A combined organic-inorganic sea-spray source function

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: O'Dowd, Colin D., Langmann, Baerbel, Varghese, Saji, Scannell, Claire, Ceburnis, Darius, Facchini, Maria Cristina
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2008
• Subjects: marine aerosol; salt aerosol; transport; atlantic; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10379/13235; https://doi.org/10.1029/2007gl030331

This study presents a novel approach to develop a combined organic-inorganic sub-micron sea-spray source function for inclusion in large-scale models. It requires wind speed and surface ocean chlorophyll-a concentration as input parameters. The combined organic-inorganic source function is implemented in the REMOTE regional climate model and sea-spray fields are predicted with particular focus on the North East Atlantic. The model predictions using the new source functions compare well with observations of total sea-spray mass and organic carbon fraction in sea-spray aerosol. During winter (periods of low oceanic biological activity), sea-salt dominates the sea-spray mass while in summer (when biological activity is high), water soluble organic carbon contributes between 60-90% of the submicron sea-spray mass.