Near Surface Dynamics of Inertial Droplets Produced by Wind Forced Mechanical Breaking Waves

Inertial droplets’ role in the total spray induced air-sea fluxes remains unclear due to a lack of observations associated with sea spray generation (i.e.

fluxes) at the air-sea interface. These inertial droplets carry a significant amount of energy making them an effective medium for energy exchange at the air-sea interface.

However, inertial droplets' lifetimes are short and highly dependent on initial conditions such as ejection velocity.

As a result, these droplets may not reach equilibrium, further contributing to the uncertainty associated with total spray-induced air-sea fluxes. To better estimate the impact of inertial droplets' on spray induced air sea fluxes, a recent laboratory study examined inertial droplet size distributions and ejection velocities at the breaking wave’s surface for various wind and wave conditions. For each breaking event, laser induced florescence techniques detected surface wave profiles, while

a shadowgraph setup simultaneously tracked droplet sizes and corresponding velocities.

Ultizing both elements, this presentation will focus droplet size and velocity as a function of vertical height and wave phase for increasing wind speeds and resulant wave slopes.