decibar
Quick Summary
The decibar is a unit of pressure, equal to one-tenth of a bar. A bar is a unit of pressure equivalent to 100,000 pascals. The decibar is commonly used in oceanography to measure pressure at different depths, as pressure increases by approximately one decibar for every meter of depth in seawater. For context, standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is about 1013.25 millibars, or roughly 10.13 decibars. The decibel (dB), a related but distinct unit, is used to express ratios of power or intensity, often in acoustics and electronics, and is one-tenth of a bel.1234
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
