NEW ARTICLE: The dune effect on sand-transporting winds on Mars

Sand ripples on Mars (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Our latest article published in Nature Communications demonstrates that local dune topography exerts a strong influence on wind speed and direction above the surface of Mars. Ripple movement likely reflects steered wind direction for certain dune ridge shapes. These findings highlight the need to first model winds at high resolution before inferring regional wind patterns from ripple movement or dune orientations on the surface of Mars today.

 The full open access article is available here.

World War I Shipwreck in the Irish Sea: Surveying

Multibeam data from the SS Polwell (source: http://scientistsatsea.blogspot.ie/)

Surveying for our project investigating WWI shipwrecks in the Irish Sea is in full swing. Follow the teams progress here

Snow Dunes.

Record snow fall made for an interesting field trip to the Provinceland dunes earlier this year. We knew New England had been cold, but leaving Adelaide in 42 C and arriving to -16 C in Boston was a shock to the system. Nevertheless we wrapped up, put our gear together and were fortunately rewarded with some dry, bright and (best of all) windy conditions.

Hope you enjoy the few snaps below from our two weeks in the snow. Thom.

Bowl blowout, Provinceland Dunes, Cape Cod, MA.

Instrumenting our first study site

Scraped dyke structure at Sandy Neck

Lots of sediment still being transported despite the snow

Overnight snow fall. Hey dude... wheres my anemometer?

Patrick wondering where the path went

Team photo!

NEW ARTICLE

Patrick Hesp's and my latest collaboration  'Aeolian dynamics of beach scraped ridge and dyke structures'  has just been published in Coastal Engineering. Free access to the article, without registration or sign up, is available until May 5, 2015 so get clicking!

Investigating WW1 wrecks in the Irish Sea

A group of researchers from Ireland, Wales, Denmark and Australia have been awarded 15 days ship time on the Research Vessel Celtic Voyager by the Marine Institute (Ireland). The group led by Dr Ruth Plets (University of Ulster) aims to acquire high-resolution sonar and optical data which will be used for research into archaeological, biological and physical processes, 3D visualization and cultural heritage management of a number of World War 1 wrecks.

My primary role in the project will be to conduct computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling at select wreck sites with a view to understanding fluid flow, scouring and preservation issues, with the aim of creating effective management strategies.

Read the full article here. 

Example of flow patterns around a shipwreck generated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) (image:Thomas Smyth)