standard units in eml

[Tim Bergsma]

Regarding units...

I see several listed in eml-attribute that I've never seen used
anywhere, such as centisecond and hectosecond.

There should be at least a base type for all the irreducible physical
measurements.  I see length, mass, time, temperature, BUT NOT energy
(joule, calorie; okay, its really a derived type, for you purists) force
(e.g. newton) or magnetism (tesla).  (Hey, migratory birds respond to
magnetic fields, don't they?) 

Candidates in the common but derived category are area (square meter)
speed (meter per second, e.g. streamflow) pressure (kiloPascal)
electrical charge (coulomb) power (watt) electrical potential (volt)
electrical resistance (ohm) and radioactivity (suggestions anyone?  for
ecological research near nuke plants).  The electrical stuff may seem
arcane, but electrical conductivity of stream water is a common
ecological measurement, and is defined in terms of electrical resistance
and length (e.g. megohm*cm).

Just for fun, I'll argue that mole is not a unit.  It's just a number. 
You can as easily have a mole of photons (6.023 * 10^23 photons = 1
Einstein) as a mole of carbon12 atoms (= 1 gram).  Where unqualified, I
guess mole of molecules is implied.

Tim.

Matt Jones wrote:
> 
> Just a quick reminder -- we have a standard list of units in eml defined
> in the STMML language, and part of the "unitDictionary" simpleType in
> eml-attribute.xsd.  These are the SI units plus a few additional
> commonly used non-si things.  it would be useful if you reviewed the
> list and suggested any additions or changes before the RC1 release.
> Today would be good so we can incorporate feedback into RC1!  Thanks.
> 
> Matt
> --
> *******************************************************************
> Matt Jones                                    jones at nceas.ucsb.edu
> http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/    Fax: 425-920-2439   Ph: 907-789-0496
> National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
> 
> Interested in ecological informatics? http://www.ecoinformatics.org
> *******************************************************************
> 
> _______________________________________________
> eml-dev mailing list
> eml-dev at ecoinformatics.org
> http://www.ecoinformatics.org/mailman/listinfo/eml-dev

-- 
Tim Bergsma
LTER Information Manager
W.K. Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, MI   49060
616/671-2337
tbergsma at kbs.msu.edu
http://lter.kbs.msu.edu