Dear All,
I have been in touch with WetLabs and the response is interesting. First I quote, " But ppb is a mass per volume measurement. It is equivalent to ug/L (micrograms per liter)." Therefore the Standard Name needs to be a mass_concentration with canonical units of kilograms per cubic metre.
That just leaves the issue of what we call the analyte. Mike initially proposed 'petroleum', which Ute objected to strongly, However, re-reading his first e-mail his objections are very much from the perspective of oil spill modelling. He did suggest 'contaminant' which might work in the context of his models, but won't work in a water quality monitoring dataset where the contaminants will include metals, pesticides, nutrients, pharmeceuticals as well as petroleum products.
Mike's requirement is for something to describe a calibrated optical measurement. In the measurement domain we also have wet chemical measurements of more or less the same thing measured by the SeaOWL that has been known as TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbons), but Jonathan doesn't like the ambiguous semantics of 'total'.
This brings me to the second part of my conversation with WetLabs. I asked if 'petroleum hydrocarbons' was an acceptable description for SeaOWL output. The answer was 'Yes'. If they're happy the I am and I'm presuming so is Chris as he suggested soliciting the company's opinion.
So, my understanding of the thread is that the most acceptable Standard Name is:
mass_concentration_of_petroleum_hydrocarbons_in_sea_water
I would suggest a draft definition of:
Mass concentration means mass per unit volume and is used in the construction mass_concentration_of_X_in_Y, where X is a material constituent of Y. Petroleum hydrocarbons are compounds containing just carbon and hydrogen originating from the fossil fuel crude oil.
Cheers, Roy.
Please note that I partially retired on 01/11/2015. I am now only working 7.5 hours a week and can only guarantee e-mail response on Wednesdays, my day in the office. All vocabulary queries should be sent to enquiries at bodc.ac.uk. Please also use this e-mail if your requirement is urgent.
________________________________
From: CF-metadata <cf-metadata-bounces at cgd.ucar.edu> on behalf of Lowry, Roy K. <rkl at bodc.ac.uk>
Sent: 06 July 2016 11:28
To: Jonathan Gregory; cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] New standard name for mass_fraction_of_petroleum_in_sea_water
Sorry Jonathan,
Having re-read Chris's last message I see that he is now pushing for TPH, suggesting that we contact WetLabs/SeaBird to see if they agree that it is an appropriate description for the calibrated output of their instrument.
I have contacts in the company, so I'll do that.
Cheers, Roy.
-----Original Message-----
From: CF-metadata [mailto:cf-metadata-bounces at cgd.ucar.edu] On Behalf Of Jonathan Gregory
Sent: 06 July 2016 10:23
To: cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] New standard name for mass_fraction_of_petroleum_in_sea_water
OK, thanks. Sorry for not keeping up. Jonathan
----- Forwarded message from "Lowry, Roy K." <rkl at bodc.ac.uk> -----
> Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2016 09:19:56 +0000
> From: "Lowry, Roy K." <rkl at bodc.ac.uk>
> To: Jonathan Gregory <j.m.gregory at reading.ac.uk>, "cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu"
> <cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu>
> Subject: RE: [CF-metadata] New standard name for
> mass_fraction_of_petroleum_in_sea_water
>
> Dear Jonathan,
>
> I think we've lost the thread a little here. I initially suggested TPH until I realised the nature of Mike's measurements. Once I did I withdrew the suggestion. Therefore the 'total' or 'no total' debate is possibly a red herring.
>
> Cheers, Roy.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CF-metadata [mailto:cf-metadata-bounces at cgd.ucar.edu] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Gregory
> Sent: 06 July 2016 09:39
> To: cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu
> Subject: [CF-metadata] New standard name for
> mass_fraction_of_petroleum_in_sea_water
>
> Dear Chris
>
> I'm aware that I've caused frustration before by insisting on this point, but believe me, my aim is not to be annoying! We do actually have "total" in two standard names, where it was a technical term which seemed essential for clarification and which could not easily be explained in simpler terms. That is, in those two names:
> atmosphere_stability_total_totals_index
> sea_water_ph_reported_on_total_scale
> "total" doesn't mean an aggregation, but something rather specific. In other cases, we assume that "total" is intended if there isn't a qualification. CF standard names follow commonly used terms when those are systematic and self- explanatory or there is no alternative, but they aren't necessarily the same as common terms. I think in many cases the CF standard name is an answer to the question "What does that mean?" rather than to "What do you call that?", because this is useful in the interdisciplinary context of CF.
>
> Therefore I still feel that total should be omitted from the standard name.
> In the definition we could say that this is often/usually called "total" and certainly we would explain it refers to all phases and compounds together.
> It would be useful to hear other opinions on this.
>
> Thanks for your patience. Best wishes
>
> Jonathan
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Chris Barker <chris.barker at noaa.gov>
> -----
>
> > Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2016 14:09:59 -0700
> > From: Chris Barker <chris.barker at noaa.gov>
> > To: Jonathan Gregory <j.m.gregory at reading.ac.uk>
> > CC: "cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu" <cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu>
> > Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] New standard name for
> > mass_fraction_of_petroleum_in_sea_water
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 4, 2016 at 1:57 PM, Jonathan Gregory
> > <j.m.gregory at reading.ac.uk>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks - I understand. In choosing CF standard names we generally
> > > assume that the intention is to be comprehensive by default, and
> > > we add more words in order to be specific, for example
> > > atmosphere_optical_thickness_due_to_cloud means all kinds of
> > > cloud, and atmosphere_optical_thickness_due_to_convective_cloud
> > > is more restrictive. Omitting "total" in your name would be
> > > consistent with this pattern, in order to mean all phases.
> > >
> >
> > Indeed -- however, the "total" in "total petroleum hydrocarbons" is
> > very much part of the name in common usage. And I think the "total"
> > refers both to phase: droplets vs dissolved, and also to the
> > multiple compounds and classes of compound, like in contrast, with,
> > say" Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon" (PAH). So I say we keep the "total" in the name.
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_petroleum_hydrocarbon
> >
> > If someone is concerned about what the instrument measures, I'd ask
> > someone technical at the company of TPH captures it for them.
> >
> > (after all, what the instrument REALLY measures is Fluorescence...)
> >
> >
> > -CHB
> >
> > >
> > > --
> >
> > Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
> > Oceanographer
> >
> > Emergency Response Division
> > NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice
> > 7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax
> > Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception
> >
> > Chris.Barker at noaa.gov
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
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