Hello again, I wouldn't recommend using '/' in a string, such as a Standard Name, that could potentially be incorporated into a URL.
I think using 'sea' as defined shorthand for 'river/lake/sea' has been suggested before. I certainly have no problem with it as long as that information is included in the definition. Cheers, Roy. -----Original Message----- From: Jonathan Gregory [mailto:jonat...@met.reading.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Jonathan Gregory Sent: 23 February 2010 08:47 To: Lowry, Roy K Cc: Jeff deLaBeaujardiere; Andrea Hardy; cf-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] water level with/without datum Dear Roy > I have concerns about having separate names for river, lake and sea. If you > have them for height, then the logic would extend to temperature. I have > temperature data from a boat that started in the North Sea, went up the > Humber and then up to the navigable limit of the Yorkshire Ouse. I would > much prefer a single Standard Name across the whole dataset. I share that concern, but I didn't have a use-case where it would be a problem to have separate names, so thanks for that. > My suggestion of 'water body' as the generic term didn't get any reaction. > Was that acceptance or did nobody notice it? I noticed it, yes, thanks! It is a correct generic term, of course, but I feel it would cause a loss of clarity to replace "sea" with "water body" in existing standard names e.g. water_body_surface_height, water_body_water_temperature, water_body_water_speed and water_body_ice_thickness are all unfamiliar terms, whereas sea_surface_height, sea_water_temperature, sea_water_speed and sea_ice_thickness are all recognisable. In the particular case of Jeff's, "water body surface height" is not a term that Google finds, whereas "sea surface height", "lake surface height" and "river surface height" do all exist. More cumbersome than "water body", but clearer I think, would be to use the phrase "sea/lake/river" (I think "/" is a permitted character) e.g. sea/lake/river_surface_height, sea/lake/river_water_temperature. We could provide such names of this type as are requested, for generic uses like yours, but keep the "sea" names as well. In a case such as yours, would it be acceptable to use "sea" all the time, even when it's a river? Best wishes Jonathan -- This message (and any attachments) is for the recipient only. NERC is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the contents of this email and any reply you make may be disclosed by NERC unless it is exempt from release under the Act. Any material supplied to NERC may be stored in an electronic records management system. _______________________________________________ CF-metadata mailing list CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata