Preface an Historical Perspective on the Development of the Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater – 2010
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Ocean Sci., 8, 161–174, 2012 www.ocean-sci.net/8/161/2012/ Ocean Science doi:10.5194/os-8-161-2012 © Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Preface An historical perspective on the development of the Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater – 2010 R. Pawlowicz1, T. McDougall2, R. Feistel3, and R. Tailleux4 1Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4, Canada 2CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 3Leibniz-Institut fur¨ Ostseeforschung, Seestraße 15, 18119 Warnemunde,¨ Germany 4Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Earley Gate, P.O. Box 243, Reading RG6 6BB, UK This paper is dedicated to the memory of Daniel Gordon Wright (1952–2010), who contributed so much to all aspects of SCOR/IAPSO WG 127, the IAPWS Subcommittee on Seawater, this special issue, and TEOS-10. Correspondence to: R. Pawlowicz ([email protected]) Abstract. Oceanography is concerned with understanding 1 Introduction the mechanisms controlling the movement of seawater and its contents. A fundamental tool in this process is the char- Seawater is a fascinating, complex, and important fluid. Vir- acterization of the thermophysical properties of seawater as tually every chemical element known to mankind is dissolved functions of measured temperature and electrical conductiv- within it (Nozaki, 1997). Spatial changes in the concentra- ity, the latter used as a proxy for the concentration of dis- tions of these elements, and in the temperature of the wa- solved matter in seawater. For many years a collection of ter, affect the water’s density. These density changes lead to algorithms denoted the Equation of State 1980 (EOS-80) pressure gradients that drive the entire oceanic circulation, has been the internationally accepted standard for calculating which, in turn, acts to redistribute these variations in temper- such properties. However, modern measurement technology ature and solute concentration. now allows routine observations of temperature and electri- The density changes involved can be extremely small. cal conductivity to be made to at least one order of magnitude To demonstrate this, it is important to first note that, more accurately than the uncertainty in this standard. rather than measuring density and solute concentrations di- Recently, a new standard has been developed, the Thermo- rectly, oceanographers use standardized procedures linking dynamical Equation of Seawater 2010 (TEOS-10). This new the characteristic physical properties of seawater to measure- standard is thermodynamically consistent, valid over a wider ments of its temperature, as a proxy for the heat content, and range of temperature and salinity, and includes a mechanism its electrical conductivity, as a proxy for the solute concen- to account for composition variations in seawater. Here we trations. Oceanographers routinely make measurements of review the scientific development of this standard, and de- temperature and electrical conductivity to a precision of al- scribe the literature involved in its development, which in- most five significant figures, at depths of 1000s of metres, cludes many of the articles in this special issue. in order to estimate density changes accurately enough for meaningful analysis. At this level of precision, the internationally accepted def- inition of temperature is still evolving (Fischer et al., 2011; BIPM, 2011). However, a widely accepted international standard for temperature does exist – the International Tem- perature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90, Preston-Thomas, 1990)– and the technical effort required in maintaining this stan- dard occurs outside the oceanographic community. More Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 162 R. Pawlowicz et al.: Preface problematic is the fact that absolute measurements of elec- erence Composition Seawater by calculation of a Reference trical conductivity, traceable to the seven base units of the Salinity SR. Then, a correction (the Salinity Anomaly δSA) International System of Units (SI), can still not be made which accounts for the effects on conductivity of differences accurately enough to support the needs of oceanographers in the relative chemical composition is added: (Seitz et al., 2011). Physical oceanographers must then grap- ple with fundamental measurement issues in a way that does SA = SR +δSA (1) not occur in (and is not easily appreciated by) other areas of earth science. The Reference Salinity itself can be estimated by scaling the However, these measurement issues themselves are not di- Practical Salinity: rectly relevant to most ocean science, which is more con- −1 cerned with understanding the mechanisms controlling the SR/(gkg ) ≡ (35.16504/35)×SP (2) movement of water and its contents. Thus although op- erational procedures for making precise conductivity-based Additional information is needed to estimate δSA; in the sim- measurements are widely known and used (e.g., Hood et al., plest case the geographic location and depth of the measure- 2010), many of the scientific details involved in standardiz- ment can be used to obtain an estimate from a climatological ing measurements are obscure and not well understood, ex- atlas. However, other methods of obtaining δSA also exist, cept by a few specialists. and in theory at least other measurement techniques (e.g., di- This special issue of Ocean Sciences contains a number rect density measurements) can also be used to estimate SA of papers relating to modern developments in the scientific independently of its conductivity. understanding of the properties of seawater, and the devel- The other scientifically important advance in TEOS-10 is opment of new and better procedures to describe these prop- that it allows for the calculation of all thermodynamic prop- erties. Many of these papers were written by members of erties of seawater, including basic thermodynamic properties SCOR/IAPSO Working Group 127 on the Thermodynamics like the entropy and enthalpy which are central to “heat bud- and Equation of State of Seawater, in the course of research gets”, as well as the more familiar physical properties like which has culminated in the development of the new inter- density and sound speed. These properties are also calcu- national standard for the properties of seawater: the Thermo- lated in a thermodynamically consistent way. That is, they dynamic Equation of Seawater – 2010 (TEOS-10; IOC et al., satisfy theoretical interrelationships between different forms 2010). This issue therefore encompasses a large part of the of energy and macroscopic system properties that were first historical record of the development of this standard. derived in the 18th century. These interrelationships are cen- A critical component of TEOS-10 is the definition of a new tral to many fields of science and engineering, but have not salinity variable, the Absolute Salinity SA. Absolute Salin- been easily accessible to oceanographers until now. ity is a measure of the mass fraction of solute in seawater on An apocryphal quotation often attributed to Otto von Bis- the carefully defined Reference Composition Salinity Scale. marck is that “laws are like sausages, it is better not to see Numerical values of SA when expressed in units of grams per them being made” (Anon, 2011). Perhaps this is also true for kilogram of seawater differ from numerical values assigned international standards. However, this article is not a brief by previous definitions of salinity by about 0.5 % (i.e. in the practical review of the TEOS-10 standard itself. Such in- third significant digit), so careful attention to the details of formation can be found on the website www.teos-10.org, in- calculations and assigned nomenclature is necessary to pre- cluding a 9 page primer entitled “What every oceanographer vent confusion. A scientifically important advance in TEOS- needs to know about TEOS-10”, documentation of the soft- 10 is that variations in the relative composition of seawater ware available (“Getting started with TEOS-10”, 29 pp.) as can now be accounted for explicitly. In addition, an impor- well as the software itself, and the full 202 page manual that tant conceptual step has been taken: the definition of SA is makes up the standard (IOC et al., 2010). Instead this arti- now separated from practical issues related to its measure- cle aims to provide a more detailed historical and personal ment. This was not the case in previous definitions. With perspective on the scientific process that motivated and ac- this step oceanographic procedures are now formally con- companied the development of TEOS-10. A careful reader sistent with those of the rest of the scientific world and the of the primary literature may notice apparent inconsisten- modern view of a useful standard. cies in the content of different papers. These unavoidably As electrical conductivity is and will remain for the forsee- arose as features of the standard evolved in time (or some- able future the most useful measurement technique for salin- times seemingly appeared from nowhere). Providing a his- ity determination, the currently existing logistical infrastruc- torical overview will allow for more efficient technical evalu- ture associated with traditional Practical Salinity SP measure- ation of TEOS-10 and further development in this important ments (PSS-78, UNESCO, 1981b) is adapted rather than re- area. In addition, a description of the work contained in this placed to support TEOS-10. Estimation of SA using conduc- special