Term: specific_heat_capacity_of_sea_water

Unit: J kg-1 K-1

Unit ref: JKGK

AMIP:

GRIB:

The specific heat capacity of sea water, Cp(ocean), is used in ocean models to convert between model prognostic temperature (potential or conservative temperature) and model heat content.

Term: specific_heat_capacity_of_sea_water

Unit: J kg-1 K-1

Unit ref: JKGK

AMIP:

GRIB:

The specific heat capacity of sea water, Cp(ocean), is used in ocean models to convert between model prognostic temperature (potential or conservative temperature) and model heat content. It is strongly recommended to include a units_metadata attribute.

Term: specific_heat_capacity_of_sea_water

Unit: J kg-1 K-1

Unit ref: JKGK

AMIP:

GRIB:

The specific heat capacity of sea water, Cp(ocean), is used in ocean models to convert between model prognostic temperature (potential or conservative temperature) and model heat content. In order to convert the units correctly, it is essential to know whether a temperature is on-scale or a difference. Therefore this standard strongly recommends that any variable whose units involve a temperature unit should also have a units_metadata attribute to make the distinction. units_metadata="temperature: difference" means that the temperature quantity is the difference between two temperatures, so the origin of the scale is irrelevant, and only the unit of measure matters. It is strongly recommended to include the attribute units_metadata="temperature: difference".

Term: specific_heat_capacity_of_sea_water

Unit: J kg-1 K-1

Unit ref: JKGK

AMIP:

GRIB:

The specific heat capacity of sea water, Cp(ocean), is used in ocean models to convert between model prognostic temperature (potential or conservative temperature) and model heat content. It is strongly recommended that a variable with this standard name should have the attribute units_metadata="temperature: difference", meaning that it refers to temperature differences and implying that the origin of the temperature scale is irrelevant, because it is essential to know whether a temperature is on-scale or a difference in order to convert the units correctly (cf. https://cfconventions.org/cf-conventions/cf-conventions.html#temperature-units).