Glossary and Conversion Factors for Water Resources Engineers

Abstract

Technical and legal terms commonly used by water resources engineers are introduced in this chapter. With the current trend toward metrication, the question of using a consistent system of units has been a problem. Wherever possible, the authors of this Handbook of Environmental Engineering series have used the US customary system (fps) along with the metric equivalent (SIU) or vice versa. For the convenience of the readers around the world, this book provides detailed conversion factors and glossary terms for water resources engineers. In addition, the basic and supplementary units, the derived units and quantities, important physical constants, the properties of water, and the periodic table of the elements are also presented in this chapter [1–3].