The rewording specifies that puddles are "land". What about ponds? lakes? rivers? great lakes? Oceans?
What if we have a grid square that is 50% land at 310 K and 50% ocean at 290 K? Would it be correct to have these two variables associated with it: sea_surface_skin_temperature=290 land_surface_skin_temperature=310 (i.e. T of only the non-sea portion) or: sea_surface_skin_temperature=290 land_surface_skin_temperature=300 (i.e. mean T of land & sea portions) How does that change if instead of being 50% ocean it is 50% lakes & rivers? Or lots and lots of puddles? I think what we're interested in is not so much the top surface of the land as the lower boundary of the atmosphere. So I like "surface_skin_temperature", which could then be used with a dimension for surface categories. -- Evan > About a month ago, I submitted a new standard name for the > "land_surface_skin_temperature." While I think the consensus is now that > this new name seems acceptable for inclusion in the CF database, there were > some comments and suggestions by various people who pointed out that the > proposed definition for this quantity could use some more clarification and > other comments which pointed out similarities to the current name > "surface_temperature." I've attempted to address both of these concerns by > adding another line to the definition which better defines what the > "land_surface_skin" is. My hope is that this clears up some uncertainty > about this quantity (e.g. it is not simply the bare land surface but also > includes various media above the land surface) and also illustrates that it > is not the same thing as the "surface_temperature" quantity (which I > understand as idealized, infinitesimally thin interface temperature between > the air and land/sea and not the observable quantity that the > "land_surface_skin_temperature" proposes to be). > > With this is mind, here is my latest attempt at this new name/definition: > > Standard Name: land_surface_skin_temperature > > > > Definition: The land surface skin temperature is the aggregate temperature > of the “land surface skin,” which is the portion of the land surface which > emits infrared radiation directly to space through the atmosphere. The “land > surface skin” is defined as an effective layer which includes the upper > boundary of the land combined with additional layers which may cover the > upper land boundary (e.g. vegetation, puddles, snow, ice, man-made objects). > > > > Canonical Units: K > > > Sincerely, > > Jonathan > > On 6/20/2013 7:56 AM, Jonathan Gregory wrote: > > Dear Karl > > Like Roy, I don't think we should deprecate sea_surface_skin_temperature. > Although I cannot remember the arguments - which must be apparent in the > mailing list archive - I do recall that it was a careful and long discussion > with Craig which led to the introduction of the various SST names. > > Therefore adding land_surface_skin_temperature seems fine to me if there is > a need to be precise about this as an observable quantity, which relates > to a particular layer, even though it's very thin. The definition should note > that if this precise meaning is not intended, the name surface_temperature > could be used, which strictly refers to the temperature at the interface. > > Best wishes > > Jonathan > _______________________________________________ > CF-metadata mailing list > CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu > http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata > > > > _______________________________________________ > CF-metadata mailing list > CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu > http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata > _______________________________________________ CF-metadata mailing list CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata
