Impact of Sea Spray on Air–Sea Fluxes. Part I: Results from Stochastic Simulations of Sea Spray Drops over the Ocean

Abstract

he contributions of sea spray drops to the total air?sea exchanges of momentum, heat, and mass remain an open question. A number of factors obscure any simple quantification of their contribution; the per drop contribution to the fluxes is a particularly important factor that cannot be calculated easily, as are the number of drops formed. To estimate the per droplet fluxes, the authors first calculate the low order statistics from a large number of drop trajectories, which are simulated with a recently developed Lagrangian stochastic model adapted for the heavy drop transport and evaporation within the marine boundary layer. This paper describes the results from simulations of sea spray drops over the ocean, and as one of two parts, summarizes new estimations for the spray-mediated fluxes on a per drop basis. The results suggest that common simplifications in previous sea spray models, such as the residence time in the marine boundary layer, may not be appropriate.