Use the CATS() function to convert the current variable into a string. Then use the INPUT() function to convert that to a number.
data have ;
latitude='56.3';
run;
data want;
set have;
number=input(cats(latitude),32.);
drop latitude;
rename number=latitude;
run;
data have ;
latitude=56.3;
run;
data want;
set have;
number=input(cats(latitude),32.);
drop latitude;
rename number=latitude;
run;
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