Why We Calibrate

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Three Important Concepts
• Metrology:
– The science of measurement. Every activity that touches
measurement as a science, from the theoretical to the
practical, belongs to the field of metrology.
• Calibration:
– An operation to establish a relation between a known and an
unknown and quantify the relation.
• Calibration Service:
– Steps taken in addition those in a calibration to better serve the
user such as record as found data, remove errors through
adjustment, provide as left data, etc.
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 Introduction: Why We Calibrate
• Why is calibration (metrology) so important?
– Because we are a technological society and our society involves
measurements. We need these measurements to be accurate
and compatible.
• Rate – clocks, speedometers
• Dimensions – carpet, sod, building projects
• Commercial transactions – scales, volume
• Standardization – threads, metrication
• Navigation – GPS, LORAN
– In ancient Egypt (3000 BCE), failure by site architects to
maintain calibration of the royal unit of length at each full
moon was punishable by death.
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In The US Responsibility is Divided Into Two Paths
– Commercial/Legal Metrology: Assigned to the individual state
level by an office of weights and measures answerable to NIST.
• The state office generally functions under the departments of
commerce or agriculture, depending on state traditions.
• The primary purpose is to ensure equity in trade.
• Scales, fuel transactions, price scanners, packaging, etc.
– Technical/Industrial metrology in the US is not regulated.
• Driven by the economic sector or federal code involved in the
transaction.
• Requires standardization agreements between buyer and seller.
• Monitored by audit and/or third party accreditation.

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 Example: Commercial /Legal Path
Utah Office of
Weights &
Measures

Utah Dept of
Agriculture
Rules Apply

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 Example: Technical/Industrial Path
Northrop
Grumman
North Salt
Lake City &
Brigham City
United States
Department
of Defense
Rules Apply

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 In Summary
– Commercial/Legal Metrology still falls under the pervue of
NIST but then flows officially to the government of each
state. Legal metrology pertains only to metrology relating to
commerce such as scales and fuel pumps.
– Technical/Industrial metrology is governed by rules
established by the parties involved and operates through
agreement and oversight. If one of the the parties is a
branch or department of the federal government then the
rules are generally expressed as laws or in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR).
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 US Calibration Structure

QUESTIONS?

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Some examples of misunderstood measurement
needs that resulted in new regulations
– Vaccine storage: It was believed that vaccines were being
destroyed through spoilage. Experimentation demonstrated
that the vaccines were being killed by freezing.
– For many years, food storage temperatures were monitored
with LIG thermometers because recording thermometers
were misunderstood. Several spoilage events were found to
have occurred overnight that caused widespread sickness
leading to the acceptance of recording thermometers.

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Some examples of misunderstood measurement
needs that resulted in new regulations
– In the 1950s it was learned
that car speedometers were
very inaccurate leading to
the need for state police and
highway patrol agencies to
obtain “certified
speedometers.”

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 Notice the difference between the 2 speedos

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 Now we have GPS, Radar, Doppler, Lidar, etc.

Instantaneous position
measurements are about
±3 meters. Depending on
the interval over which a
vehicle’s speed is
calculated the accuracy
of the speed can be
essentially perfect (as far
as obeying the speed
limit is concerned).

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 History of GPS Accuracy & Usefulness
SELECTIVE AVALABILITY

The GPS errors can be seen

diminishing significantly
around 0405 UTC, 2 May
2000 (shortly after
midnight EDT). The data
indicates a circular error of
only 2.8 meters and a
spherical error of 4.6
meters during the first few
hours of SA-free operation.

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 Some examples of how technology has placed
sophisticated tools in the hands of the hobbyist
– ThermoWorks thermometers: professional accuracy at
reasonable prices.
– Many more commercial-type kitchen installations in homes.
– Laser levels for the home DIYer.
– Laser miter saws and table saws for the home DIYer.
– Strain gauge torque wrenches for the shade tree mechanic.
– Digital measurement tools available at entry level prices for
the home DIYer and shade tree mechanic.
– Etc…
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 So, who wants accurate measurements?
– Aircraft manufacturers – Independent cal labs
– Airlines – Instrument manufacturers
– Automotive manufacturers – Oil Companies
– Drug companies – State governments
– Tool makers
– Federal government
– Universities
– Food service
– Utilities
– Hospitals – Every day people
The question is really, who doesn’t want accurate
measurements?
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 Calibration

QUESTIONS?

