Convert Foot (US Survey) (ft (US)) to Gigameter (Gm) instantly.
About these units
Foot (US Survey) (ft (US))
The US Survey Foot is a standardized version of the foot, defined as exactly 1200/3937 meters (~0.30480061 m). It was adopted to maintain continuity with older surveying records when converting to the metric system. Surveyors, engineers, and geographers in the United States used this unit for mapping, cadastral surveys, and infrastructure projects. Its slight difference from the international foot allows historical survey data to align accurately with modern geodetic coordinates. Although the international foot is now more common, the US survey foot remains relevant for interpreting historical survey data and legal property boundaries.
Gigameter (Gm)
A gigameter, one billion meters (10⁹ m), moves firmly into interplanetary territory. Astronomers use gigameters to express distances within the solar system, such as the average separation between planets or the orbital paths of spacecraft. For example, the Earth–Moon distance (~384,000 km) can be expressed as 0.384 Gm, and distances to nearby planets often fall in the range of tens or hundreds of gigameters depending on orbital positions. The gigameter is particularly useful in scientific models where distances are massive but still fall short of interstellar scales. It reduces the need for unwieldy scientific notation and gives researchers a manageable unit for calculations involving gravitational fields, orbital dynamics, and space mission planning.