Construction and field use of a cyclone type instantaneous weighing aeolian sand trap

Abstract A cyclone type continuous-weigh sand trap (CCST) has been constructed. The performance of the CCST was investigated for farmland environment during two storms in the Kangbao County of the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. The results revealed that the CCST captures the real-time variations in aeolian sediment flux caused by fluctuations in wind speed measured at 1 min resolution. Significant power relationships between the horizontal sediment flux and wind speed was observed for the inlet heights of 5, 15 and 40 cm, respectively. The sediment flux collected by the Big Spring Number Eight (BSNE) closely linearly correlated with that by the CCST. From all testing performed to date, the CCST appears to be a useful device to examine the relationship between horizontal sediment flux and wind speed for field use. Further improvements on a wind-driven rotating and lower-cost CCST are needed.