Wave Induced Bubble Clouds and Their Effect on Radiance in the Upper Ocean

The main goal of this project was to be able to characterize the upper ocean bubble field in terms of both bubble size distributions and overall bubble concentrations both in space and time. With this information available we are now able to assess the role of the bubbles on the upper ocean radiance field. In this work we are working closely with Helen Czerski and David Farmer at GSOURI. The role of manmade and natural surfactants in upper ocean processes is presently poorly understood. Therefore, a second goal of this project was to improve our understanding of how these surfactants modify the bubble field, the surface wave field and ultimately the upper ocean radiance.