Eddy covariance measurements of the sea spray aerosol flux over the open ocean

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Norris, SJ, Brooks, IM, Hill, MK, Brooks, BJ, Smith, MH, Sproson, DAJ
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2012
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/77212/; https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/77212/7/Norris_2012_2011JD016549_with_coversheet.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016549

Direct eddy covariance measurements of size-segregated sea spray aerosol fluxes over the open Atlantic Ocean are presented, along with a source function derived from them for a wind speed range of 4 to 18 m s -1 and a size range of 0.176 < R 80 < 6.61 μm. This is in broad agreement with other recent estimates of the source function over this size range but shows a more rapid decrease with size above R 80 = 2 μm than most other functions. The measurements were made during a 3 week cruise in the North Atlantic as part of the UK contribution to the international Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) program. They utilized the new high-rate Compact Lightweight Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (CLASP), providing a 16-channel size spectrum (0.17 < R amb < 9.5 μm) at 10 Hz, collocated with a sonic anemometer. The measurements demonstrate the high variability in sea spray aerosol flux compared with other air-sea fluxes, both between individual estimates and in the scales contributing to the flux.