The influence of wind velocity on the size distributions of aerosols generated by the wind erosion of soils

The relationship of the relative size distribution of soil wind erosion aerosols to wind velocity was examined in field measurements and wind tunnel simulations. The ratio of sedimentation velocity to friction velocity ((vertical momentum flux/air density)1/2) at which aerosol particles were significantly affected by settling was larger than 0.12 and smaller than 0.68. The shapes of the size distributions of soil wind erosion aerosols (2 μm < r < 10 μm) were fairly constant with wind speed. This result is evidence that the dominant mechanism of aerosol production by soil erosion is sandblasting of the soil surface.