A Mechanistic Sea Spray Generation Function Based on the Sea State and the Physics of Bubble Bursting

Abstract

Knowledge of the size distribution of primary ocean spray aerosol particles and its dependence on meteorological and environmental variables is necessary for modeling cloud microphysical properties and the influence of aerosol on radiative processes (de Leeuw et al., 2011). Currently, the extent and brightness of marine low clouds are poorly represented in Earth system models, and the response of low clouds to changes in atmospheric greenhouse gases and aerosols remains a major source of uncertainty in earth system projections (de Leeuw et al., 2011;Painemal et al., 2015). Biases and uncertainties in predicting sea spray aerosols are expected to be particularly important in modeling remote regions, where perturbations by anthropogenic aerosols are limited (DeMott et al., 2016).Sea spray aerosols are composed of small liquid droplets formed through two main pathways following wave breaking. The spume drops, produced from the tearing of breaking wave crests by strong winds, consist mostly of drops

Ocean emission of microplastic

“…( 20 ) that specifically introduces a jet drop emission function , coherent with sea spray aerosols field observations and previously proposed sea spray generation functions ( 17 , 19 , 21 , 60 , 61 ). The jet drop emission function provides the size distribution per unit ocean area per unit time and is sensitive to wind, waves and sea surface temperature ( 20 ). With data of the microplastic concentration at the surface of the ocean, (mass concentration per unit ocean surface area) ( 8 ), the oceanic microplastic emission by bubble bursting can be written as…”

“…For drop production at the ocean surface, we leverage the mechanistic approach proposed by Ref. ( 20 ) that specifically introduces a jet drop emission function , coherent with sea spray aerosols field observations and previously proposed sea spray generation functions ( 17 , 19 , 21 , 60 , 61 ). The jet drop emission function provides the size distribution per unit ocean area per unit time and is sensitive to wind, waves and sea surface temperature ( 20 ).…”

“…The number and mass of microplastic particles emitted can be evaluated using the sea spray generation function ( 20 ), ocean-surface microplastic concentration ( 8 ), and estimates of the global sea state. Figure 5 A shows the annual mean of the jet drop emission function [expressed in drop volume emitted per year per ocean surface area, computed for a representative year (2014) using realistic wind forcing, see online supplementary material and Ref.…”

Relative Humidity Dependence of Growth Factor and Real Refractive Index for Sea Salt/Malonic Acid Internally Mixed Aerosols

“…was used to select particles with the equivalent mobility diameter ( d m ) of 300 nm. Sea salt aerosols in coarse mode account for 98% of total sea salt mass (Deike et al., 2022; Gong et al., 2002; Y. Ma et al., 2022) and dominate in total scattering (Aryal et al., 2014; Kleefeld et al., 2002; Murphy et al., 1998). Despite this, marine aerosols in accumulation mode also make an important contribution (up to ∼40%) to total scattering at the ocean surface (Aryal et al., 2014).…”

“…In brief, an aerodynamic aerosol classifier (AAC, Cambustion, Ltd.) was used to select particles with the equivalent mobility diameter (d m ) of 300 nm. Sea salt aerosols in coarse mode account for 98% of total sea salt mass (Deike et al, 2022;Gong et al, 2002;Y. Ma et al, 2022) and dominate in total scattering (Aryal et al, 2014;Kleefeld et al, 2002;Murphy et al, 1998).…”