Dear John Thanks for the proposal. It would be good to add some more context, in the style of other CF standard_names. I would suggest concentration_of_colored_dissolved_organic_matter_in_sea_water if that makes sense to you. Even so, "concentration" is rather vague - we usually make it clear whether it's mole concentration or mass concentration, for instance. To be really explicit (and long) we could say concentration_of_colored_dissolved_organic_matter_in_sea_water_expressed_as_equivalent_mass_fraction_of_quinine_sulfate_dihydrate if I understand your description correctly. Is that correct?
Since qsde is not a udunit, I think the canonical unit for this quantity should be 1 i.e. it is dimensionless, and the definition can make clear what the unit means. In practice you could give 1e-9 as the unit, which is equivalent to 1 i.e. both are dimensionless. Best wishes Jonathan ----- Forwarded message from John Maurer <jmau...@hawaii.edu> ----- > Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 09:12:28 -1000 > From: John Maurer <jmau...@hawaii.edu> > To: cf-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu > Subject: [CF-metadata] request for new CF standard_name: CDOM > > Hi all, > This is a request to have a new standard_name added to the CF table for the > following parameter: > > standard_name: colored_dissolved_organic_matter > alias: chromophoric_dissolved_organic_matter > alias: cdom > units: QSDE > > CDOM plays an important role in the carbon cycling and biogeochemistry of > coastal waters. It occurs naturally in aquatic environments primarily as a > result of tannins released from decaying plant and animal matter, which can > enter coastal areas in river run-off containing organic materials leached > from soils. When present in high concentrations, it imparts a brown or > yellowish color to water. Its presence can negatively impact fish > populations by reducing dissolved oxygen concentrations to harmful levels > and by releasing nutrients and metals that contaminate the water. Increased > understanding of the role of CDOM will further our ability to manage and > protect coastal ecosystems. > > More about the units (QSDE): > > Sensors are commonly calibrated against a 100 parts per billion (ppb) > quinine sulfate dihydrate solution, a fluorescent reference standard > commonly used with CDOM sensors. CDOM sensors therefore report in "QSDE" > (quinine sulfate dihydrate equivalents). It is important to note, however, > that CDOM concentrations in QSDE are not necessarily equivalent to the *in > situ* CDOM concentrations in ppb. > > Thanks, > John Maurer > Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) > University of Hawaii at Manoa > _______________________________________________ > CF-metadata mailing list > CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu > http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata ----- End forwarded message ----- _______________________________________________ CF-metadata mailing list CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata