Atmospheric Sea Spray Modeling in the North-East Atlantic Ocean using Tunnel-Derived Generation Functions and the SUMOS Cruise Data set

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Bruch, William, Yohia, C, Tulet, P, Limoges, A, Sutherland, Peter, Van Eijk, A M J, Missamou, T, Piazzola, J
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2023
• Subjects: sea spray; marine atmospheric boundary layer; atmospheric modeling; wave-slope variance; field measurements; laboratory measurements; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00822/93399/100123.pdf; https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00822/93399/103997.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD038330; https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00822/93399/

This study contributes to the communal effort to improve understanding of sea spray generation and transport. For the first time, laboratory-derived sea spray generation functions (SSGFs) are parameterized in the Meso-NH mesoscale atmospheric model and are field tested. Formulated from the MATE19 laboratory experiments (Bruch et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-021-00636-y) the two SSGFs are driven by the upwind component of the wave-slope variance (herein B21A), or both and the wind friction velocity cubed (herein B21B). In this first attempt to incorporate the SSGFs in Meso-NH, the simulations are run without a wave model, and the wave-wind SSGFs are assumed wind-dependent. Model evaluation is achieved with a new set of sea spray and meteorological measurements acquired over the 0.1–22.75 μm radius range and U10 1–20 m s−1 wind speeds onboard R/V Atalante during the 25 day SUMOS field campaign in the Bay of Biscay. The B21B SSGF offers particularly good sensitivity to a wide range of environmental conditions over the size range, with an average overestimation by a factor 1.5 compared with measurements, well below the deviations reported elsewhere. B21A also performs well for larger droplets at wind speeds above 15 m s−1. Associated with airflow separation and wave breaking, wave-slope variance allows to represent multiple wave scales and to scale sea spray generation in the laboratory and the field. Using Meso-NH simulations we find that sea spray may be transported inland and to altitudes well above the marine atmospheric boundary layer. Key Points With comparable wave-slope variance behavior in laboratory and field conditions we use laboratory-derived sea spray generation functions in the field Parameterized with laboratory generation functions and validated using field measurements, Meso-NH yields accurate sea spray concentrations By populating the atmosphere beyond 2.5 km altitude and 100 km inland, sea spray can intervene in a range of weather and cimate processes Plain Language Summary The ...