Design and initial testing of a piezoelectric sensor to quantify aeolian sand transport

•A mass flux sensor for aeolian sand transport is described.•The sensor has a resolution of 2.5 × 10−4 g.•Sensor provides a direct measurement of the force exerted by the sand grains.

This paper describes a sensor for measuring the mass flux of aeolian sand transport based on a low-cost piezo-electric transducer. The device is able to measure time series of aeolian sand transport. Maximum fluxes of 27 mg per second can be achieved. The design includes a sand trap, an electronic amplifier circuit and an embedded system for data collection. A field test was performed, where the basis for signal interpretation and the corresponding measurements of aeolian sand transport are presented. The sensor successfully measures fluxes driven by sea breezes of 10 ms−1, showing the importance of this process for dune-building in the region.