Dear John I have consulted a colleague of mine who has the same opinion as your pH colleague, that there isn't a simple way to describe the scales and therefore no clear alternative to using the expert terminology. I also learned, usefully, that models would report on a particular pH scale, even if they do not simulate all the species. Therefore I agree with your approach. Thanks for tolerating the discussion, which has been useful to understand a bit better what we are talking about.
As I said, I'd be happier with some explanatory linking phrase e.g. sea_water_pH_defined_by_total_scale sea_water_pH_according_to_total_scale sea_water_pH_reported_on_total_scale What do you think? Best wishes Jonathan _______________________________________________ CF-metadata mailing list CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata