Laboratory and Oceanic Studies of Microbreaking and Gas Transfer

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PI: JessupProposal Number: 9911320Funds are provided for a combination laboratory and field study of the role of microbreaking in air-sea gas exchange. Microbreaking involves the breaking of small waves without the entrainment of air into the water. The resulting turbulence disrupts the thin skin layer near the sea surface, bringing deeper fluid in contact with the air-sea interface. The gas transfer velocity has been observed to correlate with the fractional area of the sea surface associated with microbreaking as well as with the mean squared sea surface slope. This effort is designed to understand the mechanisms behind the relationship between the gas transfer velocity and fractional area of microbreaking and to determine if the relationship of gas transfer velocity to mean squared slope is determined by microbreaking. It is anticipated that this will allow development of a theoretical framework associating gas exchange and microbreaking. Such a theoretical relationship would be of use in air quality prediction and global change and climate studies.