Dear John
I'm not Don, but... I agree that names are necessary and more
reasonable (i.e., with both your points). I just don't think
making them part of the standard name scales *in an observing
framework*. The key point here is that I know what an instrument
(think 1000s of instruments in an observing system) can measure,
and I'm going to move the instrument to different places, and I
don't want to change the name of the measurement -- even the
standard name -- as the instruments move around. The
post-processors and modellers can do that if they want, but for
operational concerns it is an inappropriate linkage.
I understand, but I think in practice you would not have to change the stdname
for this reason often, would you? I'm guessing you're not likely to use the
same sensor and/or measurement technique for a quantity at sea level and at the
tropopause, for instance.
Best wishes
Jonathan
