1Sea Spray: Its Production, Near-Surface Distribution, and Effect on Surface Heat and Moisture Fluxes

The goal is to investigate, theoretically and through analyzing existing data, the role that sea spray plays in transferring heat and moisture across the air-sea interface, especially in high winds. Ultimately, we hope to develop simple parameterizations for these air-sea fluxes for use in large-scale models. OBJECTIVES The biggest impediment to progress in this area is poor knowledge of the rate at which sea spray droplets of various sizes are produced at the air-sea interface. Thus, the first objective is to better quantify the sea spray generation function. Two classes of spray droplets exist: those derived from bursting bubbles (either film or jet droplets) and those torn directly from wave crests by the wind (spume droplets). The spray generation function for each class likely depends on wind speed, water temperature, sea state, and surface contaminants. The second objective is to develop parameterizations, based on microphysical modeling, for the rate at which individual spray droplets exchange heat and moisture with their environment. The third objective is then to couple the spray generation function with the microphysical modeling to estimate the integrated contribution of all spray droplets to the surface heat and moisture fluxes. A related objective is to quantify how the feedback between the elevated spray heat and moisture sources alters the interfacial transfer (the turbulent air-sea transfer tha