Ricerc@Sapienza

We present a new two-layer closed form model for the dynamics of desert dunes under the effect of a horizontal wind blowing in an arbitrary direction. This model is an extension of a very simplified model previously introduced by Hadeler and Kuttler [12]. Our extension, inspired by the sandpile dynamics approach, includes the effects of gravity on both sides (upwind and downwind) of the dune, and allows to describe erosion and deposition in a more accurate way.

We consider a system of differential equations of Monge–Kantorovich type which describes the equilibrium configurations of granular material poured by a constant source on a network. Relying on the definition of viscosity solution for Hamilton–Jacobi equations on networks introduced in [P.-L. Lions and P. E. Souganidis, Atti Accad. Naz. Lincei Rend. Lincei Mat. Appl., 27 (2016), pp. 535–545], we prove existence and uniqueness of the solution of the system and we discuss its numerical approximation. Some numerical experiments are carried out.