Salt-Induced Convection and Clouds

Abstract

The amounts of condensation on airborne sea-salt particles are estimated for different humidity and rate-of-rise conditions; the latent heat thereby released may be an important factor in the transport of moist air parcels from neat the sea surface to cloud-base altitudes. These estimates are used to compute a series of tentative temperature lapse-rates which may be found within certain ascending moist air parcels during wind storms and other conditions in marine air. Finally it is demonstrated that the addition of 20 to 40 mg of finely divided sea-salt particles per kg of air to the lower atmosphere in oceanic areas should result in sufficient heating to cause ascending motions and perhaps to cause cloud formation.