Thermal conditions for the formation of self-assembled cluster of droplets over the water surface

The effect of temperature profile of the water layer surface on the formation and structure of a levitating droplet cluster is studied in the paper. The laboratory experiments indicate that a local temperature maximum of water is a necessary condition for the formation of a cluster. A quantitative criterium of transformation of a monolayer of randomly positioned microdroplets to a self-assembled cluster of relatively large droplets is obtained.