Four-digit millibar pressure reports don't report the least significant digit of atmospheric observations now.
TV weather people report pressure to two decimal places in inches of Hg after conversion from tenths of millibars. People are familiar with two decimal places in inches of Hg. So why not use and report kPa to two decimal places and avoid truncating and/or rounding which introduce errors? Stan Doore ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gene Mechtly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 3:53 PM Subject: [USMA:26890] Re: Non-SI metric units > On Sat, 6 Sep 2003, John S. Ward wrote: > > ... > > However, in daily use, I think that units like cm can be handy... > > The centimeter is a "submultiple" of the meter not a "unit" in its own > right according to the BIPM Brochure. I agree, the cm should not be > avoided in conversational use (e.g. clothing sizes) > > ... > > For starters, the SI unit of kPa is not as well suited for barometric > > pressure as the millibar. > > The kilopascal is a "multiple" of the pascal, not a "unit" in its own > right. > > > > It feels a lot more "human" to say 1014 millibars than 101.4 kPa. > > Even more "human" is to "say" 101 kilopascals. > > > ...it's simpler and more convenient to say someone is 181 cm tall than > > 1810 mm. > > Agreed. > > > ... I think you would be crazy to suggest farmers measure, buy, and sell > > land area with 7 digit numbers of meters sqaured... > > Not true for precision GPS farming. > > > Metric prefixes don't work with square meters. > > An alternative is "E notation" (e.g. 1.00 E 6 m^2.) > > Gene. > >
