Ocean wave-breaking

Pictured left: the legendary Japanese block-printed depiction of wave-breaking and the resulting generation of droplets at the ocean surface. The breaking of ocean waves is driven by the shear stress due to wind above the water surface. The precise mechanism is a subject of ongoing study (in collaboration with Ratul Dasgupta at IIT Bombay).

The generation of droplets by this process plays a crucial role in the global balances of mass and energy. When these droplets evaporate, they leave behind tiny salt nuclei which are carried away by winds, eventually becoming cloud condensation nuclei. These nuclei have a significant role in the radiative balance of the planet.

The size distributions of the water droplets and the resulting aerosol nuclei are thus a crucial input to global models. We aim, using our high-resolution numerical studies, to provide these size distributions.