
far greater understanding of the linkages between grain
transport mechanics and aeolian sediment transport at
such short time scales. Opportunities abound for
developing strong research links with fluvial investiga-
tions where recent studies have provided evidence that
fluid turbulence may be very sensitive to changes in
topography, and that connections exist between turbu-
lence generation, sediment transport and evolving
topography (e.g. Best, 2005; Jerolmack and Mohrig,
2005).
2.3. Computer simulations
Numerical modelling of dune dynamics has a long
history. Based on the early analytical approach of
Jackson and Hunt (1975), models developed by Howard
et al. (1977, 1978), Walmsley and Howard (1985),
Wippermann and Gross (1986) and Weng et al. (1991)
combined geomorphological understanding of sand
transport with computer models of wind flow over
barchan dunes. However, few studies successfully
modelled completely the patterns of erosion and
deposition on sand dunes and the models were generally
unable to provide reliable predictions of dune movement
and growth (Wiggs, 2001). Early models showed a
tendency to develop instabilities that were believed to
result from the strong sensitivity of the transport rate to
variations in wind velocity coupled with a strong and
exaggerated sensitivity of the flow model to small-scale
topographic perturbations (Walmsley and Howard,
1985).
In addition, the early studies suffered from an
inability to simulate the highly turbulent flow in the
lee of dunes (Stam, 1997). This artefact of numerical
modelling limited the calculation of flow structures to
low angle dunes where lee-side eddies were not present
(Parsons et al., 2004a). Recently, however, sophisticated
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models have
begun to be applied to modelling flow over aeolian
dunes.
Although research on computational models has had
a mainly fluvial focus (e.g. Hardy et al., 2003), there has
been heightened interest in the complex interactions
between sand dune morphology, windflow and sediment
transport. With the recent proliferation of field and wind
tunnel data concerning dune processes, it is now
appropriate to apply new refinements in numerical
calculations of flow fields over bedforms using CFD to
provide new insights into dune flow dynamics and
related sand transport mechanisms (Parsons et al.,
2004a,b; Fig. 13). Parsons et al. (2004a) outlined a
numerical model that was able to simulate areas of flow
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 13. An example of an isovel contour plot of streamwise velocity calculated using computational fluid dynamics (from Parsons et al., 2004b).
stagnation at the dune toe, flow acceleration up the stoss
slope and flow reversal in the lee. They developed this
initial model and determined the effect of simple dune
geometry variations on streamwise and vertical velocity
flow fields and additionally, secondary flow structures.
The results from the application of CFD to a model
sand dune demonstrated that up the windward slope a
progressive acceleration of flow to a crestal maximum
occurs. This is in accordance with field measurements of
maximum wind velocities at the dune crest (Lancaster
et al., 1996; Wiggs et al., 1996). The majority of early
numerical models failed to simulate this feature of dune
dynamics primarily because previous models could not
accommodate the highly turbulent flows in the lee-side
separation zone; hence wind velocities were subse-
quently suppressed at the crest (Stam, 1997; Parsons
et al., 2004a).
A particular advantage of the application of CFD to
aeolian dunes is in the lee where the highly turbulent
reverse flow region has traditionally posed problems for
modellers. The leeward wind flow is very difficult to
calculate correctly because of the wind separation at the
dune crest and multiple scales of flow (Momiji and
Bishop, 2002). However, the zone of separated flow
immediately in the lee of a dune creates a region of
negative pressure that was adequately modelled in the
investigation by Parsons et al. (2004a). The model
applied by Parsons et al. demonstrated a shear zone in
the lee of a dune expanding towards the point of
reattachment and then dissipating as an internal
boundary layer developed downwind. Such model
results are broadly consistent with the limited number
of field observations in the lee of dunes (e.g. Sweet and
Kocurek, 1990). Significantly, the model of Parsons et
al. (2004a) allowed a quantification of the downwind
distance required for full boundary layer recovery.
