Resultant Force on Grains of a Real Sand Dune: How to Measure It?
Abstract Barchan dunes usually appear under the action of one‐directional fluid flows, being found on Earth, Mars, and other celestial bodies; however, although ubiquitous in nature, understanding dune dynamics at the grain scale is challenging due to the vast number of grains involved. Here, based...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116942 |
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| Summary: | Abstract Barchan dunes usually appear under the action of one‐directional fluid flows, being found on Earth, Mars, and other celestial bodies; however, although ubiquitous in nature, understanding dune dynamics at the grain scale is challenging due to the vast number of grains involved. Here, based on subaqueous experiments using a high‐speed camera, discrete numerical computations solving the motion at the grain scale, and a special training of a convolutional neural network, we show that it is, in fact, possible to estimate the resultant force acting on the grains of a barchan dune by using images. This procedure opens new possibilities for measuring the resultant force not only on the grains of a dune, but also on relatively small elements that are imaged over time, such as rocks, boulders, rovers, and human‐built constructions photographed by satellites on terrestrial and Martian landscapes. |
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| ISSN: | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |