Questionable "Scientific" Papers - 18

Fig. 1 TEOS-10 Compliant Paper

I am happy to post, today, that a scientific paper published in Science Advances is an advance in science (Science Advances glacial melt feedback loop, Science Advances 18 Apr 2018: Vol. 4, no. 4, eaap9467, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aap9467).

I say that because it is the second paper I have found that uses the new scientific standard for thermodynamic properties of sea water (Fig. 1, cf 1st paper).

Those thermodynamic properties are set forth in a well researched and presented standard (Thermodynamic Equation Of Seawater - 2010,  a.k.a. "TEOS-10").

One advantage of using the new thermodynamic standard is that researchers will be on the same page when using the new terms of the standard as that paper does (e.g. "Conservative Temperature" and "Absolute Salinity").

Another advantage is that the new standard is more accurate than the previous standard.

The official site explains it this way:

"TEOS-10 is based on a Gibbs function formulation from which all thermodynamic properties of seawater (density, enthalpy, entropy sound speed, etc.) can be derived in a thermodynamically consistent manner. TEOS-10 was adopted by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at its 25th Assembly in June 2009 [PDF] to replace EOS-80 as the official description of seawater and ice properties in marine science."

(TEOS-10 Website). Regular readers know that Dredd Blog has been using this standard too.

The way I have used the new standard is to implement the software libraries that are graciously shared with researchers as a public service (TEOS-10 Software Download).

My first subject matter application of TEOS-10 was to use it to begin to further study the hypothesis of thermosteric sea level change (Golden 23 Zones Meet TEOS-10).

I am more adept at its usage now, about a year later, which has led to some interesting applications of WOD, PSMSL, and NSIDC data (e.g. On Thermal Expansion & Thermal Contraction - 29; Antarctica 2.0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & supplements A, B, C, D, E, F).

So, this episode of this series is a congratulation to those whose papers use the new standard.

It is also a criticism of those who write about the thermodynamics of sea water but do not use the new standard.

The previous post in this series is here.