Results suggested that it may occur at a downwind
distance equivalent to between 4045 times dune height
(h). This exceeds the figure of 1015 h put forward by
249
Lancaster (1989) and is perhaps more in line with the
recent wind tunnel measurements by Walker and
Nickling (2002, 2003) of 2530 h.
Whilst some recent progress has been made in the 3-D
simulation by CFD of flow over ripples and bedforms in
the fluvial environment (Zedler and Street, 2003; Yue
et al., 2005) no such advances have yet been made in the
aeolian field. Results from CFD modelling of flow over
aeolian sand dunes are therefore currently restricted to
2-D. However, recent 3-D modelling of dune dynamics
has been achieved using an alternative approach to
CFD. With regard to the difficulties of adequately
accounting for the highly turbulent reverse flow region
in analytical models, Zeman and Jensen (1987)
suggested a heuristic approach to modelling airflow
over a dune. They introduced a false separation bubble
that comprised the recirculating flow in the wake of the
dune and extended from the brink to the point of
reattachment, thereby negating the requirement to model
the flow in this region of highly turbulent flow.
Sauermann et al. (2003) concluded from field measure-
ments carried out on barchan dunes in Morocco that
linear expansion models comprising the heuristic
approach to the separation bubble, combined with the
analytical expression for flow over a low hill after
Jackson and Hunt (1975), provided a reasonable
approximation for the wind field around the dune.
The linear expansion models developed by Andreotti
et al. (2002a,b), Lima et al. (2002), Schwmmle and
Herrmann (2003) and Hersen (2004) successfully
recreated barchan dune shapes and migration patterns.
The model applied by Hersen (2004) carved up a
barchan dune into a succession of independently
modelled 2-D slices aligned parallel to the wind
direction. Each slice was linked to its neighbour via a
sand flux that redistributed the sand laterally from the
central slice towards the horns. Hersen proposed the
process of reptation as a suitable physical mechanism
for this redistribution of sand across the dune surface. In
250 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 14. Instability of barchan dunes caused by variations in received and output flux for dunes of differing size. The small dune is under-supplied and
can only shrink. The bigger dune receives more sand than it loses and so grows. The time evolution of their volume V, calculated from simulations of
the Hersen et al. (2004) model, is also shown (from Hersen et al., 2004).
this way the model successfully recreated the charac-
teristic barchanoid form and Hersen (2004) discovered
that the degree of reptation linkage between individual
slices controlled the barchan shape. A high degree of
linkage resulted in a wide dune, whilst a low degree of
linkage via reptation resulted in a sharp and streamlined
shape.
Such linear expansion models have also been used to
good effect in increasing our understanding of the
interaction between dunes as barchans are rarely found
in isolation and frequently propagate as a group,
interacting with one another through collisions and
indirect sand exchange (Katsuki et al., 2004). Such
interactions are difficult to investigate in the field
because of the long time scales involved in geomor-
phological change (e.g. Gay, 1999) but now flume
experiments (Endo et al., 2004) and modelling (e.g.
Schwammle and Herrmann, 2003; Hersen, 2004) have
begun to shed light on the possible processes involved.
Endo et al. (2004) and Katsuki et al. (2004) recognised
collision, splitting, absorption, re-organisation
and side-swiping of dunes, the precise mechanism
occurring depending upon the mass-ratio of the dunes
involved and their relative positions.
Endo et al. (2004) also described the controversial
process of ejection that is similar to the idea of solitary
wave behaviour of sand dunes as proposed by
Schwammle and Herrmann (2003). In this case, dunes
act as solitary waves where, on approaching a slower
moving large dune, a fast moving small dune absorbs
the upwind sand flux. This has the effect of enlarging
and slowing the migration rate of the upwind dune,
whilst also forcing the contraction and acceleration of
the downwind dune, increasing the distance between the
two dunes. The smaller dune therefore appears to pass
through the larger dune in a manner similar to a
soliton. However, geomorphological evidence for the
existence of such a process is lacking (Livingstone et al.,
2005) and our understanding of airflow in the lee of
barchan dunes (Walker and Nickling, 2002, 2003;
Parsons et al., 2004a,b) discounts the possibility of a
dune emerging from within the reverse flow region in
the lee of an upwind dune.
