Rapid Measurement of Surface Moisture Content on a Beach

Yang, Yanqi; Davidson‐Arnott, Robin

doi:10.2112/03-0111.1

Cited by 59 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The 2 cm length chosen is a compromise between the desire to measure as close to the surface as possible and a decrease in the precision of the probe as its length is further reduced. Calibrations of both the short and standard probes in the laboratory were highly linear (Yang, 2003;Yang and Davidson-Arnott, 2005) and calibration of field measurements with the short probe against gravimetric moisture content gave essentially similar results to those obtained in the laboratory. The same make of instrument has also been tested successfully with short probes in agricultural soils (Tsegaye et al, 2004).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Moisture measurements were carried out over this survey grid on a daily basis for 20 days using the Theta probe, and additional measurements were made at intervals through the day when measurements of sediment transport were carried out. Moisture content was determined gravimetrically from samples of the upper 2 cm taken along two lines of the grid on each day and these were used to produce the field calibration (Yang and Davidson-Arnott, 2005).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of surface moisture on aeolian sediment transport threshold and mass flux on a beach

Davidson‐Arnott

Yang

Ollerhead

et al. 2007

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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154

126

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This paper presents results from a study designed to explore the effects of beach surface moisture and fetch effects on the threshold of movement, intensity of sand transport by wind and mass flux. The experiment was carried out over a period of five weeks at Greenwich Dunes, Prince Edward Island, Canada in May and June 2002. Moisture content was measured with a Delta-T moisture probe over a 50 m by 25 m grid established on the beach. Measurements of wind speed and direction were made with arrays of cup anemometers and a two-dimensional sonic anemometer. Transport intensity was measured at a height of 2-4 cm above the bed using omnidirectional saltation probes which count the impact of saltating grains on a piezoelectric crystal. Anemometers and saltation probes were sampled at 1 Hz. Sand transport was measured with vertical integrating sand traps over periods of 10-20 minutes. Results show that where there is a considerable supply of dry sand the saltation system responds very rapidly (1-2 s) to fluctuations in wind speed, i.e. to wind gusts. Where sand supply from the surface is limited by moisture, mean transport rates are much lower and this reflects in both a reduction in the instantaneous transport rate and in a transport system that becomes increasingly intermittent. Threshold wind speed is significantly correlated with an increase in surface moisture content near the upwind end of the beach fetch, but the relationship is not significant at the downwind end where sediment transport is initiated primarily by saltation impact from upwind. Mass flux increases with increasing fetch length and the relationship is described best by a power function. Further work is necessary to develop a theoretical function to predict the increase in transport with fetch distance as well as the critical fetch distance.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of surface moisture on aeolian sediment transport threshold and mass flux on a beach

Davidson‐Arnott

Yang

Ollerhead

et al. 2007

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

154

126

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“…Impedance-type probes considerably reduce disruption of the surface thereby enabling repeated measurements at a given point, but these are typically designed to integrate over depths ranging from 6 cm to several tens of centimeters. Recently, Yang and Davidson-Arnott (2005) successfully modified an impedance probe to restrict the sampling depth to 2 cm. Their approach appears to have great potential for studying surface moisture content, and we adopt it in this study.…”

Section: On the Definition Of 'Surface' Moisture Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Svasek and Terwindt, 1974;Sarre, 1988;Jackson and Nordstrom, 1997;Sherman et al, 1998;Atherton et al, 2001;Wiggs et al, 2004;Yang and Davidson-Arnott, 2005;Davidson-Arnott et al, 2005a,b, 2008Bauer et al, 2008). From these reports it is clear that surface moisture content tends to be highly variable in both time and space at any given beach, and also that it varies between beaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and spatial variabilities in the surface moisture content of a fine-grained beach

et al. 2010

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“…A promising array of indirect methods, including capacitance probes, neutron thermalization and time domain reflectometry (TDR) (e.g. Atherton et al, 2001;Yang and Davidson-Arnott, 2004) is now available. Although accurate and capable of producing continuous measurement, none can measure water content at the particle scale directly at the surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement of water content as a control of particle entrainment by wind

Neuman

Langston

2006

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Of all controls on particle transport by wind, which include texture, crusting, vegetation cover and roughness, the role of water content is one of the most difficult to parameterize because of its high degree of spatial and temporal variability and its operation at a particlescale level directly at the surface. This study demonstrates that measurement of the distribution of brightness for all pixels in an image, now routinely employed in digital photography, is strongly correlated with gravimetric water content. Wind tunnel experiments further suggest that measurement of the distribution of β β β β β, as normalized against the brightness of the dry sand surface, is very useful in determining the order of magnitude of the mass transport rate (q). Finer resolution will likely never be achieved because of the heterogeneity of the particle transport phenomenon. Analysis of the variability in surface brightness does suggest that q is governed by the partitioning of momentum to particle motion that terminates in adhesion to surrounding areas of the surface that remain relatively wet. The proportion of surface particles that becomes dry appears to be of less importance. Preliminary work suggests that field application of digital photography in tracking spatial and temporal changes in the water content of beach deposits looks promising.

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Rapid Measurement of Surface Moisture Content on a Beach

Cited by 59 publications

References 11 publications

The effects of surface moisture on aeolian sediment transport threshold and mass flux on a beach

The effects of surface moisture on aeolian sediment transport threshold and mass flux on a beach

Temporal and spatial variabilities in the surface moisture content of a fine-grained beach

Measurement of water content as a control of particle entrainment by wind

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