Surface radon measurements in the North Pacific Ocean station Papa

Eleven surface radon profiles were measured at windy winter station Papa in the North Pacific Ocean during January–February 1972. A steady state two-layer vertical mixing model is proposed to explain the vertical distribution of radon. The vertical eddy diffusivity within the mixed layer at the Papa site was thus estimated to be about 200 cm2/s. The mean radon transfer velocity is estimated to be 3.6 m/d. The corresponding magnitude of the thickness of stagnant boundary film is 20 μ. Comparison of this exchange with that obtained previously in the trade wind dominated Bomex area appears to support the results of Kanwisher's (1963) laboratory experiments that show the rate of gas exchange across the air-water interface to be proportional to the square of wind speed.