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 Before we calibrate we need a basis
• The basis comes from the top two tiers
– Research laboratory.
• Metrological research, unique and/or unusual calibrations.
– Primary laboratory.
• Research and calibrations of primary standards.
– Secondary laboratory.
• Calibration of secondary and working standards.
– Calibration laboratory.
• Calibration of working standards, production, and volume
calibrations.

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 Agreement of procedures
• Documentary standards and procedure development
– Research & primary laboratories, standardization bodies.
• National metrology institutes: NIST*, NPL, NIM, BIPM*, etc
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)*
• European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET)*
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• National Conference of Standards Laboratories (NCSL)

*Very important organizations in the temperature community.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• What is a measurement standard?
• What is the SI?
• What is calibration?
• What is traceability?
• Why is traceability necessary?
• How is traceability proven?

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Fundamental concept – every unit of measurement has:
– A definition: an exact comprehensible statement explaining what
the unit is or what it means, often contains an equation.
– A realization: a physical embodiment of the definition, either in
the form of an instrument or experiment. May be difficult and/or
impractical to implement.
– A representation: a physical device (or experiment) related to the
definition and realization. Should be relatively straightforward and
practical to implement. May be based on entirely different
physics.
– The representation of the unit of measurement is referred to as
the standard.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Fundamental concept – the ideal standard:
– The definition is physically and mathematically correct.
– A realization of that definition is physically practical.
– A representation based on that realization can be designed
into a physical instrument or experiment.
– The experiment can be easily reproduced and scaled up or
down with no loss of accuracy or precision.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Fundamental concept – an actual standard:
– The definition is accepted even if we know it has flaws.
– A realization of that definition is physically practical.
– A representation based on that realization can be designed
into a physical instrument or experiment.
– The experiment can be fairly easily reproduced and scaled
up or down with acceptable losses in accuracy and precision.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Example – unit of length (meter)
– Definition: the length of the path travelled by light in a
vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 S.
– Realization: measurements of laser frequencies, f, in terms
of a cesium clock through the use of complicated
experiments.
– Representation: iodine stabilized helium-neon (HeNe) laser.
– Scaling: laser interferometer, coordinate measuring machine.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• So, what is a measurement standard?
– The definition is not clear:
• The VIM suggests that a measurement standard is the realization of
the definition of the unit.
• We understand it to be an embodiment of the representation of the
unit
– A more common vernacular meaning is the instrument that
embodies the reference we’re referring to in the context of
the current discussion.
• An instrument might be a device under test in one context and a
reference standard in another.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Types of measurement standard
– Artifact – calibrated instrument where the “standardness”
comes from calibration.
– Intrinsic standard – embodiment of a physical phenomena.
– Ratio standard – unit less linearity standard used for scaling.
– Derived standard – mathematically related to other
standards.
– Consensus standard – no SI unit but agreed to by consensus.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• The International System of Units
– Convention of the meter was signed in 1875 and the BIPM
was founded.
– Specialist measurement groups (called consultative
committees) were established in 1927 to standardize units.
– These CCs began working on the units immediately and units
began to be accepted.
– In 1960 the international system of units as we know it today
took shape.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Current SI
QUANTITY UNIT BASIS YEAR
Vibrations of cesium
TIME SECOND 1967-1997
133 atom
Speed of light,
LENGTH METER 1983
second

LUMINOUS INTENSITY CANDELA Frequency, watt 1979

THERMODYNAMIC Boltzmann Constant

KELVIN 2019
TEMPERATURE k

MASS KILOGRAM Plank constant h 2019

ELECTRIC CURRENT AMPERE Elementary Charge e 2019

AMOUNT OF
MOLE Carbon 12, kg 1980
SUBSTANCE

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Relationships
among the SI
units

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• What is calibration?
– The practical aspect of metrology
– Working definition: compares a device under test to a known
reference with the purpose of quantifying a difference.