In contrast to the model used by Schwammle and
Herrmann (2003), Hersen et al. (2004) employed a
constant upwind sand supply in their model (rather than
a constant sand volume, where sand leaving the
modelling space downwind is re-introduced upwind).
Results using this approach have provided a significant
criticism for the suggestion, long employed by
geomorphologists, of barchan dunes existing as an
equilibrium form. In the model of Hersen et al., the
concept of a constant upwind sand supply resulted in
solitary dunes becoming unstable. This is because the
amount of sand a dune receives from upwind is pro-
portional to the width of the dune (i.e. a wider dune
receives more sand at its upwind toe). However,
the amount of sand loss from a dune is proportional
to the width of its downwind-facing horns because this
is the only place where sand is lost from a barchan. The
difference between upwind sand flux received by
the dune and downwind sand flux losses from the
horns therefore determines the change in dune mass.
Hersen et al. (2004) argued that horn width (determin-
ing sand flux loss) is not proportional to dune width.
They stated that smaller dunes (with small bedform
widths) demonstrated a relatively larger horn width,
and consequently greater relative sand loss, than larger
dunes (with large bedform width). That is to say the
ratio of horn width to barchan width decreases with
increasing dune width and so output sand flux is also
relatively reduced. Whilst there are no published field
measurements of this geomorphological occurrence,
the result in the model of Hersen et al. is that, with
increasing time, small dunes get smaller and big dunes
get bigger (Fig. 14).
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Hersen et al. (2004) therefore argued that barchan
dunes were not in a strict equilibrium when solitary.
However, morphological measurements of dune devel-
opment over time (e.g. Gay, 1999) also suggested that
barchan dunes do not grow or disappear with a strict
instability. Hersen et al. (2004) suggested that there must
be other processes at work that we are not aware of or do
not completely understand that explain this disparity
between equilibrium and dis-equilibrium for barchan
dunes. Some possible contenders might include sedi-
ment transfer between dunes as a result of the collision
of two or more dunes, or via the impact of non-uniform
(i.e. non-unidirectional) wind directions (Hersen et al.,
2004; Hersen, 2005; Hersen and Douady, 2005). Such
processes would alter sediment transfer between dunes
and also impact upon the input/output fluxes of
individual dunes. Equilibrium in sand dune geomor-
phology may therefore be recognised at a dunefield
scale at greater than annual time scales, rather than at the
solitary dune scale. However, the number of studies
devoted to the dynamics of, and the processes operating
in, dunefields is limited and consequently the majority
of questions at this scale remain unanswered (Hersen
et al., 2004). A start toward addressing these issues
would be a greater understanding of the 3-D dynamics
of sand transport on dune surfaces under varying winds.
Furthermore, field measurements are required to
quantify the relationships between dune geomorphology
and the upwind input sand flux and associated output
sand flux from dune horns.
2.4. Transverse dunes: some conclusions
Concurrent with advances in understanding dune
dynamics based on the empirical measurement of
processes in the field, significant progress has been
accomplished in the mathematical simulation and
physical modelling of airflow over dune forms and in
the understanding of interactions between dunes (Wiggs,
2001). Numerical modelling has the advantage of being
able to provide an overall picture of the flow structure,
which is spatially much more complete than the results
obtained by experiments both in the field and in the wind
tunnel. More specifically, it offers the flexibility to
represent an array of complex geometries observed
within the natural environment (Badr and Harion,
2005). However, even with the advent of these modelling
investigations the amount of field-based empirical data
against which to verify these models and simulations has
been severely limited (Wiggs, 2001). Consequently, both
numerical and physical modelling must be viewed as
complementary to field investigations.
251
One issue that recurs in all types of investigation
discussed in this review is the effect of turbulence on the
airflow and sediment transport dynamics over a dune.
