Oceans: Abstract Values vs. Measured Values - 7

Fig. 1

I think that the search for the "Golden" problem is solved concerning the proper WOD Zones to use (see Fig. 5 for those zones).

Today's graphs are the culmination of the software module upgrade and database restructuring.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

The gist of it is that I use all WOD Zones in the ocean basins listed in the WOD Manual (PDF, Appx 11), as long as there are  temperature & salinity measurements in the related datasets (CTD & PFL).

That "Golden" totals to 217 Zones taken from all WOD layers containing data, (today's graphs are all from that dataset).

Fig. 4

The graph at Fig. 1 is T and CT without the abstract maximum and minimum fences.

Not using the fences increases the resolution so that you can see glimpses of both the T pattern and the CT pattern individually at several places.

The graph at Fig. 2 is the exact same data with the fences included.

I included both graph types so you can see that the calculated TEOS CT is quite close to the in situ measurement values (T), but they are not exactly the same.

The graph at Fig. 3 once again reaffirms that the Absolute Salinity (S_A) and the in situ salinity measurement, Practical Salinity (SP), vary more than the T and CT temperatures do.

As I indicated in a recent post (On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction - 29), that is to be expected because SP involves measuring by ascertaining conductivity, while S_A involves calculating mass (H₂O and non-H₂O content) factors.

Fig. 5 WOD Zones with in situ data (blue squares)

The really sweet spot is the graph at Fig. 4 concerning thermal expansion values, calculated using the TEOS-10 toolkit (excluding uplift & subsidence).

The expansion / contraction pattern ends at 4.82% (8.92699 ÷ 185.157 = 0.048213084 ... 4.82%) of the PSMSL sea level value as recorded by tide gauge stations.

Regular readers know that for years Dredd Blog calculations of thermal expansion were based on a 5.1% value for thermal expansion (e.g. On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction).

That 5.1% was the percent left over after accounting for ice sheet loss (melt-water increase) and ghost water (gravity-held ocean water release) relocation (NASA Busts The Ghost).

The previous post in this series is here.

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