Study of sea salt particles launched by bubble burst

Sea salt particles launched from bursting bubbles and lofted in a drying tube were collected so that their morphology and size could be observed. Such particles can act as cloud condensation nuclei. Both film and jet drops were captured and desiccated so that their morphology was not perturbed by deliquescence and redrying. The mass of sea salt ejected from known bubble diameters was measured gravimetrically using a discrete bubble generator. The launch of droplets by bubble burst was recorded by high speed camera and illustrates the subtle momentum exchange as the jet breaks up to give widely different launch velocities and droplet heights. The distribution of heights attained by droplets in still air was recorded by addition of dye and printing of droplets on paper. The study is intended to underpin emergent technologies for climate restoration (geoengineering) aimed at increasing oceanic albedo and optical depth of clouds.