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Abstract

The interaction between the surface ocean and the atmosphere is arguably the most important interface of climate control on our planet. Amidst a dynamic and changing climate, it is our challenge to understand and constrain this interface in order to accurately predict future climate conditions. Edward C. Monahan set out to tackle one of the most esoteric aspects of this interaction, namely the physics that can describe the nature of breaking waves and their resulting bubble plumes. He has dedicated his career to enhancing our understanding of the frequency, nature and characteristics of these turbulent phenomena that serve to introduce discontinuity in the seas surface boundary layer and to in effect, increase the surface area of air-water exchange.

The fair breeze blew, The white foam flew, And the forrow followed free. We were the first to ever burst into the silent sea.

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

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Correspondence to Penny Vlahos .

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Vlahos, P. (2020). Introduction. In: Vlahos, P., Monahan, E. (eds) Recent Advances in the Study of Oceanic Whitecaps. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36371-0_1

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