CGSbased

CGSbased is a descriptive label used in technical contexts to indicate that a system, dataset, library, or standard is anchored to the centimeter–gram–second (CGS) system of units rather than the SI units that predominate today. The term is not a formal standard in itself, but a shorthand for CGS-centric design.

The CGS system, established in the 19th century, defines base units of length, mass, and time as centimeter, gram, and second. Several CGS variants exist, notably CGS-ESU, CGS-EMU, and Gaussian (CGS Gaussian) for electromagnetism. While SI has become the global default, CGSbased conventions persist in certain historical datasets and specialized subfields, especially in classical magnetism, spectroscopy, and some older fluid-dynamics codes.

CGSbased implementations typically use non-SI derived units such as erg, dyne, poise, and gauss in magnetic contexts.

Today, CGSbased is mainly encountered in legacy software, archival data formats, or niche research communities. Modern tooling and standards increasingly favor SI, but CGSbased conventions remain relevant for historical literature and older numerical models.