Relación entre flujos de viento, vegetación y topografía en una zona de sombra eólica inducida por construcciones urbano-turísticas en un sistema de dunas transgresivo árido

Human structures can modify the aeolian sedimentary dynamics as has happened in the arid transgressive dunefield of Maspalomas (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands). As a result of this alteration, an area of aeolian shadow is detected to leeward of an tourist resort (Playa del Inglés), characterized by an increase in the vegetation density, a blockade of the sand supply and the formation of erosive aeolian landforms. The objective of this work is to characterize the processes that take place in this zone, relating local airflows with environmental variables (topography and vegetation) and distance to buildings. An experiment was carried out in March 2017, collecting wind data (speed and direction) from 5 transects with anemometers at 0.40 meters high (area with greatest sedimentary transport). Simultaneously, a photogrammetric drone flight was carried out, from which an orthophoto, a digital model of elevations and surface were obtained (DEM and DSM). This allowed measuring topographic variables (altitude and slope) and vegetation (height and density) that were analyzed spatially and statistically. Results show differences between transects with erosive processes, mainly affected by the distance to the urbanization and the slope, and those that do not present erosive processes, where vegetation reduces or maintains the wind speed. The discussion focused on the relationships obtained in each transect and the processes that explain them.