Modeling of the sea spray generation processes

The sea spray plays an extremely important role in the processes of momentum, heat and gas transfer, in the atmospheric and ocean boundary layers. In the experiments performed at HSWWF, the mechanisms of spray generation were studied at the hurricane wind conditions using shadow lighting and high-speed video recording from several angles. The classification of fragmentation mechanisms resulting in spray generation has been developed. Statistics of the events leading to spray generation has been studied for the first time. The phenomenological model, which is based on the methods of statistical physics, is developed to describe the “bag”-breakup mechanism, which was shown to be dominant at high winds. This model served as the basis to construct the spray generation function, which describes well the available experimental data for hurricane wind velocity obtained in the field and laboratory conditions. This research was performed within the framework of RSF Project No. 14-17-00667.

Photos of the events accompanying spray generation. Top: fragmentation of liquid “fingers” (top view); middle: burst of underwater bubbles (side view); bottom: formation and breakup of the “bag” (side view).

Troitskaya Yu., Kandaurov A., Ermakova O., Kozlov D., Sergeev D., and Zilitinkevich S. Bag-breakup fragmentation as the dominant mechanism of sea-spray production in high winds // Scientific Reports, 2017, V. 7, P. 1614(1–4).

Troitskaya Yu. I., Ermakova O. S., Kandaurov A. A., Kozlov D. S., Sergeev D. A., and Zilitinkevich S. S. Fragmentation of the “bag-breakup” type as a mechanism of the generation of sea spray at strong and hurricane winds // Doklady Earth Sciences, 2017, V. 477, P. 1330–1335.

Troitskaya Yu. I., Ermakova O. S., Kandaurov A. A., Kozlov D. S., Sergeev D. A., and Zilitinkevich S. S. Non-monotonous dependence of the ocean surface drag coefficient on the hurricane wind speed due to the fragmentation of the ocean-atmosphere interface // Doklady Earth Sciences, 2017, V. 477, P. 1373–1378.

Kandaurov A. A., Sergeev D. A., Ermakova O. S., and Troitskaya Yu. I. Investigation of the mechanisms of spray generation induced by wind-wave interaction using shadow technique // Scientific Visualization, 2017, V. 9, N. 3, P. 103–107.