On aerosol production and enrichment by breaking wind waves

Abstract

A model is presented for the production and enrichment of aerosols. Bubbles distributed in size by fragmentation scavenge particles and transport them to the surface. In the collapse process at the surface the bubble's skin is enveloped into the ejected aerosol leading to significant enrichment. For no mass accumulation at the surface in foam the flux due to scavenging equals that for resuspension leading to an estimate of the enrichment. The model results compare favourably with observations of artificial and wind‐generated enrichment if it is assumed that during the scavenging the bubble's clean and mobile surface during the initial stages collects most of its particle load. Further scavenging by the encrusted bubble surface, while significant, is not as dramatic. Other observations of the wind dependency of the process support the model.