NPG Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics NPG Nonlin. Processes Geophys. 1607-7946 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/npg-12-733-2005 Avalanches in bi-directional sandpile and burning models: a comparative study Gedalin M. 1 Bregman M. 1 Balikhin M. 2 Coca D. 2 Consolini G. 3 Treumann R. A. 4 Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel ACSE, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK Ist. Fisica Spazio Interplanetario, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Rome, Italy Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany 29 07 2005 12 5 733 739 Copyright: © 2005 M. Gedalin et al. 2005 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ This article is available from https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/12/733/2005/npg-12-733-2005.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://npg.copernicus.org/articles/12/733/2005/npg-12-733-2005.pdf

We perform a statistical analysis of two one-dimensional avalanching models: the bi-directional sandpile and the burning model (described in detail in the companion paper by Gedalin et al. (2005) "Dynamics of the burning model"). Such a comparison helps understand whether very limited measurements done by a remote observer may provide sufficient information to distinguish between the two physically different avalanching systems. We show that the passive phase duration reflects the avalanching nature of the system. The cluster size analysis may provide some clues. The distribution of the active phase durations shows a clear difference between the two models, reflecting the dependence on the internal dynamics. Deeper insight into the active phase duration distribution even provides information about the system parameters.