20041215: yet another units question...

Tom,

>Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 10:45:54 -0600
>From: Tom Whittaker <address@hidden>
>Organization: University of Wisconsin
>To: Steve Emmerson <address@hidden>
>Subject: yet another units question...

The above message contained the following:

> Gosh, two emails from me in one week!

I'm honored.

> One of our users is trying to use "decibel" as a unit.

Neither the UDUNITS package nor the units subsystem in VisAD support
logarithmic units.  Adding such support is on my list.

> I find it in udunits 
> "Units.c" -- reference:
> 
> <http://www.atd.ucar.edu/~granger/dataspace/api/Units_8cc-source.html>

That's not my stuff.

> but I don't find it (or "bel") in "UnitTable.java" or "SI.java"...so, now I'm 
> curious -- what's going on?  Is it one of these "not really a unit" things?

Logarithmic units are units.  They're just not supported (yet).

> I looked a BIPM and found this:
> 
> <http://www1.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter4/4-1.html>
> 
> Thanks, as always!
> 
> tom
> 
> -- 
> Tom Whittaker (address@hidden)
> University of Wisconsin-Madison
> Space Science and Engineering Center
> Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies
> Phone/VoiceMail: 608.262.2759

Regards,
Steve Emmerson