Point pattern analysis of star dunes in Ar Rub ' al Khali de-sert, Saudi Arabia: The application of spatial statistics to the understanding of dune field self -organization

摘要

The self-organization of natural landforms measured by the Rstatistic presents a perspective on the geography of star dunes and provides quantitative methods to measure the degree of self -organization. Star dunes are dunes which are most complex in their form in comparison to other dune types (crescentic, barchanoid) and are results of complex or multi-directional wind regimes, hence their complex form. This study examines the geography of star dune patterns for the Ar Rub" al Khali sand sea on the Arabian Peninsula. The nearest neighbour performs an analysis on the pattern of points and classifies the distribution as clustered, random or dispersed. The spatial statistical tools such as the nearest neighbour gives a benchmark in the measurement and understanding of distribution of natural landforms and the environmental factors that influence such behaviour.