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Units in Physical Oceanography

Length 1 micrometer (mm; micron) ¼ 103 millimeter (mm) ¼ 106 meter (m)
1 centimeter (cm) ¼ 10 mm ¼ 102 m ¼ 0.3937 inches (in)
1 meter (m) ¼ 102 cm ¼ 39.37 in ¼ 3.281 feet (ft) ¼ 1.094 yards (yd)

1 kilometer (km) ¼ 103 m ¼ 0.5396 nautical mile (naut mi) ¼ 0.6214 statute mile (mi)
1 nautical mile ¼ 1 minute latitude ¼ 6080 ft ¼ 1.152 statute mi ¼ 1.8532 km
1 latitude ¼ 111.19 km; 1 longitude ¼ 111.19 cosj(latitude)j km
At 45 ; 1 longitude ¼ 78.62 km
1 cable ¼ 0.1 naut mi ¼ 608 ft ¼ 185.3 m
1 fathom (fm) ¼ 6 ft ¼ 1.8288 m

1 league ¼ 3040 fathoms ¼ 3 naut mi

1 inch (in) ¼ 2.54 cm; 12 in ¼ 1 ft; 36 in ¼ 1 yard
Area 1 square kilometer (km2) ¼ 106 m2 ¼ 100 hectares (ha) ¼ 0.386 mi2
1 ha ¼ 2.471 acres (ac)
1 square mile (mi2) ¼ 640 ac ¼ 259 ha
Volume 1 cubic meter (m3) ¼ 264.2 US gallon (gal) ¼ 220.0 imperial gal ¼ 35.314 ft3

1 litre (l) ¼ 103 ml ¼ 103 m3 ¼ 0.264 US gal ¼ 0.220 imperial gal

1 barrel (oil; bbl) ¼ 42 US gal ¼ 0.159 m3 ¼ 158.987 litres (l)
1 US gal ¼ 0.83 imperial gal
Time 1 hour (h) ¼ 3.6  103 seconds (s)
1 solar day ¼ 24 h ¼ 8.64  104 s
1 sidereal day ¼ 23 h, 56 min, 4 s

(Continued)

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666 UNITS IN PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY

(cont'd)
Mass 1 gram (g) ¼ 0.03527 ounces (oz) ¼ 0.03215 troy ounces
1 kilogram (kg) ¼ 103 g ¼ 2.205 lb; 1 pound (lb) ¼ 0.4536 kg
1 metric ton (tonne) ¼ 106 g ¼ 2205 lb ¼ 1.1025 ton
1 ton ¼ 2000 lb
Pressure 1 pascal (Pa) ¼ 1 newton/m2 (N/m2) ¼ 105 bar ¼ 104 decibar (dbar)

1 atmosphere (atm) ¼ 1.01325  105 Pa

1 bar ¼ 0.98692 atm ¼ 105 Pa ¼ 1.02 kg/cm2
1 millibar (mb) ¼ 103 bar ¼ 101 kPa ¼ 1 hPa
1 kPa ¼ 103 Pa ¼ 101 dbar ¼ 10 millibar (mb)
The inverse barometer effect: 1 mb drop in atmospheric sea surface pressure causes an approximately
1 cm rise in sea level (and vice versa).
Stress 1 dyn/cm2 ¼ 101 N/m2
1 kg/cm2 ¼ 0.96784 atm ¼ 14.2233 lb/in2

Speed 1 knot (nautical mi/h; kn) ¼ 0.5148 m/s ¼ 51.48 cm/s ¼ 44.48 km/day
1 meter per second (m/s) ¼ 2.24 statute mi/h ¼ 1.943 knots ¼ 86.4 km/day
1 (statute) mi/h ¼ 1.609 km/h ¼ 0.868 knots
Sound speed in water z 1482 m/s (T ¼ 5 C; S ¼ 34 psu; depth ¼ 1000 m)
Sound speed in air z 331.3 + 0.61 Tair m/s (Tair in  C)

Temperature F (Fahrenheit) ¼ 9/5  Celsius + 32

C (Celsius) ¼ ( F e 32)  5/9
K (kelvin) ¼  C + 273.15 (0 K ¼ absolute zero)
Dissolved O2 1 milliliter per liter (ml/l) ¼ 1.43 mg/l
1 ml/l z 43.3 mmol/kg (mmol/kg) for S ¼ 34.7 psu, T ¼ 3.5  C, st ¼ 27.96
1 mol ¼ a quantity of N0 atoms or molecules, where N0 ¼ 6.022∙1023 is Avogadro’s number. Atomic
weight is the weight of one mole of atoms, and molecular weight is the weight of one mole of molecules.
For example, the molecular weight of sodium chloride (N0 molecules of NaCl; i.e. 1 mol of sodium +
1 mol of chlorine) ¼ 22.990 + 35.453 ¼ 58.443 g.

Earth rotation u ¼ 0.72921  104 rad/s ¼ 0.04178 cycles/h (cph)

Earth gravity g ¼ 9.81 m/s2 ¼ 981 cm/s2 ¼ 32.1722 ft/s2 (has weak variation with latitude)
Force 1 newton (N) ¼ 1 kg m/s2 ¼ 105 dynes (dyn) ¼ 2.2 lb
Energy and power 1 (thermochemical) calorie (cal) ¼ 4.184 joules (J) ¼ 3.968  103 British thermal units (BTU; Btu; @ 60 F)
1 J ¼ 1 newton meter (N m) ¼ 107 ergs ¼ 0.2390 cal ¼ 2.78  107 kWh
1 watt (W) ¼ 1 joule per second (J/s) ¼ 1.341  103 horsepower (hp)

1 kilowatt hour (kWh) ¼ 3.6  106 J ¼ 3.41  103 Btu

1 hp ¼ 7.457  102 W
 UNITS IN PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY 667
(cont'd)
Geopotential 1 dynamic centimeter (dyne cm) ¼ 103 cm2/s2 z 1.02 cm
1 joule/kg (1 J/kg) ¼ 1 m2/s2 ¼ 10 dyne cm
Specific volume anomaly: d ¼ aS,T,P e a35,0,P where a ¼ r1 m3/kg
Geopotential anomaly (or dynamic height anomaly in the older literature):
Z P2
DFðorDDÞ ¼ FP2  FP1 ¼  ddP joules=kg
P1
Potential energy:
Z P2
PE ¼ g1 dðPÞPdP joules=m2
P1
Transport 1 sverdrup (Sv) ¼ 106 m3/s
Specific heat Liquid water: cp ¼ 4.1855 J/(g$K) ¼ 1 cal/g C (at 15  C, 101.325 kPa)
Capacity Air: cp ¼ 1.006 J/(g$K) (at 50 to 40  C; 101.325 kPa pressure)