Joint SCOR/IAPSO/IAPWS Committee on the Properties of Seawater (JCS)
Seawater
One of the most critical elements for life on earth is water. The largest reservoir of water on Earth is seawater.
However, not only is water a very complicated fluid, but in the oceans about 3.5% of seawater mass is actually dissolved sea salt. The physical and chemical properties of seawater are greatly affected by the amount and types of these dissolved salts.
Quantifying these properties is essential to understanding and using the ocean. This not just important for ocean research. Seawater is also used in many industrial processes, and is becoming an increasingly important source of drinking water through desalination. Thus, descriptions of seawater can have political, legal and financial implications.
The Joint Committee on Seawater (JCS)
The Joint SCOR/IAPWS/IAPSO Committee on the Properties of Seawater (JCS) is a permanent international group whose purpose is to act as a “point of contact” for questions related to the properties of seawater. It is jointly sponsored by several organizations directly concerned with these properties:
the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research,
the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam, and
the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean.
JCS acts as a permanent source of expertise to its parent organizations, maintains a repository of knowledge and software for the scientific community, and is also a conduit for any desired communications between its parents and other international organizations.
This website
This website contains information about seawater and JCS, and provides links to information relevant to scientists, engineers, and others, that must deal with seawater.