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A bedform is organized relief on a mobile sediment bed, such as a dune or an antidune. Its shape changes the overlying flow, which changes the shear stress and the sediment transport; erosion and deposition then feed back on the shape. The pattern is therefore a coupled fluid-and-grain response rather than simply a frozen pile of material.

For a small sinusoidal bed disturbance, an upstream lead of the forcing relative to bed height can favor growth, while sediment transport saturation introduces a downstream lag. The Exner equation converts the resulting flux divergence into bed-height change. Their combination determines both growth and migration; the direction of migration cannot be inferred from a bed's appearance alone. Recording a bed profile at successive times separates changing amplitude from movement of a crest, while flow measurements test the assumed bed shear response.

Bedload transport is motion of sediment grains along or close to the bed, represented in a depth-averaged model by a solid-volume flux per unit width. The Exner equation balances this flux divergence and changes in porous-bed solid storage against exchange with suspended sediment. Consistent mass units are necessary when adding this equation to a suspended mass-concentration balance.

For a small sinusoidal bedform, a fluid-dynamical closure can be written $\hat{\tau }={\tau }_{0}k(A+iB)\hat{\eta }$ for $k>0$. The real coefficient $A$ is in phase with the bed height and $B$ describes an upstream phase lead. Neither coefficient follows from the Exner equation or sediment relaxation alone; they require a flow calculation or measurement.

The Exner equation is local sediment mass conservation expressed in terms of solid volume: accumulation raises the bed and flux divergence lowers it. Here ${\varphi }_b$ is the solid volume fraction of the packed bed and $q$ is solid volume flux per unit width.

The Exner equation is solid-volume mass conservation: a downstream increase in sediment transport flux removes material and lowers the bed. The factor ${\varphi }_b$ converts bed-height change into solid-volume change. The saturation length equation models downstream adjustment of actual sediment transport to the equilibrium sediment flux. Grain acceleration and entrainment/deposition need a finite distance, so $q$ lags $q_{\mathrm{sat}}$. The last relation is an empirical transport law above the sediment entrainment threshold, with $\chi >0$ and normally $\gamma >0$; below threshold it must be interpreted with a positive part rather than raising negative excess stress to an arbitrary power. It is a constitutive closure, not a consequence of mass conservation.

Take the physical parameters $L_{\mathrm{sat}}>0$, ${\varphi }_b>0$, $\chi >0$ and $\gamma >0$. Linearize about a horizontal, uniformly transporting bed with $\Delta ={\tau }_0-{\tau }_{\mathrm{th},0}>0$ and $q_0={\varphi }_b\chi {\Delta }^{\gamma }$. Set $\lambda =\sigma -ikc$ and use the real parts ofThe locally planar approximation uses the small instantaneous bed slope to compute the inclined-bed sediment threshold. Since $\alpha ={\eta }_x+O({\eta }_x^3)$,A sinusoidal disturbance has both uphill and downhill slopes: the printed $0<\alpha \ll 1$ describes the uphill derivation, and its first-order continuation applies to both signs. The zero-slope reference is the one implicit in the printed decomposition with constant term ${\tau }_{\mathrm{th},0}$; a finite mean inclined bed would require a shifted base threshold.

Define $C=\chi \gamma {\Delta }^{\gamma -1}$. The linearized transport equations areThe linearization requires $|{\eta }_x|\ll 1$ and $|\hat{\tau }-{\hat{\tau }}_{\mathrm{th}}|\ll \Delta$.

A fluid-dynamical shear-response closure is missing from the printed question. The three sediment equations and local slope correction do not determine $\hat{\tau }$ from $\hat{\eta }$. Write the general bed shear response as $\hat{\tau }=\mathcal{T}(k)\hat{\eta }$. A frequently used scale-invariant closure for $k>0$ isHere $A$ is the component in phase with bed height and $B$ represents an upstream phase lead in bed shear stress. They require an independent flow model and can depend on $k$. Introducing them explicitly makes the linear stability analysis complete conditional on a specified flow response; it does not turn them into data supplied by the question. An example of this hydrodynamic closure is given in Fourrière, Claudin and Andreotti's bedform-instability analysis.

Combining the Exner equation, sediment transport saturation, bed shear response, and inclined-bed sediment threshold gives a competition between upstream forcing and downstream relaxation. With $a={\tau }_{0}A$, $b={\tau }_{0}B-{\tau }_{\mathrm{th},0}/{\mu }_s$, $C=\chi \gamma ({\tau }_0-{\tau }_{\mathrm{th},0}{)}^{\gamma -1}$, and positive wavenumber $k$, the growth rate is $\sigma =C{k}^2(b-ak{L}_{\mathrm{sat}})/(1+k^2{L}_{\mathrm{sat}}^2)$. Thus $b>0$ permits long-wave growth when $a>0$, while a finite saturation length stabilizes shorter waves.

Sediment transport is movement of grains by a flowing fluid, through motion close to a bed or within a particle suspension. A flow's shear stress and fluctuating forces compete with grain weight, contacts and friction. The Shields parameter compares a bed-stress scale with the submerged grain-weight scale and helps organize the threshold for movement.

Bedload transport carries grains along or near the bed, while suspended sediment balances settling against upward mixing and entrainment. The transport budget changes the bed itself: mass conservation in the Exner equation relates downstream flux divergence to erosion or deposition. A flow entering an erodible reach can take a finite distance to establish its transported grain population, described by sediment transport saturation. These couplings make a bed an evolving part of the fluid problem rather than a fixed rough wall. Measuring both transported material and bed-height change tests whether the sediment budget closes.