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Abbreviations

Abbreviations, symbols and units

/ per
% per cent
° E degree(s) east
° N degree(s) north
° S degree(s) south
° W degree(s) west
°C degree(s) Celsius
CC closed corporation
CO2 carbon dioxide
F fluoride
h hour(s)
ha hectare(s) = 0.01 square kilometres
g gram(s)
l litre(s)
m metre(s)
m2 square metre(s)
m3 cubic metre(s)
masl metre(s) above sea level
mbsl metre(s) below sea level
mya million years ago
NGO non-governmental organisation
N$ Namibian dollar(s)
NDVI normalised difference
vegetation index
NO3 nitrate
PLAN People's Liberation Army of Namibia
Pty propriety
s second(s)
SADF South African Defence Force
SO4 sulfate
SWANU South West Africa National Union
SWAPO South West Africa People’s Organisation
t tonne(s) = metric ton(s) =
1,000 kilograms
TDS total dissolved solids
UN United Nations
V volt(s)
W watt(s)
Wh watt-hour(s)

Metric prefixes

Prefix Symbol Factor Power Example
nano n 0.000,000,001 10-9 ns = nanosecond
micro μ 0.000,001 10-6 μg = microgram
milli m 0.001 10-3 mm = millimetre
centi c 0.01 10-2 cm = centimetre
(none)   1 100 m = metre
kilo k 1,000 103 km = kilometre
mega M 1,000,000 106 Mm3 = million (or mega) cubic metre
giga G 1,000,000,000 109 GWh = gigawatt-hour
tera T 1,000,000,000,000 1012 TWh = terawatt-hour