We investigate the formation of ripples on the surface of windblown sand
based on the one-dimensional model of Nishimori and Ouchi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71,
197 (1993)], which contains the processes of saltation and grain relaxation. We
carry out a nonlinear analysis to determine the propagation speed of the
restabilized ripple patterns, and the amplitudes and phases of their first,
second, and third harmonics. The agreement between the theory and our numerical
simulations is excellent near the onset of instability. We also determine the
Eckhaus boundary, outside which the steady ripple patterns are unstable.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
