Convert between units of flow volume

This function converts between units of flow (volumetric throughput), designed mainly for hydrology applications. As a special case, this function can also convert units of volume or units of depth (length).

convertFlow(
  x,
  from = "mm",
  to = "mm",
  area.km2 = -1,
  timestep.default = "days"
)

Arguments

x

a numeric vector or time series.

from

units to convert from (see Details).

to

units to convert into (see Details).

area.km2

area (in square kilometres) that flow volume is averaged over. This must be given when converting between measures of depth and measures of volume.

timestep.default

the time step if not specified in from or to.

Value

the original object x, scaled.

Details

This function can convert flow rates between different volume units, or different timestep units, or both. Volume can be specified directly, or as a depth and area combination.

The unit specifications from and to can include a time step, like "volume / timestep". A multiplier may also be included with the time step, like "volume / N timesteps". If no time step is specified in from and to, then it is taken to be timestep.default.

The volume units supported are: (these can be abbreviated)

mL, cL, dL, L, daL, hL, kL, ML, GL, TL

cm^3, dm^3, m^3, km^3, ft^3

The depth units supported are: (these can be abbreviated)

mm, cm, metres, km, inches, feet

The time units supported are: (these can be abbreviated)

ms, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years / annum

Additionally, the value "cumecs" (cubic metres per second) is equivalent to "m^3/sec".

Warning

The time step "year" refers to the average length of a year, i.e. 365.25 days (one annum). Similarly, the time step "month" refers to the average length of a month, i.e. 365.25 / 12 = 30.4375 days.

See also

difftime

Author

Felix Andrews felix@nfrac.org

Examples

flowML <- c(0, 1, 100, 10)
## from megalitres per day to gigalitres per year
convertFlow(flowML, from = "ML / day", to = "GL / yr")
#> [1]  0.00000  0.36525 36.52500  3.65250
## from ML/step to mm/step averaged over 50 km^2
convertFlow(flowML, from = "ML", to = "mm", area = 50)
#> [1] 0.00 0.02 2.00 0.20
## from ML/day to cubic metres per second
(flowCM <- convertFlow(flowML, from = "ML/day", to = "m^3/sec"))
#> [1] 0.00000000 0.01157407 1.15740741 0.11574074
## from cubic metres per second to mm/minute averaged over 0.1 km^2
convertFlow(flowCM, from = "cumecs", to = "mm/15min", area = 0.1)
#> [1]  0.0000000  0.1041667 10.4166667  1.0416667
## 100 mm in inches
convertFlow(100, to = "in")
#> [1] 3.937008