As with most dune fields, the White Sands Dune Field in New Mexico forms in a wind regime that is not unimodal. In this study, dune behavior at White Sands was documented from a time series of five lidar-derived digital elevation models (DEM) and compared to a record of wind direction and speed during the same period. For the study period of June 2007 - June 2010, 244 sand-transporting wind events occurred and define a dominant wind mode from the SW and lesser modes from the NNW and SSE. Based upon difference maps and tracing of dune brinklines, overall dune behavior consists of migration to the NE, but with along-crest migration of dune sinuosity to the SE. Permutations of the DEMs allow matching specific dune behavior with wind modes. The SW winds are transverse to dune orientations and cause most forward migration. The NNW winds cause along-crest migration of dune sinuosity and low stoss bedforms, as well as SE migration of NE-trending dune terminations. The SSE winds cause ephemeral dune deformation, especially crestal slipface reversals. Dune deformation occurs because of unequal deposition along the lee face as a function of the incidence angle formed between the wind and the local brinkline orientation. Incidence-angle control on dune deformation and types of lee-face surface processes allows for an idealized model for White Sands dunes. The dunes behave as complex systems in which each wind event deforms the dune shape, this new shape then serves as the configuration for the next wind event. / text

Aeolian landforms are classified based on their plan morphology, which is a function of sediment transport volume, wind direction, and vegetation. In the case of compound landforms or two-dimensional exposures (outcrops), there is insufficient information for discriminating between 3D morphotypes (e.g., barchans vs. parabolic dunes). To characterize the dip-section architecture of near end-member morphologies (interacting barchans and sparsely vegetated parabolics), a series of axial transects were selected from >25 km of high-resolution (500 MHz) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data from the gypsum dune field of White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. For dunes of comparable size (6-7 m high), a series of attributes were analyzed for unsaturated portions along the thickest (axial) radargram sections. Given the limitations in vertical resolution (7 cm in dry sand), the average measureable slipface thickness in barchans ranged between 10-22 cm, whereas parabolic slipfaces were thinner at 10-14 cm. High-amplitude diffractions produced by buried vegetation, semi-lithified pedestals, and bioturbation structures were rare within barchans (point-source diffraction density = 0.03/m2; hyperbolics per 1-m-wide cross-sectional area of the image), in contrast to a point-source density of 0.07/m2 in parabolics. An aeolian internal complexity threshold (ϖ) is proposed, which incorporates standardized scores of slipface thickness, point-source diffraction density, and continuity of major bounding surfaces at mesoscale range determined through semivariogram analysis. For the study region, these variables were sufficient for discriminating barchans (ϖ = -2.39 to -0.25; ϖ ̅b= -1.65) from parabolic (ϖ = 0.13 to 2.87; ϖ ̅p= 1.65) dunes. This threshold has the potential for differentiating dune morphotypes in areas where surface morphology is masked and for identifying compound landforms (e.g., a re-activated parabolic dune converted into a barchan in situ). Ultimately, characterization of bedding complexity in ancient aeolian sequences will provide useful information about key paleoenvironmental variables. / Geology

The dune field at White Sands, New Mexico, shows a well-defined pattern of dunes and interdune areas, as well as spatial variations in this pattern. The purpose of this research is to determine which measured pattern parameters are most consistent across the dune field and to determine the cause of depositional spatial variability. This was accomplished using an airborne LiDAR generated digital-elevation model (DEM) collected in June 2007 and covering 39 km² of the dune field. Properties of the dune field are defined by measurements from three dune populations: 1) 110 randomly selected dunes, 2) 247 dunes along transects oriented in the net transport direction, and 3) 171 dunes from three zones within the field where differences in pattern are visible. Measurements of eight common dune parameters show that the lowest coefficients of variation occur with dune orientation and crestline sinuosity, which largely define the field pattern. Cross-plotting of parameters shows generally poor correlations, which is thought to reflect variation around field-scale means that are comparable to other dune fields globally. Removing the dunes from the LiDAR DEM reveals a depositional substrate with breaks in slope interpreted as three paleoshorelines associated with Pleistocene Lake Otero. The paleoshorelines are antecedent boundary conditions that exert the primary control on spatial variability within the dune pattern. / text

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 27-30, 1997 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper details the interaction of a small satellite with a space network and estimates the number of contacts and duration of contacts between the small, spin-stabilized satellite and a TDRS satellite. The simulations were performed using Satellite Tool Kit (STK) version 3.0, an orbital analysis software program. STK was configured for the four vehicles representing the spin-stabilized satellite and three TDRS satellites, TDRS East, West, and TDRS Zone of Exclusion. A set of simulations were run in which the spinstabilized satellite was given orbital elements corresponding to an orbital altitude between 600 km and 1200 km. The orbital inclination angle for the set of simulations was also varied from 20° through 100° along with the antenna cone angle of 10° through 40° to account for the effective beamwidths. In each of the simulations, the access to each TDRS satellite in the SN constellation was examined as a function of orbital altitude, orbital inclination angle, and antenna cone angle.

