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METNO - Climate and Forecast Standard Names Vocabulary

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Preferred term

sea_water_temperature  

Definition

  • Sea water temperature is the in situ temperature of the sea water. To specify the depth at which the temperature applies use a vertical coordinate variable or scalar coordinate variable. There are standard names for sea_surface_temperature, sea_surface_skin_temperature, sea_surface_subskin_temperature and sea_surface_foundation_temperature which can be used to describe data located at the specified surfaces. For observed data, depending on the period during which the observation was made, the measured in situ temperature was recorded against standard "scales". These historical scales include the International Practical Temperature Scale of 1948 (IPTS-48; 1948-1967), the International Practical Temperature Scale of 1968 (IPTS-68, Barber, 1969; 1968-1989) and the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90, Saunders 1990; 1990 onwards). Conversion of data between these scales follows t68 = t48 - (4.4 x 10e-6) * t48(100 - t - 48); t90 = 0.99976 * t68. Observations made prior to 1948 (IPTS-48) have not been documented and therefore a conversion cannot be certain. Differences between t90 and t68 can be up to 0.01 at temperatures of 40 C and above; differences of 0.002-0.007 occur across the standard range of ocean temperatures (-10 - 30 C). The International Equation of State of Seawater 1980 (EOS-80, UNESCO, 1981) and the Practical Salinity Scale (PSS-78) were both based on IPTS-68, while the Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater 2010 (TEOS-10) is based on ITS-90. References: Barber, 1969, doi: 10.1088/0026-1394/5/2/001; UNESCO, 1981; Saunders, 1990, WOCE Newsletter, 10, September 1990.

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https://vocab.met.no/CFSTDN/sea_water_temperature

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