Imaging the bubbles under breaking waves, using a novel high resolution camera

The bubbles from breaking waves are thought to make a significant contribution to air-sea gas transfer and aerosol production. However, our understanding of these processes is limited by the difficulty of collecting detailed data in situ. The bubble population is formed rapidly in the first second or so after the wave breaks, and then the bubble plume can last for several minutes underwater while a foam patch visible on the surface grows and then dies away.

The design and development of two bespoke cameras to image the bubbles and the whitecaps are described. Both cameras were successfully deployed in 2013 as part of the HiWINGS campaign in the North Atlantic Ocean. We will discuss the possibilities for future data collection, and the contribution that these technologies could make to collecting open ocean bubble data.