The ongoing projects are supported by two laboratories that were established in BGU.
The laboratories provide also analytical services for external projects.
Aeolian Simulation Laboratory (ASL)
The ASL is equipped with advanced and novel experimental systems. The portable wind tunnel can be adjusted to dynamic similitude by appropriately scaling all variables that affect dust and sand transport, allowing the simulation and quantification of high-resolution experiments of aeolian processes. This experimental system can directly measure soil erosion in-situ. Major instruments in the test section enable to record winds speed profiles, PM concentrations, dust and sand flaxes. The ASL is also equipped with a boundary-layer stationary wind tunnel for sand processes of dunes and ripples, including high resolution imaging and 3D simulation of the sand surfaces. The "aeolian greenhouse" enables in-situ simulations of topsoil properties (texture, crusts, roughness) for controlled wind experiments. The ASL hosts the dust monitoring station which is equipped with a real-time atmospheric PM sensor, low and high volume samplers for atmospheric dust, traps for settled dust, and meteorological sensors (air temperature, radiation, precipitation, wind). The portable wind mast is used also for field measurements of wind profiles at 10 m height above surface.
Soil and Dust Laboratory (SDL)
The SDL is equipped with advanced instruments for chemical and physical analyses of soil, sand, and dust samples (texture, morphology, aggregation, organic matter, water content, ion concentrations, soluble salts, pH, EC, mineral carbon), including a state-of-art laser diffractometer for particle size analyses.
