New equation of state of seawater( VIRGINIA KEY Fla. Seawater is a com...)

VIRGINIA KEY, Fla. Seawater is a complex, dynamic mixture of dissolved minerals, salts, and organic materials that despite scientists best efforts, presents difficulties in measuring its potential to contain and disperse energy. Like the water itself, the calculations scientists employ to measure seawater are fluid, undergoing significant revisions and clarifications over the years as research techniques and instrumentation continues to evolve.

For 30 years, scientists have relied on a series of equations called International Equation of State of Seawater or EOS-80, a collective term representing more than three decades of oceanographic best practice information from the early 1980's to present. Now, based on new oceanographic research, scientists have begun adopting a fresh approach to seawater thermodynamics, based in part by the work of University of Miami (UM) researcher, Dr. Frank Millero. Referred to collectively as the "Thermodynamic Equation Of Seawater 2010," or "TEOS-10" for short, a new set of highly accurate and comprehensive formulas are beginning to provide much-needed adjustments and clarifications to the widely used EOS-80, that may be accepted internationally as early as 2010.

A member of the original committee that established the EOS-80, and a major contributor to and publisher of its latest revisions, UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Professor Millero, is a leading force in oceanic chemistry research. His work alongside scientists from the across the United States, Canada, Europe, Great Britain, Australia and China is helping to guide the comprehensive reevaluation and construction of a set of equations that may well usher in sweeping advancements in the fields of marine and atmospheric science.

The Practical Salinity Scale, or PSS-78, and the previous International Equation of State of Seawater, which expresses the density of seawater as a function of Practical Salinity, temperature and
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