Seawater pH measurements with a combination glass electrode and high ionic strength TRIS-TRIS HCl reference buffers - An uncertainty evaluation approach

Abstract

The comparison of pH measurements in seawater collected at different locations or occasions, is meaningful if the same measurand (i.e. the quantity intended to be measured) is determined, if adequate measurement procedures are used, including the selection of calibrators, and if the measurement uncertainty is known. Depending on the purpose of this evaluation, the measurement uncertainty should be smaller than a defined target value. The measured pH should have a sound physical-chemical meaning to allow the adequate assessment of its impacts. In the present procedure TRIS-TRIS HCl solutions, of different molality ratios, prepared in artificial seawater with reference values estimated by primary measurements, were used to obtain proper calibrators for the pH meter used for the analysis of seawater samples. This work presents the uncertainty evaluation of pH measurements in seawater, performed by potentiometry using a combination glass electrode, from the interpolation uncertainty evaluated by the Least Squares Regression Model and by Monte Carlo Simulations of measured potentials and reference values. The uncertainty evaluation was critically assessed. The developed algorithms were implemented in a user-friendly MS-Excel file available as Electronic Supplementary Material. Seawater pH was measured with an expanded uncertainty of 0.019 enabling discriminating differences of pH of two samples larger than 0.029.

Keywords: Least squares regression model; Monte Carlo method; Seawater; Uncertainty; pH.