Adrian Matei edited introduction1.tex  about 10 years ago

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\section{Introduction}  Bubbles mediate turbulent fluxes at the air-sea interface. Aerosol fluxes have an intimate dependency on bubbles surfacing and, by bursting, releasing carriers into the atmospheric boundary layer. In order to have a close up on this phenomenon, one should consider whitecaps as a primary source for aerosol production. In order to have a proper correlation between aerosol production and whitecaps, one should introduce the concept of whitecap fraction or coverage. The whitecap size area measures the magnitude of turbulence injected by the atmosphere into the ocean. Whitecaps strongly relate to energy dissipation of waves, the least known process of wave evolution \cite{jn-Murphy_Woolf_Callaghan_2011}. There is a direct source for surface foam generation, a phenomenon which wasn't wasn't  observed on the open ocean accurate enough, namely bubble subsurface dynamics in relation with whitecap dynamics. These bubbles organize in bubble plumes, which feed foam at the sea surface. Bubble plumes variability is crucial in assesing other indirect sources for whitecap generation, but which are primary sources. In this category are included wind speed at sea surface, wave frequency spectrum and wave amplitude, which can all describe the rate of wave energy dissipation. In this research, we correlate the rate of wave energy dissipation, by considering the parameters just mentioned, with bubble plumes dynamics. This study should be an intrusive insight on having a complete picture of the causes that influence the variability of whitecaps, which has a direct effect on aerosol production. In the next section some details on the work done to realize the observations and data collecting in a high winds regime. By going right to the direct source and analyzing the dynamics of bubble plumes will help us understand with deep accuracy the mechanisms that drive whitecap variability. It has already been proven that considering whitecap fraction as function of wind speed only is not enough for our current understanding. That is why the details in the physics of wave energy dissipation will give us a much clearer view on the sensitiviy in whitecap fractions variations.