User defined units

You can define your own units. The most useful way to do this is to derive from SIfactor, like this:

(defunit [mph] SIfactor 
       "Miles per hour.  
A speed unit in common use in the USA."    
       (length 1)    
       (time -1)       
       (factor 0.44704))

The factor is the number you should multiply with to convert to SI base units, in this case [m/s].

The new unit can be used for any parameter that accepts the same SI base. For example, since irrigation is usually specified in [mm/h], which has the same SI base, you can use the newly defined [mph] instead. 

(irrigate_overhead 1e-6 [mph])

You can also derive from an existing unit, like this:  

(defunit [mph] [mm/h]    
  "Miles per hour.  
A speed unit in common use in USA."    
  (factor 0.44704))

This saves you from specifying the dimensions (length and time). However, note that factor remains the same. It should still specify how to convert to the SI base units [m/s].

See the reference manual for a full list of SI dimensions and base units.

You can also define your own base and derived units, independently of the eight SI defined dimensions. 

(defunit EUR base "European currency.")    
      (defunit EUcent factor     
      "European cents."     
         (base EUR)     
         (factor 0.01))

However, there is little point in doing this, as none of the existing Daisy code expects these units.

Caveat

When converting between units, only the 8 SI dimensions are considered. This mean that Daisy will happily convert [kg N/ha] to [g C/m^2], and worse, that Daisy will consider the convertion factor between [kg NO3] and [kg NO3-N] to be 1.0, as both have the same SI base [kg].