Elizabeth E. Dahl

Chemical and physical characteristics of nascent aerosols produced by bursting bubbles at a model air‐sea interface

inorganic aerosol constituents were similar to those in ambient air. Ca 2+ was significantly enriched relative to seawater (median factor = 1.2). If in the form of CaCO3, these enrichments would have important implications for pH-dependent processes. Other inorganic constituents were present at ratios indistinguishable from those in seawater. Soluble organic carbon (OC) was highly enriched in all size fractions (median factor for all samples = 387). Number size distributions exhibited two lognormal modes. The number production flux of each mode was linearly correlated with bubble rate. At 80% RH, the larger mode exhibited a volume centroid of 5-mm diameter and included 95% of the inorganic sea-salt mass; water comprised 79% to 90% of volume. At 80% RH, the smaller mode exhibited a number centroid of 0.13-mm diameter; water comprised 87% to 90% of volume. The median mass ratio of organic matter to sea salt in the smallest size fraction (geometric mean diameter = 0.13 mm) was 4:1. These results support the hypothesis that bursting bubbles are an important global source of CN and CCN with climatic implications. Primary marine aerosols also influence radiative transfer via multiphase processing of sulfur and other climate-relevant species.

Short-Lived Trace Gases in the Surface Ocean and the Atmosphere

The two-way exchange of trace gases between the ocean and the atmosphere is important for both the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere and the biogeochemistry of the oceans, including the global cycling of elements. Here we review these exchanges and their importance for a range of gases whose lifetimes are generally short compared to the main greenhouse gases and which are, in most cases, more reactive than them. Gases considered include sulphur and related compounds, organohalogens, non-methane hydrocarbons, ozone, ammonia and related compounds, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Finally, we stress the interactivity of the system, the importance of process understanding for modeling, the need for more extensive field measurements and their better seasonal coverage, the importance of inter-calibration exercises and finally the need to show the importance of air-sea exchanges for global cycling and how the field fits into the broader context of Earth System Science.