Production rates of sea-spray droplets by M.J. Pattison and S.E. Belcher: Clarification and elaboration

The recent paper by Pattison and Belcher [1999] contains some mathematical errors that led to their misinterpreting how well their spray generation function agrees with one reported by Andreas [1992]. We here correct that mathematical error and show that now, Pattison and Belcher's results agree reasonably well with Andreas's and with other spray generation functions published by Smith et al. [1993] and Andreas [1998]. The main differences among these functions are explained by the fact that the Andreas functions apply right at the sea surface while the Pattison and Belcher and Smith et al. functions are appropriate only for spray droplets reaching heights of at least 1 and 14 m, respectively.