Within all regions of the dune form, turbulence has been
promoted as having some influence on sediment
transport. Flow acceleration/deceleration and streamline
curvature have been advocated as having an impact on
turbulence experienced at the dune toe and on the
windward slope. Within the lee, secondary flow patterns
including gusts have been suggested as being important
in sediment transport and consequently dune dynamics.
In tandem with research aimed at understanding the
complex interactions between dune forms within a
dunefield, attention should therefore also be paid
towards understanding how turbulence affects dune
dynamics at the single-dune scale.
3. Linear dunes
Given the difficulty experienced in elucidating
processes on relatively simple transverse forms, it is
not surprising that more complex dunes have proven
even more difficult to explain. While transverse dunes
are formed in uni-modal wind regimes, other forms such
as linear and star dunes are formed in more variable
wind regimes. Tsoar et al. (2004) recently consolidated
the classification of dune forms based on morphody-
namics by proposing a three-fold division: migrating
dunes (exemplified by transverse forms); elongating
dunes (exemplified by linear dunes); and accumulating
dunes (exemplified by star dunes). Broadly speaking
these equate, respectively, to dunes formed in uni-modal
wind regimes, those formed in bi-modal wind regimes
and those formed in annual wind regimes with more
than two modes, sometimes called complex.
The dissatisfaction with empirical studies has been
keenly felt in the study of linear dunes. Studies in the
1970s and 1980s by Tsoar (e.g. 1983) and Livingstone
(e.g. 1989) showed that both of their study dunes had
developed in bi-modal wind regimes and they reported
no evidence to support Bagnold's (1953) roll-vortex
hypothesis. Although the detail of their explanation
varied, both Tsoar and Livingstone argued that linear
dunes extended along some resultant of the winds from
the two directions. Some of the difference between them
concerned the importance of the separation vortex
created in the lee of the dune: for Tsoar the lee side
was essential to the dynamics of the dunes; for
Livingstone the separation vortex was incidental and
the variability of wind speed (as a surrogate for shear
stress) was seen as the fundamental control. Tseo (1993)
provided some observations of the trajectories of
252 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 15. Dune alignments created in flume experiments simulating bi-directional flows. Full arrows are the vectors of flow, the length of the arrows
representing the relative energy from the two directions. Shaded bars represent the resulting bedform alignment (from Rubin and Ikeda, 1990).
tethered kites from the Strzelecki Desert which he
claimed supported the roll-vortex theory but which could
equally be attributed to the secondary flow patterns
generated by the intrusion of the dune into the boundary
layer described by Tsoar (1983) and Livingstone (1986).
Some measurements of wind flow and sand flux on
linear dunes continue to be undertaken in the Taklimakan
Desert in China (e.g. Wang et al., 2003, 2004).
One issue that recurs in the study of linear dunes is the
question of whether linear dunes migrate laterally. Both
those supporting roll-vortex origin and those who
believe linear dunes to be formed in bi-modal wind
regimes agree that the overall movement of sand is along
the dune (creating the elongating form of Tsoar et al.,
2004). There is a widespread belief, however, that there
is also a lateral component of movement of linear dunes.
Much of this belief emanates for the work of
sedimentologists, concerned to explain why linear
dunes seem to be poorly represented in the rock record.
The expectation has been that if linear dunes are
responding to winds from either side of the crest, a slip
face would be built sometimes on one side of the crest
and at other times on the other. This would lead to sets of
avalanche beds at around 3234 (the angle of repose of
dry sand) which are often taken as diagnostic of an
aeolian origin. Bagnold (1941) provided a simple
representation of this case based entirely on supposition
rather than field evidence but the rock record lacks
deposits demonstrating this pattern.
Rubin and Hunter (1985) argued that linear dunes
(they termed them longitudinal dunes) rarely develop
in symmetrically bi-modal wind regimes so that one
regime dominates in the development of the dune. As a
consequence the dune tends to migrate more strongly in
the direction of the stronger mode and therefore to
develop asymmetry. Asymmetry of linear dune form is
well-documented from many of the major sand seas.
