Surface divergence (${\nabla }_s\cdot \mathbf{v}$)

The surface divergence of an ambient vector field is the tangential trace ${\nabla }_s\cdot \mathbf{v}=({\delta }_{ij}-n_i{n}_j){\partial }_j{v}_i$. For a tangent vector field it is the intrinsic divergence. For $\mathbf{v}=\mathbf{n}$ it gives the sum of the two principal curvatures; a sphere with outward normal has ${\nabla }_s\cdot \mathbf{n}=2/a$.

For a smooth tangent vector field $v$ on a compact orientable surface with smooth boundary and outward conormal of a surface boundary, the integral of its surface divergence is its boundary flux. Extend the unit normal vector to a unit field $m$. The curl of a cross product gives $m\cdot \nabla \times (m\times v)=\nabla \cdot v-m_i{m}_j{\partial }_j{v}_i$ on the surface: $m\cdot v=0$ there and $m\cdot {\partial }_{j}m=0$ by unit length. Apply Stokes theorem and use $(m\times v)\cdot d\mathbf{r}=v\cdot (d\mathbf{r}\times m)$ to obtain the formula.