Aeolian dune fields form some of the most striking patterns on Earth and Mars. These patterns reflect the internal dune dynamics of self-organization within boundary conditions, which are the unique set of environmental variables within which each dune field evolves. Dune-field pattern self-organization occurs because of interactions between the dunes themselves and the rich diversity of dune-field patterns arises because boundary conditions alter the type and frequency of dune interactions. These hypotheses are explored in three parts. First, source-area geometry and areal limits are two newly recognized boundary conditions. Measurements of crest length and spacing from satellite images of dune patterns with point and line source-area geometries show an increase in crest length and spacing over distance, whereas crest length and spacing in plane-sourced patterns emerge equally across the dune field. The areal limit boundary condition is the size and shape of the dune field itself. Empirical measurements from ten dune fields ranging over four orders of magnitude in area show that spacing increases and defect density decreases as the area of the dune field increases. A simple analytical model indicates that dune fields that are five times longer in the dune migration direction can achieve the greatest spacing for a given area. Second, time-series aerial photographs and airborne LiDAR show that fully developed, crescentic aeolian dunes at White Sands, New Mexico, interact and the dune pattern organizes in systematically similar ways as wind ripples and subaqueous dunes and ripples. Interaction type, classified as constructive, regenerative or neutral in terms of pattern development, changes spatially with the pattern because of the imposition of the line-source area and sediment availability boundary conditions. Upwind dominance by constructive interactions at the field line-source yields to neutral and regenerative interactions in the sediment availability-limited field center. Third, the dune-field pattern in the Olympia Undae Dune Field on Mars is comprised of two generations of dunes. This scenario of pattern reformation with a new wind regime shows that the emergence of the younger pattern is controlled by the boundary condition of the antecedent dune topography imposed upon the interaction between the younger and older patterns. / text

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 28-31, 1996 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is developing a new transportable telemetry system that consolidates various telemetry data collection functions currently being performed by separate instrumentation. The new system will provide higher data rate handling capability, reduced labor requirements, and more efficient operations support which will result in a reduction of mission support costs. Seven new systems are planned for procurement through Requirements Contracts. They will replace current mobile systems which are over 25 years old on a one-on-one basis. Regulation allows for a sixty-five percent overage on the contract and WSMR plans to make this contract available for use by other Major Range Test Facility Bases (MRTFBs). Separate line items in the contracts make it possible to vary the design to meet a specific system configuration. This paper describes both current and replacement mobile telemetry system

This dissertation combines studies of aeolian bedforms and aeolian dune-field patterns to create a comprehensive set of tools that can be used in tandem (or separately) to extract information about climate change and landscape evolution, and to identify the controls on formation for specific modern dune fields or ancient aeolian sequences. The spatial distribution of surface processes, erosion/deposition rates, and lee face sorting on aeolian dunes are each a function of the incident angle. This correlation between stratification style and incidence angle can be used to develop a “toolbox” of methods based on measurements of key suites of parameters found in ancient aeolian deposits. Information obtained from the rock record can be used as input data for different kinds of numerical models. Regional-scale paleowind conditions can be used to validate paleoclimate and global circulation models. Understanding the natural variability in the Earth’s climate throughout its history can help predict future climate change. Reconstructed wind regimes and bedform morphologies can be used in numerical models of aeolian dune-field pattern evolution to simulate patterns analogous to those reconstructed from ancient aeolian systems. Much of the diversity of aeolian dune-field patterns seen in the real world is a function of the sediment supply and transport capacity, which in turn determine the sediment availability of the system. Knowledge of the sediment supply, availability, and transport capacity of aeolian systems can be used to predict the amount of sand in the system and where it might have migrated. This information can be extremely useful for development and production of oil and gas accumulations, where a discovery has been made but the spatial extent of the aeolian reservoir is unknown. / text

Includes Van Allen thesis (M.S.)--University of Iowa, 1936, and thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Iowa, 1939.