A laboratory study of spray generation in high winds

7th International Symposium on Gas Transfer at Water Surfaces

Ortiz-Suslow, D.G.^1 ; Haus, B.K.^1 ; Mehta, S.^1 ; Laxague, N.J.M.^1

4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Department of Ocean Sciences, Miami

FL

33149, United States^1

关键词: Bubble size distributions;    Droplet concentration;    Equivalent wind speed;    Extreme conditions;    Laboratory experiments;    Laboratory studies;    Physical mechanism;    Vertical distributions;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/35/1/012008/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1755-1315/35/1/012008

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Characterizing the vertical distribution of large spray particles (i.e., spume) in high wind conditions is necessary for better understanding of the development of the atmospheric boundary layer in extreme conditions. To this end a laboratory experiment was designed to observe the droplet concentration in the air above actively breaking waves. The experiments were carried out in hurricane force conditions (U10equivalent wind speed of 36 to 54 m/s) and using both fresh water and salt water. While small differences between fresh and salt water were observed in profiles of radius-integrated spray volume fraction, the profiles tend to converge as the wind forcing increases. This supports the assumption that the physical mechanism for spume production is not sensitive to salinity and its corresponding link to the bubble size distribution.