Wavelet power spectra of aeolian sand transport by boundary layer turbulence

This letter reports on wavelet spectral analysis of collocated time‐series of streamwise wind speed and aeolian sand transport collected at 0.04 m above the bed in a field experiment on top of a large sand mound in a desert environment. Results suggest three distinct spatio‐temporal scales of interaction between boundary layer turbulence and sediment transport: a long‐term scale associated with the regional mixing layer, an integral time‐scale associated with the internal boundary layer, and a streamer scale associated with the inertial subrange (eddy cascade) and saltation inertia.