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Barchan Dune Migration: Saltation Flux Simulator

Interactive 3D barchan dune driven by real aeolian sand-transport physics: tune wind shear velocity and grain size, watch saltating grains erode the windward face and avalanche down the slip face, and read live Bagnold sand-flux and dune-celerity numbers.

Climate, Ecology & Environment3DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Crescent-shaped barchan dunes are among the fastest-moving landforms on Earth, crawling across desert floors and — on Mars — over ancient lakebeds, purely because wind repeatedly picks sand off their gentle windward face and drops it over the crest onto the steep lee slip face. This simulator renders that process in 3D: a real height-field dune sits between fixed reference stakes, individual grains hop downwind along physically shaped saltation trajectories once the shear velocity you set exceeds the Bagnold threshold for the chosen grain size, and the dune body itself creeps forward at the celerity predicted by Bagnold's c = q / (ρs H) relation. Tune wind strength, grain diameter and dune height and watch the live sand-flux, celerity and cumulative-migration readouts respond exactly as the governing equations dictate.

⚙ Under the hood

An interactive 3D barchan dune driven by real aeolian sand-transport physics: tune wind shear velocity and grain size, watch grains saltate up the windward face and avalanche down the slip face, and read live Bagnold sand-flux and dune-celerity numbers.

aeolian transportsaltationbarchan duneBagnold fluxdesert geomorphologysediment dynamics

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install