The issue here is the user or consumer. Pilots have training in meteorology to get their ticket and so they are taught to read coded wx fcsts and obs including pressure without a decimal point.
Internal to computer systems for most of the last century, no decimal was included in transmissions. This was particularly true when teletype was used. The same is true today depending of the user. The decimal point is assumed according to communication protocols, display units and user. The public uses decimal points whereas automated systems mostly don't include them. This is and has been common practice worldwide for a least a century. Stan Doore ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph B. Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 11:11 AM Subject: [USMA:26904] Re: Non-SI metric units > Stan Doer wrote in USMA 26895: > > >Atmospheric pressure is observed (measured) to the nearest tenth of a mbar > >or a tenth of a hPa.. That's five digits. Standard atmospheric pressure is > >1013.25 mbar or 101.325 kPa or 1013.25 hPa. > > > >Hope this clarifies. > > > >Stan Doore > > > > This may seem to be contradictory, or at least, paradoxal. The > explanation is that 1013.25 hPa would be transmitted on the > aeronauical weather network simply as 01325, while 995.67 hPa would > be transmitted as 99657. Since these are transmitted in a standard > format there is no need of explanation or decimal point. > > > -- > Joseph B. Reid > 17 Glebe Road West > Toronto M5P 1C8 Telephone 416-486-6071 > >
