Linking drops and associated bubbles in laboratory experiments on spray generation by collective bubble bursting

Bubbles entrained by breaking waves rise to the ocean surface, where they reside before bursting and releasing droplets into the atmosphere. The ejected aerosols affect the climate, motivating the study of spray generation by collective bubble bursting at the air-sea interface. To investigate the controlling parameters and mechanisms of this spray generation, experiments were conducted in a 50x50x60 cm³ bubbling tank filled with solutions of artificial seawater. Measurements of bulk bubbles, surface bubbles, drops, and dry aerosol particles were made for all cases, which included a variety of injection bubble sizes and salinity levels. We first varied the injection bubble size distribution, including both monodisperse and broad-banded cases, and we attempt to attribute drops of sizes 0.1-100 microns to bursting bubbles ranging from 0.05 to 5 millimeters. Experiments were then run using a lower salinity solution for each bubble size configuration to further study the effect of salinity on drop production. Using the results from numerous cases, we discuss the attribution of drops to the associated bursting bubbles and compare the collective bursting results to existing single bubble studies.