An Eulerian model for sea spray transport and evaporation

TL;DR

This paper introduces an Eulerian-based model for sea spray transport and evaporation, integrating kinetic gas theory to improve estimates of fluxes at the air-sea interface crucial for climate and weather predictions.

Contribution

It presents a novel Eulerian framework inspired by kinetic gas theory to model sea spray effects on atmospheric flow, bridging Lagrangian spray transport with Eulerian atmospheric models.

Findings

Identifies key spray effects influencing temperature, moisture, and wind.

Demonstrates model applicability in specific environmental conditions.

Provides a foundation for improved climate and weather modeling.

Abstract

Reliable estimates of the fluxes of momentum, heat, and moisture at the air-sea interface are essential for accurate long term climate projections, as well as the prediction of short term weather events such as tropical cyclones. In recent years, it has been suggested that these estimates need to incorporate an accurate description of the transport of sea spray within the atmospheric boundary layer and the drop-induced fluxes of moisture, momentum, and heat, so that the resulting effects on the atmospheric flow can be evaluated. In this paper we propose a model based on a theoretical and mathematical framework inspired from kinetic gas theory. This approach reconciles the Lagrangian nature of the spray transport with the Eulerian description of the atmosphere. In turn, this enables a relatively straightforward inclusion of the spray fluxes and the resulting spray effects on the atmospheric flow. A comprehensive dimensional analysis has led us to identify the spray effects that are most likely to influence the temperature, moisture, and speed of the airflow. We also provide an example application to illustrate the capabilities of the model in specific environmental conditions. Finally, suggestions for future work are offered.