Characterizing sand ripples at equilibrium phases

Morphological characteristics of ripples are analyzed considering bed surfaces as two dimensional random fields of bed elevations. Two equilibrium phases are analyzed with respect to successive development of ripples based on digital elevation models. The key findings relate to the shape of the two dimensional second-order structure functions and multiscaling behavior revealed by higher-order structure functions. Our results suggest that (1) the two dimensional second-order structure functions can be used to differentiate the two equilibrium phases of ripples; and (2) in contrast to the elevational time series of ripples that exhibit significant multiscaling behavior, the DEMs of ripples at both equilibrium phases do not exhibit multiscaling behavior.