To describe the quantity of dissolved matter in the Dead Sea water we traditionally used the water density recomputed for a fixed temperature instead of salinity, very commonly used in oceanography. A comprehensive explanation for this substitution may be found in (Anati, 1997).
For convenience we use an anomaly of water density (recomputed for 25º C) from 1000 kg/m³ and call this characteristic quasi-salinity.
Water densities in the database during the first two years were measured by picnometry with a relative precision of 0.02 kg/m³ and absolute accuracy of 0.1 kg/m³ (Anati, 1997).
Since the 21 Aug 2000 cruise water density measurements were carried out by A. Sokolov with a using DMA-5000 densimeter (relative precision 0.001 kg/m³ and absolute accuracy 0.05 kg/m³) under the supervision Prof. B. Krumgalz.
Comparison of the results of the DMA-5000 measurements with the results of the picnometry demonstrated agreement within the limits of picnometry accuracy.