Air-sea gas transfer: Mechanisms and parameterization

Abstract

The rate of air-sea gas transfer has been largely parameterized on the basis of studies performed in laboratory tanks: empirical formulas are proposed for three wind-velocity regions. Observed features of the transfer in these regions are associated with various wind, wave, and aqueous-flow conditions in straight and circulating tanks; some of these conditions do not even exist in the field. With these understandings, two formulas are proposed for the gas transfer: one for lakes and the other for the open sea; the rate is generally greater in the open sea.