Abstract
Recent development of satellite technique has given us many pictures of sandydeserts. We can see a number of forms of sandy surface in the pictures. These forms must have much information of desert environments such as wind direction and wind speed.
In this paper, I try to review classical and recent works on the development of aeolian dunes and sand transport. In § 2 the classical theories of the generation of sand ripples are introduced. In § 3 several formulas of sand transport are discussed in relation to the so-called 'saltation'. The characteristics of the vertical structure of winds associated with 'saltation' is also reviewed in § 4. In § 5 many kinds of aeolian dunes in sandy deserts are introduced and the discussion is extended to the factors determining these dune types. In § 6 a recent numerical model of development and migration of a dune is presented. In the final section, future studies of the sand sea are discussed.
