unit_args function

Print examples of unit inputs

This is a basic function with no inputs. It prints to the console the units that can be used in the functions convert_DO(), convert_MR(), convert_rate(), and convert_rate.ft().

unit_args()

Returns

A print out to the console of accepted units

Details

Note that some oxygen unit conversions require temperature (t), salinity (S), and atmospheric pressure (P) to be specified.

Note the difference between percent air saturation (%Air), where air saturated water is ~100%, and percent oxygen saturation (%Oxy), where air saturated water is ~20.946% oxygen saturated. In other words, %Oxy = %Air x 0.20946.

For most units a fuzzy string matching algorithm is used to accept different formatting styles. For example, "mg/l", "mg/L", "mgL-1", "mg l-1", "mg.l-1" are all parsed the same.

convert_DO()

Oxygen concentration or pressure units for from and to:

Oxygen concentration units. Should use SI units (L or kg) for the denominator.

Do NOT require t, S and P for conversions:

• "mg/L", "ug/L", "mol/L", "mmol/L", "umol/L", "nmol/L", "pmol/L"

Require t, S and P for conversions:

• "uL/L", "mL/L", "mm3/L", "cm3/L", "mg/kg", "ug/kg", "mol/kg", "mmol/kg", "umol/kg", "nmol/kg", "pmol/kg", "uL/kg", "mL/kg", "ppm" (i.e. parts per million, equivalent to mg/kg).

Percentage saturations (require t, S and P):

"%Air" (i.e. % Air Saturation), "%Oxy" (i.e. % Oxygen Saturation)

Pressure units (require t, S and P):

"Torr", "hPa", "kPa", "mmHg", "inHg"

convert_rate() and convert_rate.ft()

Oxygen concentration or pressure units for oxy.unit:

See above.

Time units for time.unit or as part of flowrate.unit:

• "sec", "min", "hour", "day"

Volume units for use as part of flowrate.unit (convert_rate.ft only):

For example, in 'ml/min', 'L/s', etc.

• "uL", "mL", "L"

Metabolic rate units

Combining units for output.unit in convert_rate() and convert_rate.ft(), or for use in convert_MR(), must follow these orders:

• Absolute rates: Oxygen/Time e.g. "mg/s", "umol/min", "mL/h"
• Mass-specific rates: Oxygen/Time/Mass e.g. "mg/s/ug", "umol/min/g", "mL/h/kg"
• Area-specific rates: Oxygen/Time/Area e.g. "mg/s/mm2", "umol/min/cm2", "mL/h/m2"

Oxygen amount units:

• "ug", "mg", "pmol", "nmol", "umol", "mmol", "mol", "uL", "mL", "mm3", "cm3"

Note "mm3" and "cm3" (i.e. cc) are used in some older publications. These are equivalent to "uL" and "mL" respectively.

Time units:

• "sec", "min", "hour", "day"

Mass units for mass-specific rates:

• "ug", "mg", "g", "kg"

Area units for area-specific rates:

• "mm2", "cm2", "m2", "km2"

Examples

# Run the function:
unit_args()