Glass Plate Sampling Efficiency for Trace Gases in the Sea Surface Microlayer

Recent findings highlight the urgency to study the underestimated role of sea surface microlayer (SML) properties on air-sea exchange mechanisms. Understanding how SML processes differ from underlying water is essential, as they affect the concentration gradient (ΔC) used in air-sea exchange parameterisations. Trace gas research within the SML has been limited by volatilisation losses during sampling. Lange et al. (2026) provide an experimental assessment of sampling efficiency using the glass plate technique. Although sampling efficiency was as low as 12%, confirming substantial losses, it was remarkably consistent. Therefore, the results can be used to constrain sampling losses in glass plate SML measurements under low-wind conditions, across a range of oceanic temperatures and salinities, for short-lived trace gases (i.e., near-zero atmosphere). This ability to retrieve trace gas concentrations allows more viable studies of processes producing and consuming trace gases in the SML.

Reference: Lange, L., Booge, D., Feil, H., et al. (2026). Glass plate sampling efficiency for trace gases in the sea surface microlayer. Biogeosc., 23, 3517–3539. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-3517-2026