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Atmosphere-Water Exchange

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

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Definition of the Subject

Gaseous and volatile chemical species reside not only in the atmosphere. Because they dissolve in water, they are also distributed in the hydrosphere . The by far largest part of the hydrosphere is the ocean. Therefore, the exchange between atmosphere and oceans is the most important process for the fate of gaseous and volatile chemical species (Table 1).

Atmosphere-Water Exchange. Table 1 Comparison of size (as depth in m over entire earth surface) and mass of atmosphere and global water storage
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Abbreviations

Bulk coefficients:

c i relate the transfer velocity k for a species i to the wind velocity U r in a reference height, typically at 10 m above the mean water level: c i = k i /U r . From the bulk coefficient, the flux density j i of a species can be computed as j i = c i (C r − C 0)U r , where C r and C 0 are the corresponding concentrations at the reference height and right at the water surface, respectively. For momentum density (ρU) the bulk coefficients is also known as the drag coefficient c D . It can also be expressed as c D = (u ∗/U r )2 with the momentum flux given by \(j_m = \rho u_{\ast}^2\); u ∗ is the friction velocity.

Friction velocity:

u ∗ is a measure for the tangential force per area applied by the wind at the water surface, the shear stress \(\tau = \rho u_*^2\), which is also equal to the vertical momentum flux density j m .

Mass boundary layer:

Thickness of the layers at both sides of the water surface in which transport of mass by turbulence is smaller than by molecular diffusion.

Schmidt and Prandtl numbers, Sc and Pr:

The Schmidt and Prandtl numbers are the ratio of kinematic viscosity ν (molecular diffusion coefficient for momentum) and the molecular diffusion coefficients for the corresponding chemical species, D, and heat, D h , respectively. Thus, these numbers express how much slower chemical species and heat, respectively, are transported by molecular processes than momentum. In air, these numbers are in the order of one; in water, the Prandtl number is about 10 and the Schmidt number about 1,000.

Transfer velocity:

k is the velocity by which a momentum, heat, and chemical are transported across the surface; because of the concentration discontinuity at the water surface, the transfer velocity on the air side is different from the transfer velocity on the water side.

Viscous boundary layer:

Thickness of the layers at both sides of the water surface in which transport of momentum by turbulent is smaller than by molecular friction, resulting in a linear velocity profile in this layer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environmental Physics and Heidelberg Collaboratory for Image Processing (HCI), University of Heidelberg, Speyerer Straße 6, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany

    Dr. Bernd Jähne

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Correspondence to Bernd Jähne .

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  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Jähne, B. (2012). Atmosphere-Water Exchange . In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_644

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