A model of interfacial gas transfer for a well‐roughened sea

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A model is presented for the flux of a nonreactive gas through the air‐sea interface characterized by patches of breaking waves. A jet of entrained air bubbles resulting from sufficiently large convergence of the surface drift current is visualized as the physical mechanism associated with the gas transfer. The development is based on the work of Yaglom and Kader for rough wall transfer of heat and momentum and is applied here to a compliant rather than a solid surface. An extension of the Charnock relationship for surface roughness is provided to account for contributions to surface root mean square elevation from a band of wave numbers, centered about the minimum phase velocity of short gravity‐capillary waves, which are hypothesized to support most of the wind stress. The transfer is considered to occur only in regions of active breaking, not necessarily visible, which, although occupying a small percentage of the total surface area, are quite sensitive to wind effects. Comparison with data confirms the general validity of the model, but the scatter and limited representativeness of various data sets precludes a more definitive testing of the model.