Centibar

Unit of pressure

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Unit system	Metric
Unit of	Pressure
Symbol	cbar
Named after

The centibar (symbol: cbar) is a unit of pressure in the metric system. It is equal to one hundredth of a bar, or 1000 pascals (Pa). The centibar is commonly used in fields such as meteorology, hydrology, and soil science to measure pressure differences in the atmosphere, water, and soil.

Definition

The centibar is defined as:

1 cbar = 0.01 bar = 1000 Pa

The bar is a metric unit of pressure that is defined as exactly 100,000 pascals. Therefore, the centibar, being one hundredth of a bar, is equivalent to 1,000 pascals.

Usage

The centibar is often used in applications where small pressure differences need to be measured with precision. For example, in soil science, the centibar is used to measure soil water potential, which is an important factor in understanding water availability to plants. In meteorology, the centibar can be used to express atmospheric pressure changes, although the hectopascal (hPa) is more commonly used for this purpose.

Conversion

To convert centibars to other units of pressure, the following relationships can be used:

• 1 cbar = 1000 Pa
• 1 cbar = 0.01 bar
• 1 cbar = 0.01 atm (approximately)
• 1 cbar = 10 millibar (mbar)

History

The bar and its subunits, including the centibar, were introduced by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in the early 20th century. The bar was originally defined as a convenient unit of pressure close to atmospheric pressure at sea level, and the centibar was introduced as a smaller unit for more precise measurements.

Also see

• Bar (unit)
• Pascal (unit)
• Atmosphere (unit)
• Millibar
• Hectopascal