[CF-metadata] New standard name requests for TSI and SSI

From: Jonathan Gregory <j.m.gregory>
Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 14:17:23 +0100

Dear Odele

> Just to clarify, are you asking only the members of the CF working group
> for their view on whether a change from flux to flux_density should be
> made in the standard names?

The question is for everyone on the CF email list.

> Also, could you provide an example where a standard name has a reference
> parameter that has a default than can be overridden by specifying a value?
> I?d just like to see it in ?action?, so I can best understand what is
> being described.

Maybe I am wrong that we have done exactly this, because I can't find one by
searching the help text of standard names, although I haven't spent long on it.
However, angstrom_exponent_of_ambient_aerosol_in_air is an example of a
quantity where scalar coordinates can optionally be provided to specify
the quantity more precisely (relative_humity and air_temperature) and
sound_pressure_level_in_air is a quantity whose definition contains a numerical
reference value.

I'm assuming that solar irradiance is a quantity which usually refers to 1 AU
in practice, is it? If in fact it's used just as often for other distances
from the sun, then it would be better not to have a default, and to require
the distance from the sun to be specified as a coordinate variable, like
number_of_days_with_air_temperature_above_threshold, for instance. If 1 AU is
the usual distance, but not the only possibility, then having a default with
the possibility of overriding it is neater, I think.

Best wishes

Jonathan
Received on Wed May 20 2015 - 07:17:23 BST