Sea Spray Concentration Profile in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Quantifying sea spray concentration in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) is critical to understand the life time, dynamics and transport of sea spray processes. The transport of sea spray is driven by a complex mix of winds, waves and turbulence.[15] Currently, only limited observation data as well as numerical data exist that can be used to study the concentration profiles of spray. To extend the overall understanding of such processes, in this project, we use a large eddy simulation(LES) model with Largangian droplet tracking to study particle transport over a moving wavy surface by looking specifically at their average concentration profiles. These simulations do not simulate the entire atmospheric boundary layer, but do simulate the real size domain of a wave tank tunnel in a laboratory experiment. The author finds while all the parameters: The Stokes number, the dimensionless settling velocity and wave profoundly influence on the concentration profiles, the settling velocity give us the most effect. We also find that different inertia particles interact selectively with near wall turbulence flows structures, producing different distribution at specific regions on the wave surface.