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Measurement · Carbonate System · pH

pH

NERC P01 PHXXZZXXP06 units UUPH pHkey ph series ph
218,416
values
4,869
flagged
i
4,869 of these 218,416 values (2.2 %) are flagged by their provider as questionable or bad. The Explorer, the climatology and its anomalies leave them out; do the same when you read the data yourself (cc_qual_ok_sql() in calcofi4r, qual_ok_sql() in calcofi4py).
3,288
sampling events
2009–2026
years
1
dataset
1–1,037 m
depth
Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Oct · Nov
seasons
What

Minus the log of the hydrogen ion concentration (moles per litre) in the water column.

How
CTD sensor

A pH sensor on the CTD (model not on record)

CTD FAQ circa 2020 on calcofi.org ↗
Why

What are rates and impacts of ocean acidification?

CalCOFI holds 218,416 values of it from 3,288 sampling events in one dataset, 2009–2026, from the surface to 1,037 m.R Upwelling brings water that is naturally low in pH and carbonate onto the shelf; ocean acidification pushes it further toward water that is corrosive to shells.C

other ways to say why · 4
  • authored Lower pH means less carbonate in the water, and the shells of pteropods off California already show dissolution where corrosive water reaches the surface. needs a citation before it can be the pick
  • GOOS asks What are rates and impacts of ocean acidification? source
  • Wikipedia PH source
  • Wikipedia Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's ocean. Between 1950 and 2020, the average pH of the ocean surface fell from approximately 8.15 to 8.05. Ocean acidification · CC BY-SA 4.0 · rev. 1372947827

The measurement

Measured in
i

One row per series, one cell per year, darker with more values — the same strip the front door draws per dataset and a species page draws per taxon. Each row is one dataset's own measurement_type; the label is written once, in the title above.

  • CTD Cast Files 218,416 values · 3,288 sampling events · 2009–2026 · 1–1,037 m · 107 grid cells · 47 cruises
    series ph · source column p_h · flag column p_hq 4,869 flagged · 2.2 %

How it is measured

CTD Cast Files · CTD sensor
A pH sensor on the CTD (model not on record)

The CTD cast files carry a pH column with its own quality flag from 2009 onward; the scale (total, seawater or NBS) is not stated anywhere in the record. (calcofi.org CTD FAQ circa 2020)

flag p_hq4,869 flagged
CTD FAQ circa 2020 on calcofi.org ↗

Why it matters

The familiar scale
i

Bars are each series' 5th–95th percentile, the line its minimum to maximum, the ring its median; the marks are metadata/measurement_scale.csv's, each hovering to its own source.

The record’s own history
i

The release builds no climatology for this measurement, so there is no normal to draw a departure from.

Essential Ocean Variable
Inorganic carbon

the GOOS specification sheet for this Essential Ocean Variable lists it, and asks

GOOS asks

  • What are rates and impacts of ocean acidification?

GOOS specification sheet ↗ · quoted, not copied

The record

Ways in
i

Read from measurements.json of release v2026.10.14, written at release by calcofi4db::build_measurements_catalog() beside taxa.json. The catalog's index is /measurements/; the JSON-LD on this page is a schema.org/DefinedTerm in the NERC P01 term set with a PropertyValue per series.

ExplorerExplorer · a depth section vs normaldb-query
ERDDAP · CTD Cast FilesCalCOFI's own server, the CTD Cast Files table constrained to this series
https://erddap.calcofi.io/erddap/tabledap/calcofi_ctd-cast.html?&measurement_type=%22ph%22

By depth
i

Values per depth band at the release grain, one thin bar per series. The bands are the record's own (0-10 … 2000+ m).

By month
i

Values per calendar month, one row per series: CalCOFI's quarterly cruises show as peaks in the months the ships sail.

Range & quality

bounds6 … 9 pHobserved6.001 … 9 pHflagged4,869baselineclimatology ✓
details
bounds
The registry declares 6 … 9 pH for ph; a value outside it is dropped at the ingest (drop_out_of_bounds()).
observed
CTD Cast Files ph 6.001 · median 7.988 · 9 pH (5th–95th percentile 7.436–8.474)
flags
CTD Cast Files ph p_hq on 4,869 of 218,416 rows: 8 4,780 · 9 89; qual_ok keeps 213,547. The codes are this dataset's own vocabulary, uninterpreted.
baseline
A monthly climatology exists for this measurement (the release's climatology table: 1993–2013, dataset × station × the cruise's month × 10 m bin), so the Explorer can draw anomalies against it rather than values.

Cite

Cite the release; each dataset's own citation, licence and DOI are on its page — CTD Cast Files. The Explorer's Share → Cite writes it for the view you make.