| [1] Foam formations at the sea surface significantly contribute to microwave brightness temperature signatures over the ocean for moderate to high wind speeds. The thickness of foam layers generated by breaking waves follows a specific distribution due to unsteadiness of breaking and the large range of wave scales involved in the phenomenon. Although the effect of a distributed thickness-parameter on the foam-induced microwave brightness temperature may be comparable to or larger than the fractional whitecap coverage, it is not yet included in brightness models. To fill this gap, we develop a dynamical model for the conditional fraction of sea-surface covered by whitecaps with given thickness, as a function of wind speed. It is an integrated function of... |