Rubin and Hunter, whose primary focus was what linear
dune deposits would look like in the rock record, were
able to use computer simulations to show that in
asymmetrical wind regimes, linear dunes would produce
internal structures where the dips were predominantly in
one direction (see Rubin's website at http://walrus.wr.
usgs.gov/seds/). Their observation was that opposed
beds were rarely found in the rock record. They
suggested a terminology based on morphodynamics to
reflect this: transverse dunes that are roughly (within
15) normal to long-term sand transport direction; lon-
gitudinal dunes that are roughly parallel to long-term
sand transport (again within 15); and oblique dunes
that are the intermediate at 15 to 75 to the resultant
sand transport direction.
The most compelling evidence that linear dunes
migrate laterally was provided by the experiments of
Rubin and Ikeda (1990). They created dunes in a
subaqueous flume by simulating flows from two
different directions by turning a turntable. They varied
the angle of divergence between the two modes and the
 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
Fig. 16. Internal structure of a Namib linear dune showing bounding surfaces elucidated by ground-penetrating radar (from Bristow et al., 2005).
relative amount of energy from the two modes. Their
experiments showed that in a bi-directional flow with
divergence between the modes of 135 and transport
ratio of 1:1, a longitudinal dune developed aligned with
the resultant transport direction (Fig. 15). However,
once the transport ratio was varied from 1:1, oblique
dunes were formed. Rubin and Hunter suggested that
this was why linear dunes were not recognised in the
rock record. Of course, the implication of their work is
that there probably are some dunes created where
transport ratios are roughly 1:1 and we might expect to
find dunes of this type in the rock record.
The difficulty for geomorphologists is that there are
very few records of linear dune movement with which
to test the assertion that they move laterally. Three
main types of evidence have been put forward to
support the lateral migration hypothesis: morphology,
direct measurements of movement, and sedimentology.
The morphological evidence used to support the
lateral movement hypothesis is the marked asymmetry
of the cross-profile of many linear dunes. In the
Simpson Desert in Australia, Rubin (1990) explicitly
took this asymmetry as evidence that the sand transport
vector was not exactly parallel to the dune trend. The
second body of evidence is direct measurements of dune
movement but these are sparse. Hesp et al. (1989), for
example, were able to provide some circumstantial
evidence plus some aerial photography data that
suggested that linear dunes in Qaidam Pendi, NW
China, were migrating laterally at 13 m yr 1. The third
source of evidence is sedimentological. Rubin (1990)
noted the distribution of sediment on the surface of the
Simpson Desert dunes and in particular that loose sand
was more abundant on east-facing slopes. This was
deemed a consequence of lateral migration. He also
reported that the internal structure demonstrated east-
dipping beds at the base of west flanks implying that the
east flanks were 50 to 100 m west of their present
positions when these foresets were deposited.
Ascertaining internal structures has always been
tricky in contemporary desert dune sands because of
the difficulty of maintaining cut sections in dry sand.
253
Consequently, reports of pits dug in the surface of
linear dunes have only provided data from the upper
few tens of cms (e.g. McKee 1982) and have seemed
rather unsatisfactory. Recently, however, Bristow et al.
(2000, 2005) have demonstrated that ground-penetrat-
ing radar (GPR) enables us to see internal structures to
a much greater depth in dunes. Their preliminary work
(Bristow et al., 2000) on a small linear dune in the
Namib Desert showed that internal dips on a dune cross
section were often predominantly in one direction
although not necessarily in the same direction in all
sections. Their view was that there was sufficient
evidence to support a belief that this dune was mi-
grating laterally as well as elongating. In this part of the
Namib sand sea the divergence angle between the
major wind regime modes is approximately 135 and
the transport ratio between the modes is roughly 3:1 so
according to Rubin and Ikeda this would produce a
laterally migrating oblique dune (cf. Fig. 15). Further
evidence for lateral migration came from the southern
end of a larger linear dune in the same area (Bristow
et al., 2005). Here the radar penetrated to depths of 10
15 m and confirmed sizeable cross-sets of beds
suggesting east-to-west migration (Fig. 16). More
compelling evidence has been provided by an as yet
unpublished study taken from the main body of a linear
dune.
