Dear Andy Thanks for your posting. You're doing it just right!
Both of your proposals have the form sea_surface_height_above_mean_sea_level_due_to_X and I wonder, do you really mean above MSL in *both* cases? Storm surge is usually measured wrt the current tidal level - isn't it? Also, it seems to me that "due to" isn't quite right in this case. To quote from the definitions: "due_to_process" means that the quantity named is a single term in a sum of terms which together compose the general quantity named by omitting the phrase. Most "due_to" names go with things which are processes that change the state, or they are rates of change. SSH is a state, I would say. For example, my mass *itself* isn't due to my eating too many biscuits, or due to my running a half-marathon - it's an aspect of my state. It's the *changes* in my mass which are due to those separate things, that can be added up. I wonder whether, at least in the case of storm surge, you mean the difference between SSH with and without the storm surge. Although "sea surface elevation" is often used as a synonym for SSH, maybe we could make use of it in the sense of "how much *higher* the sea surface is" due to the storm surge, which is the concept sometimes called "setup", but that's jargon, and I wouldn't advocate it for a CF standard name. Would sea_surface_elevation_due_to_storm_surge be OK, I wonder? That quantity isn't wrt MSL or geoid or any other fixed surface; it's the difference between two values of SSH. Another possibility is change_in_sea_surface_height_due_to_storm_surge which could be better because it's more explicit, but I'm not sure it's quite right, because it sounds like watching the SSH going up over a certain time interval, rather than comparing two situations with and without surge. Is this what you mean? For the tide, do you definitely mean the current tidal elevation wrt MSL? I hope I haven't missed the point. Best wishes Jonathan ----- Forwarded message from "Saulter, Andrew" <andrew.saul...@metoffice.gov.uk> ----- > Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2018 16:13:18 +0000 > From: "Saulter, Andrew" <andrew.saul...@metoffice.gov.uk> > To: "cf-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu" <cf-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu> > Subject: [CF-metadata] proposed new standard name for storm surge residual > > Dear all, > > First posting to this list, so please forgive me if I'm doing it wrong... > > I'd like to request an addition to the standard name list to include storm > surge residual and tide. These variables are generated for the purpose of > coastal flood prediction and will be available in future, netCDF based, > operational products from the Met Office. > > Proposed standard name: > sea_surface_height_above_mean_sea_level_due_to_storm_surge > Units: m > "Sea surface height" is a time-varying quantity. "Height_above_X" means the > vertical distance above the named surface X. "Mean sea level" means the time > mean of sea surface elevation at a given location over an arbitrary period > sufficient to eliminate the tidal signals. The specification of a physical > process by the phrase "due_to_process" means that the quantity named is a > single term in a sum of terms which together compose the general quantity > named by omitting the phrase. Storm surge effects, due to meteorological > forcing of the ocean and interaction between the generated surge and tides, > are a significant contributor to the observed sea surface height. > > Proposed standard name: sea_surface_height_above_mean_sea_level_due_to_tide > Units: m > "Sea surface height" is a time-varying quantity. "Height_above_X" means the > vertical distance above the named surface X. "Mean sea level" means the time > mean of sea surface elevation at a given location over an arbitrary period > sufficient to eliminate the tidal signals. The specification of a physical > process by the phrase "due_to_process" means that the quantity named is a > single term in a sum of terms which together compose the general quantity > named by omitting the phrase. Tides are a significant contributor to the > observed sea surface height; here "tide" denotes a generic variable > describing the time varying tidal signal, for example as generated based on a > summation of harmonically analysed components, or resulting from the > application of such components as boundary conditions to a numerical tidal > model. > > Many thanks > Andy > > > Andy Saulter > Surge, Waves and Metocean Projects Manager > Met Office FitzRoy Road Exeter Devon EX1 3PB > Tel: +44 (0)1392 884703 Fax: +44 (0)1392 885681 > andrew.saul...@metoffice.gov.uk http://www.metoffice.gov.uk > > _______________________________________________ > 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
