26 August 2022
Geochemical characteristics of aeolian sand are beneficial for understanding sand dune formation and evolution. Few studies in the Dinggye area, Southern Tibet, have focused on the geochemical characteristics of aeolian sand. Thus, we present new geo...
Beach litter threatens coastal dunes integrity across the world. European countries are committed to improving the environmental status of the marine and coastal environment by 2020, and to do this, they need to reduce the gap of knowledge about litt...
Extensive areas of inland dunes are commonly overplanted with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). However, thus far the pine litterfall has not been investigated in detail in Scots pine stands overgrowing the landforms. Therefore, the aim of this study wa...
After the construction of desert highway, the physiognomy changes caused by surface wind erosion and accumulation not only seriously threaten the stability of road structure, but also have a tremendous impact on the safety of the highway operation an...
The Mu Us dune field is one of China’s four major dune fields, which are ecologically vulnerable areas of northwest semiarid land across Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia, also very sensitive to the global temperature rise and environmental change...
The Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) is one of the most common tree species in semiarid and arid areas of China, especially in the sand dunes of the Hulunbeier steppe. This study addresses the morphological and physiological character...
A measurement campaign was undertaken April–October 2021 using PM10 filter samplers to collect 24 h samples downwind of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA), an area that allows off-highway driving on its coastal dunes. The...
Coastal environments are fragile ecosystems threatened by various factors, both natural and anthropogenic. The preservation and protection of these environments, and in particular, the sand dune systems, which contribute significantly to the defense...
The information on transpiration is vital for sustaining fragile ecosystem in arid/semiarid environment, including the Horqin Sandy Land (HSL) located in northeast China. However, such information is scarce in existing literature. The objectives of t...
Affected by geological factors, the scale of surface deformation in a hilly semi-desertification mining area varies. Meanwhile, there is certain dense vegetation on the ground, so it is difficult to construct a high-precision and complete image of a...
This Special Issue on soil erosion invites novel and original articles based on physical and chemical theories, field and laboratory experimental, soil analyses, and/or statistical and mathematical modeling that advance our knowledge on dust control...
Beach litter accumulation patterns are influenced by biotic and abiotic factors, as well as by the distribution of anthropogenic sources. Although the importance of comprehensive approaches to deal with anthropogenic litter pollution is acknowledged,...
Sand dunes cover substantial parts of desert areas. Fully active dunes are bare, while fixed dunes are stabilized by vegetation and biogenic crust, and the dune activity is affected by the wind. Here we suggest the following atmosphere-sand dune feed...
Coastal dunes play an important role in coastal erosion risk management, where they act as a dynamic natural sea defence line. Formby coast is part of the Sefton coast in the Northwest of England and is one of the largest and most rapidly evolving sa...
Mega-dunes in the lake group area of the Badain Jaran Sand Sea, China, are generally taller than dunes in the non-lake group area. This spatial distribution of dune heights may provide a new perspective on the controversy regarding the dunes’ f...
This study uses an airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey, historical aerial photography and historical climate data to describe the character and dynamics of the Nogahabara Sand Dunes, a sub-Arctic dune field in interior Alaska’s discon...
This work presents an automatic procedure to quantify dune dynamics on isolated barchan dunes exploiting Synthetic Aperture RADAR satellite data. We use C-band datasets, allowing the multi-temporal analysis of dune dynamics in two study areas, one lo...
Coastal erosion occurs due to different processes involving physical and ecological systems. One of these factors is the degree of water stress experienced by dune vegetation. While healthy dune vegetation can help to stabilize the dune systems, wate...
During the second half of the last century, considerable anthropization processes were observed throughout most of the Italian territory. These processes have altered the equilibrium conditions of several river and coastal ecosystems, causing the des...
The Mexican Caribbean coastal dune is protected by national and international environmental legislation. However, through permits, concessions and authorizations for changes in land use, the coastal dune has been fragmented or suppressed, mainly for...
Sand movement is one of the main environmental hazards in Northern Sudan that threaten livelihood and rural communities. This paper investigates for the first time the use of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) offset tracking technique for detecting...
Vegetation on dunes regulates the water supply from the dunes to the inter-dune lowland, which is a crucial factor affecting lake water dynamics in the inter-dune lowland. Previous researchers have paid insufficient attention to the water regulation...
Over recent years, processes related to marine storms, sediment shortages and human intervention have caused the global retreat of many coastal systems and the degradation of their dunes. In this context, changes in the dune toe are commonly used as...
Two well-developed late Pleistocene dune fields have been identified on the western and eastern side of Akrotiri promontory (Lemesos, Cyprus). The dune fields extend immediately from the low level of their source beaches onto higher ground (>48 m...
In arid countries such as Saudi Arabia, aeolian sand often covers a large area of the country. Understanding the variations of sand properties in dunes, including grain size, sorting, mineral composition and water content, can be important for ground...
Coastal dunes have global importance as ecological habitats, recreational areas, and vital natural coastal protection. Dunes evolve due to variations in the supply and removal of sediment via both wind and waves, and on stabilization through vegetati...
Dunes are present in nearly all fluvial channels and are vital in understanding sediment transport, deposition, and flow conditions during floods of rivers and estuaries. This information is pertinent for helping developing management practices to re...
This research analyses beach vulnerability to erosion along the coast of Valencia province, Spain. The Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) is used to assess vulnerability, considering the following variables: beach width, beach erosion/accretion rate,...
Dust in sand dunes is an effective and important source of dust emission. The Taklimakan Desert (TD) is one of the main sources of global dust: the sand dunes account for approximately 85% of the total area of the TD. However, the dust concentration,...
This paper deals with the characterization and evolution of dune systems along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, in the South of Spain, a first step to assess their relevant value in coastal flood protection and in the determination of sound mana...
The LIFE SALINAS project, co-financed by the European Union, aims for the conservation and improvement of the protected area named the Regional Park of Las Salinas and Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar (Region of Murcia, Spain). The main objectives a...
Coastal dune fields provide important ecological and geomorphic functions, while their evolution is strongly influenced by groundwater-controlled surface moisture. However, the effects of seasonal groundwater-level fluctuations and moisture-affected...
Generally, typical crescentic dunes in the ideal state are symmetrical, but it is difficult to form crescentic dunes with two perfectly symmetrical horns under actual conditions. Among many environmental factors, bidirectional winds, the size of sand...
Understanding the movement, direction, and shape of sand dunes can contribute to reducing their impact on infrastructure and the environment. The Rub’ al Khali desert has a distribution of dune types. This study aims to identify and map the dif...
The Cassini mission made an unexpected discovery when it found evidence of linear dune fields on Titan’s surface. The orientation of the dunes and their interaction with topography allow scientists to estimate the dominant wind direction on the...
The Badain Jaran Desert (BJD) and surrounding deserts are the main sources of sand and dust storms in Asia. However, for complex factors, the descriptions of the sand dune dynamics in the BJD and investigations on the contribution of the BJD to the f...
Machine Learning Techniques (MLTs) and accurate geographic mapping are crucial for managing natural hazards, especially when monitoring the movement of sand dunes. This study presents the integration of MLTs with geographic information systems (GIS)...
Nowadays, the employment of high-resolution Digital Surface Models (DSMs) and RGB orthophotos has become fundamental in coastal system studies. This work aims to explore the potentiality of low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveys to monitor th...
The Hunshandake Sandy Land is one of the largest sandy areas in China and the closest source of sand dust to the Beijing and Tianjing areas. Sand fixation by vegetation is considered the most efficient strategy for sand control and sustainable develo...
A systematic study of the wind regime characteristics in a region can not only accurately grasp the dynamic factors of the development of aeolian geomorphology, but also provide a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of regional sand dis...
Desertification has become one of the most pronounced ecological disasters, affecting arid and semi-arid areas of Nigeria. This phenomenon is more pronounced in the northern region, particularly the eleven frontline states of Nigeria, sharing borders...
Desert regions face unique challenges under climate change, including the emerging phenomenon of sand dune expansion. This research investigates aeolian sand transport in the Seqale watershed (eastern Iran) using geostatistical and machine learning m...
Coastal dune environments play a critical role in protecting coastal areas from damage associated with flooding and excessive erosion. Therefore, monitoring the morphology of dunes is an important coastal management operation. Traditional ground-base...
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being widely used to monitor microtopographic and vegetation changes in coastal habitats using remote sensing techniques. Sand dune habitats are vital ecosystems along the North coast of Humboldt County in Californ...
Invasive alien plants (IAP) pose a major threat to biodiversity and have a negative impact on the integrity and conservation status of plant communities. Mediterranean dunes are widely exposed to IAP, due to their environmental heterogeneity and the...
Coastal dunes that transgress typically move landward, while their reverse movement is not well understood. The article discusses the study of barchan and barchanoid dunes in the Lagoa do Peixe National Park in the coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul,...
Sand dune movements represent a critical global environment challenge. While previous studies have mainly focused on horizontal deformation, this study applies the bistatic InSAR technique to reconstruct high-precision digital elevation models (DEMs)...
A large part of the Baltic Sea coastline in the north-eastern provinces of Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein) is protected by coastal protection dunes, which are constructed and maintained to preserve a quasi-natural beach enviro...
Most remote sensing studies in deserts focus solely on vegetation monitoring to assess the extent of desertification. However, the application of sand dune encroachment into such studies would greatly improve the accuracy in the prediction criteria o...
The dune density is an important parameter for representing the characteristics of desert geomorphology, providing a precise depiction of the undulating topography of the desert. Owing to the limitations of estimation methods and data availability, a...
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