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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 109,
C08S18,
doi:10.1029/2003JC001806,
2004
Influence of rain on air-sea gas exchange: Lessons from a model ocean
David T. Ho
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA
Christopher J. Zappa
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Maryland, USA
Wade R. McGillis
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Maryland, USA
Larry F. Bliven
NASA/GSFC, Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, Wallops Island, Virginia, USA
Brian Ward
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Maryland, USA
John W. H. Dacey
Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
Peter Schlosser
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA
Melissa B. Hendricks
Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Abstract
Rain has been shown to significantly enhance the rate of air-water gas exchange in fresh water environments, and the mechanism
behind this enhancement has been studied in laboratory experiments. In the ocean, the effects of rain are complicated by the
potential influence of density stratification at the water surface. Since it is difficult to perform controlled rain-induced
gas exchange experiments in the open ocean, an SF6 evasion experiment was conducted in the artificial ocean at Biosphere 2. The measurements show a rapid depletion of SF6 in the surface layer due to rain enhancement of air-sea gas exchange, and the gas transfer velocity was similar to that predicted
from the relationship established from freshwater laboratory experiments. However, because vertical mixing is reduced by stratification,
the overall gas flux is lower than that found during freshwater experiments. Physical measurements of various properties of
the ocean during the rain events further elucidate the mechanisms behind the observed response. The findings suggest that
short, intense rain events accelerate gas exchange in oceanic environments.
Received 3
February
2003;
accepted 11
September
2003;
published 1
July
2004.
Keywords: gas exchange;
rain;
SF6;
turbulence;
stratification.
Index Terms: 0312 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Air/sea constituent fluxes (3339, 4504); 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312); 4572 Oceanography: Physical: Upper ocean processes; 4504 Oceanography: Physical: Air/sea interactions (0312).
Read Full Article (file size: 1127239 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Ho, D. T., C. J. Zappa, W. R. McGillis, L. F. Bliven, B. Ward, J. W. H. Dacey, P. Schlosser, and M. B. Hendricks
(2004),
Influence of rain on air-sea gas exchange: Lessons from a model ocean,
J. Geophys. Res.,
109,
C08S18,
doi:10.1029/2003JC001806.
Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.
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