The interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean is a classic scientific challenge. Accurate calculations of air-sea fluxes have significant implications for climate change and marine scientific research. The impact of sea spray is crucial for air-sea interactions. However, due to the limitation of observation technology, the study of ocean waves started relatively late. And there are great controversies about the estimation of sea spray, which can differ by five orders of magnitude. In other words, under the same conditions, some people estimate the volume flux as 1, while others estimate it as 100,000.
Researchers from the First Institute of Oceanography （FIO）， Ministry of Natural Resources found that sea spray plays an essential role in typhoon evolution and the climate system. They have integrated sea spray into typhoon and climate models, significantly improving the simulation and prediction for typhoons and climate system. This has attracted significant attention from the United Nations "Ocean Decade", which offers a Chinese solution for marine disaster prevention and mitigation, and climate change.
To enhance the marine and climate science community's understanding of the importance of sea spray, from July 6 to 9, 2023, Liu Zhanchi from the FIO participated in a summer scientific research voyage on the "Sun Yat-sen University" vessel. He conducted onboard sea spray observational experiments （Figure 1）， trained young scholars, and jointly organized a sea spray exchange meeting with Sun Yat-sen University, Nanjing University, and others.
For a long time, wind speed is thought to be the only factor affecting the formation of sea spray. However, various studies have shown that there are significant discrepancies in the function of spray generation under the same wind speed. With the development of the scientific theories and observational techniques, more and more recent studies have found that ocean wave is also a core influencing factor for the ocean spray. For the first time, the researchers from FIO confirmed that ocean wave affects the generation of sea spray in the designed control experiments. During the sea spray exchange meeting of the voyage, the researchers introduced the sea spray and the onboard experiments of this voyage to the attendees. They highlighted the significant impact of wave steepness and wave age on sea spray generation and explained the mechanism by which sea spray regulates ocean and atmospheric temperatures in the climate models. This sparked a lively discussion among the participants （Figure 2）。
This on-site observation and training event for sea spray is of great significance for the development of air-sea models and sea spray observations. It not only strengthens the connections and exchanges between research institutes and universities in sea spray research but also promotes the promotion of sea spray research, contributing scientific strength to the development of the next-generation models for the " Ocean Decade."
Original article:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/L_8aE05OZKtHT8TLf-qlMQ
