The potential role of sea spray droplets in facilitating air-sea gas transfer

Abstract

For over 30 years, air-sea interaction specialists have been evaluating and parameterizing the role of whitecap bubbles in air-sea gas exchange. To our knowledge, no one, however, has studied the mirror image process of whether sea spray droplets can facilitate air-sea gas exchange. We are therefore using theory, data analysis, and numerical modeling to quantify the role of spray on air-sea gas transfer. In this, our first formal work on this subject, we seek the rate-limiting step in spray-mediated gas transfer by evaluating the three time scales that govern the exchange: τair, which quantifies the rate of transfer between the atmospheric gas reservoir and the surface of the droplet; τint, which quantifies the exchange rate across the air-droplet interface; and τaq, which quantifies gas mixing within the aqueous solution droplet.