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Roney & White 2004
Roney, J.A. and White, B.R. (2004). Definition and measurement of dust aeolian thresholds. Journal of Geophysical Research 109: doi: 10.1029/2003JF000061. issn: 0148-0227.

Dust suspension and particle saltation threshold speeds were measured in an environmental boundary layer wind tunnel located at the University of California, Davis. The results indicate that dust suspension threshold speeds occur at substantially lower friction speeds than saltation threshold speeds. Many of the dust suspension threshold values are half of the saltation threshold values. For example, surface soils from the most erodible areas of Owens (dry) Lake were tested in the wind tunnel, and we found that dust suspension thresholds varied from 50 to 75% of conventional saltation threshold values. Current regulatory models relying on visual threshold for estimating suspended dust may be incorrect and may lead to substantial underestimates of suspended material yield over large, expansive, erodible areas. Wind environments with average wind speeds at or around the saltation threshold speed values are especially susceptible to underestimation. Though this study focuses only on Owens (dry) Lake soils, we believe that the witnessed effect will occur in any soil with an abundance of dust particles interspersed among sand-sized particles.

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Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801), Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Pollution—urban and regional, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Boundary layer processes, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Land/atmosphere interactions, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Instruments and techniques, dust threshold, PM10, air quality
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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