Notwithstanding the work of Bristow et al.,
Livingstone's studies in the same area in the Namib
showed that in 21 years of observations there had been
no perceptible lateral shift of the study dune although
there had been considerable movement of the dune's
surface (Livingstone, 2003). Tsoar et al. (2004) were
also unable to find evidence for lateral movement in
aerial photographs from Sinai (taken in 1973, 1982 and
1999) and field measurements from vegetated linear
dunes and from sharp crested, unvegetated linear dunes
with slip faces (which Tsoar et al. term seif dunes).
They argued that lateral movement could only occur
when the dune's slip face reached the inter-dune
surface but on their dunes, and the Namib dunes, slip
faces are restricted to the upper slopes.
254 I. Livingstone et al. / Earth-Science Reviews 80 (2007) 239257
The work of Bristow et al. (2000, 2005) provided
clear sedimentological evidence of migration, yet
neither Livingstone (2003) nor Tsoar et al. (2004)
could find evidence in field measurements of lateral
shift. It is likely that dunes that are over 70 m high like
those in the Namib move so slowly that two decades
may not be enough to see such a lateral shift and it may
be possible that the lateral shift evident in the
sedimentological record is no longer occurring although
we must guard against resorting to palaeoenvironmental
explanations for apparently contradictory evidence.
Nonetheless, the difficulty remains that two detailed
monitoring programmes on linear dunes have failed to
recognise a lateral shift. Undoubtedly continued GPR
survey work will further elucidate this conundrum.
4. Conclusion
There is no doubt that field-based studies of
individual dunescomplemented by theoretical and
numerical investigationshave moved our understand-
ing of dune dynamics forward. Despite the difficulties
of obtaining field measurements that allow us to
ascertain the shear at the sand surface, it remains the
case that field evidence is important. However, in the
past many of the single-dune studies described a
largely inductive approach: that is, they collected field
data, generally about wind flow and sand flux, and then
tried to make sense of those data. It may well be that in
the future, now that we have more robust mathematical
models, a more deductive approach can be adopted.
With this approach the models would provide some
idealised version of wind flow, sand flux and dune
movement that could act as a normative model to
suggest areas of field investigation and even act as the
basis for the generation of hypotheses.
The measurements we have of airflow structure
around sand dunes are improving, both as a result of
field studies and as a result of the hardware and
mathematical models. However, much of the important
recent work, both in aeolian and fluvial domains, has
suggested that improved understanding of turbulent
structures and their impact on sediment transport may
prove a fruitful way forward in the near future.
Increasingly, field studies will be important for the
calibration of computational models that enable greater
understanding of these flow-form interactions. Whereas
in the past single-dune studies were necessarily by their
nature rather isolated snapshots of very small parts of the
dune story, in the future the field studies will validate
models that allow us to ask a rather wider range of what
if? questions.
Some of the results of recent analytical modelling
suggest that we may have to re-evaluate the idea of
equilibrium dunes. Dune patterns at the dunefield or
sand sea scale may demonstrate equilibrium, but at the
dune scale future investigations will focus on the
dynamics of sediment transfers at the dune and inter-
dune scale and longer time-series measurements of dune
evolution.
The paradigm for dune studies for several decades
has been that good quality empirical data about wind
flow and sand flux will enable us to understand how
dunes are created and maintain their form. At least some
of the difficulty in the past arose from the plethora of
undirected data generated in single-dune field studies. In
addition, it proved very difficult to measure the
processes of sand entrainment and transport at the
dune scale. Consequently, some dissatisfaction was
expressed with field studies during the 1990s. More
recently, attention has shiftedalthough not complete-
lyto modelling approaches, and very considerable
progress has been made in developing models of dune
development. It is clear, however, that the models will
continue to require accurate field observation in order
for us to be able to develop a fuller understanding of
desert sand dune geomorphology.
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