Salinity
Salinity - Practical Salinity Scale 1978 (QC'd)
PSS-78key salinityNERC P01 PSLTZZ01P06 units PSUXone key across 2 datasetsseries salinity · salinity_ave_corr
CalCOFI holds 1,534,131 values of it from 44,402 sampling events in 2 datasets, 1949–2026, from the surface to 5,351 m. At 200–500 m it has risen 0.01 per decade since 1984.R Salinity tags the water masses: the California Current carries fresher Subarctic water south and the Undercurrent carries saltier water from the south; with temperature it sets density.C
- 1,534,131
- values
- 1,825
- flagged
i
1,825 of these 1,534,131 values (0.1 %) 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). - 1949–2026
- years
- 2
- datasets
- 0–5,351 m
- depth
- every month
- months
Measured in
2 datasets
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.
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.
-
series
salinity· source columnsalnty· flag columns_qual1,825 flagged · 0.2 % -
series
salinity_ave_corr· source columnsalt_ave_corr· flag columnsalt_ave_corr_q· PSU sensor meanAverage salinity corrected
Explorera depth section vs normaldb-queryERDDAPThis page as JSON R · Python · Parquet
Every way in 9 ways · ERDDAP · Parquet · R · Python · JSON
Read from measurements.json of release v2026.10.21, 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-querySELECT * FROM read_json('…/v2026.10.21/catalog.json')
-- objects[] WHERE table = 'obs_env'
-- AND partition_value = 'salinity'
-- | 'salinity_ave_corr'library(calcofi4r)
con <- cc_get_db() # the promoted release
tbl(con, "obs_env") |> filter(measurement_type %in% c("salinity", "salinity_ave_corr"))import calcofi4py as cc
con = cc.cc_get_db()
con.sql("SELECT * FROM obs_env WHERE measurement_type IN ('salinity', 'salinity_ave_corr')").df()The structure 2 structures
ChEBI: “A sulfur oxoanion obtained by deprotonation of both OH groups of sulfuric acid.” · RDKit 2026.03.6 from the ChEBI molfile, in the page’s ink · CC BY 4.0. ChEBI’s roles are never shown.
How it is measured Guildline Portasal 8410A salinometer, two per cruise
About 225 mL drawn from every Niskin into a numbered KIMAX bottle after three rinses; a Guildline Portasal 8410A salinometer compares the sample's conductivity with a reference seawater standard and salinity is computed from the ratio. (calcofi.org Bottle sampling methods)
Bottle sampling methods on calcofi.org ↗Why it matters 4 ways to say it · EOV Subsurface salinity
the GOOS specification sheet for this Essential Ocean Variable lists it
other ways to say why · 3
- Salinity and temperature together set seawater’s density, which drives the currents and decides how deep winter mixing reaches. needs a citation before it can be the pick
- Wikipedia Water mass source
- Wikipedia Salinity is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water. It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg. Salinity · CC BY-SA 4.0 · rev. 1368851206
The record’s own history 7 depth bands against the 1993–2013 normal
Each year against the normal i
Deeper than the climatology reaches: 7,207 values at 2000+ m have no
normal to depart from, because the release’s climatology stops at its
deepest built bin. Carrying it to the bottom is one argument of
build_climatology() and puts these bands on the page too.
i
Deeper than the climatology reaches: 7,207 values at 2000+ m have no
normal to depart from, because the release’s climatology stops at its
deepest built bin. Carrying it to the bottom is one argument of
build_climatology() and puts these bands on the page too.
Units and range PSS-78 · 0 … 45 declared · 1,825 flagged
PSS-78 · P06 units PSUX
details
- bounds
- The registry declares
0 … 45 PSS-78forsalinity · salinity_ave_corr; a value outside it is dropped at the ingest (drop_out_of_bounds()). - observed
- Hydrographic Bottle
salinity24.19 · median 33.86 · 37.03 PSS-78 (5th–95th percentile 33.11–34.51)
CTD Cast Filessalinity_ave_corr14.29 · median 33.98 · 39.19 PSU (5th–95th percentile 33.1–34.29) - flags
- Hydrographic Bottle
salinitys_qualon 37,377 of 848,013 rows:41 ·51 ·635,550 ·81,825; qual_ok keeps 846,188. The codes are this dataset's own vocabulary, uninterpreted.
CTD Cast Filessalinity_ave_corrcarries no quality code at the release grain (its source column issalt_ave_corr_q); qual_ok keeps all 686,118. - 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.
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.
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.
By depth · by month 0–5,351 m · every month
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).
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.
i
Values per calendar month, one row per series: CalCOFI's quarterly cruises show as peaks in the months the ships sail.
Cite the release, v2026.10.21
Cite the release; each dataset's own citation, licence and DOI are on its page — Hydrographic Bottle, CTD Cast Files. The Explorer's Share → Cite writes it for the view you make.