Cover for Inductively Coupled Salinometer

Date1940-2000

Object number00055917

NameCover

MediumWood, Metal, Plastic

DimensionsOverall: 525 × 720 × 295 mm

ClassificationsTools and equipment

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Defence Science and Technology Group

Collections

Ocean Science & Sustainability

Terms

Miscellaneous

DescriptionCover for Rectangular wooden box that stores a portable salinometer.HistoryData on ocean salinity is used to understand the earth's water cycle and ocean circulation patterns. Seawater density is determined by the salinity and temperature of the water sampled. Density is a crucial factor in the circulation of water currents globally. Salinity in large bodies of water are affected by the addition and removal of freshwater via precipitation, evaporation, melting and freezing of Polar Regions. The planet's climate is partially moderated by the circulation of the ocean. The oceanic carbon cycle that affects the water's carbon dioxide uptake and release is also affected by salinity. Therefore, keeping track of the ocean's salinity is a method for monitoring the changing planet. Salinometers came in various forms of instruments during the 19th and 20th century. Today, these types of measurements can be achieved in large scale via satellites using microwave radiation imagery to infer salinity. The inductive salinometer was developed in the 1950s and is an instrument for measuring the salinity of sea water to an accuracy of approximately 0·003 parts per mil. Various methods have been used in the past to measure the salinity of sea water. For example, a prior method used a titration process as a salinometer. It is now well established that the measurement of salinity by electrical conductivity constitutes an improved method over that of titration. The instrument is portable and does not require a temperature-controlled bath for the samples. It was updated in the 1970s and used at the C.S.I.R.O. Division of Fisheries and Oceanography, Cronulla, Sydney, before relocation to Hobart, Tasmania in the 1990s.