Microphysical Structure of the Marine Boundary Layer under Strong Wind and Spray Formation as Seen from Simulations Using a 2D Explicit Microphysical Model. Part I: The Impact of Large Eddies

Abstract

AbstractThe effects of large eddies (LE) on the marine boundary layer (MBL) microphysics and thermodynamics is investigated using a 2D Lagrangian model with spectral bin microphysics including effects of sea spray. The 600 m × 400 m MBL computational area is covered by 3750 adjacent interacting Lagrangian parcels moving in a turbulent-like flow. A turbulent-like velocity field is designed as a sum of a high number of harmonics with random time-dependent amplitudes and different wavelengths including large eddies with scales of several hundred meters. The model explicitly calculates diffusion growth/evaporation, collisions, and sedimentation of droplets forming both as sea spray droplets and background aerosols, as well as aerosol masses within droplets. The turbulent mixing between parcels is explicitly taken into account. Sea spray generation is determined by a source function depending on the background wind speed assumed in the simulations to be equal to 20 m s−1. The results of simulations obtained by taking into account the effects of LE are compared to those obtained under the assumption that the vertical transport of droplets and passive scalars is caused by small-scale turbulent diffusion. Small-scale turbulence diffusion taken alone leads to an unrealistic MBL structure. Nonlocal mixing of the MBL caused by LE leads to the formation of a well-mixed MBL with a vertical structure close to the observed one. LE lead to an increase in the sensible and latent heat surface fluxes by 50%–100% and transport a significant amount of large spray droplets upward. Microphysical processes lead to formation of spray-induced drizzling clouds with cloud base near the 200-m level.