– Formal definition: operation that, under specified conditions, in a first

step, establishes a relation between the quantity values with
measurement uncertainties provided by measurement standards and
corresponding indications with associated uncertainties and, in a
second step, uses this information to establish a relation for obtaining
a measurement result from an indication.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Two types of calibration
– Absolute calibration
• The device under test is subjected to exposure or excitation by a
physically defined standard such as an intrinsic standard.
• This method is generally accepted to be the most accurate
approach when applied in a rigorous manner.
– Comparison calibration
• The device is compared to a device of superior accuracy.
• Makes use of a reference standard and comparison or support
instruments.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• What is traceability?
– The pedigree of the measurement
– Working definition: an unbroken chain of comparisons from the
device in question to the SI, all having stated uncertainties and
for which timelines have been observed.
– Formal definition: the property of the measurement whereby it
can be shown through an unbroken documented chain of
calibrations to be related to a reference, usually a reference
maintained by a national metrology institute (NMI) or some
physical constant such as a thermometric fixed point cell.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• How is traceability established and maintained?
– Physical calibration
• In-house or out-of-house.
• Frequent intercomparisons.
• Use of redundant standards.
– Documentation
• Written procedures or descriptions of work are required.
• Uncertainty analysis is required.
• Documentation of results is required

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Traceability
chain
Figure 1 Metrology in
Short 3rd Edition

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Why is traceability necessary?
– Customers, governments, regulators, reality…
• Compatibility – screw threads, recipes, test results, construction,
etc.
• Regulatory – government contracts, FDA regulations, safety, etc..
• Legal (trade) – the buyer and seller agree on the quantity changing
hands.
– What about our traceability?
• In the lab?
• With our products
• With our OEMs

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Demonstrating traceability
– Paper trail
• Certificates from the device in question back to the SI or an accredited
lab.
• Uncertainties must be included on ALL certificates.
• Measurement traceability flow chart as a summary of the above
provided the above are available.
– What doesn’t satisfy the requirement
• A list of reference standard serial numbers with no supporting
documentation.
• Certificates without data and or lacking uncertainties.
• NIST test numbers.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• What is reverse traceability?
– A technique for back tracing the instruments touched by a
reference standard.
– Necessary when a reference standard fails or is otherwise under
question (calibration failure analysis)
– Requires thorough record keeping and some method of vector
analysis built in to the calibration management software.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• What is measurement uncertainty?
– An estimate of the probable limits of error in the measurement.
– Working definition: a quantitative value of the quality of the
measurement given in either fractional units or the units of
measurement.
– Formal definition: non-negative parameter characterizing the
dispersion of the quantity values being attributed to a
measurand, based on the information used. (Measurement
uncertainty comprises, in general, many components which
must be evaluated and characterized based on rules.)

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Uncertainty evaluation
– Rigorous technique used to estimate the uncertainties in the
measurement.
• One must have a thorough understanding of the physics, mechanics,
and/or mathematics of the measurement.
• Statistical analysis should be used to capture unexpected and non
quantifiable variations in the process.
– Final uncertainty figures provide a boundary interval that should
capture the true value.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Uncertainty (error) propagation
– Measurement error defined
• In the world of measurement the term “error” is not synonymous with
the term “mistake”. We have chosen the term “blunder” for this concept.
• Measurement error has a specific mathematical definition:
measurement error = measured value − reference value

– Conceptually, any errors in a measurement, like errors in a story,

propagate as the measurements (or story) are passed on.
• The problem is we don’t know the exact nature of the error vector, we
only have an estimate of the uncertainty. We must base our propagation
extrapolations on this estimate and probability theory.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Limiting propagation
– Test uncertainty ratio (TUR)
• The traditional method for limiting the propagation is controlling the level
of uncertainty the reference standards and calibration can contribute to
the DUT through instrument selection.
• A 4:1 TUR is the accepted norm in the technical metrology community
and 3:1 is the accepted norm in the legal metrology community.
– Risk analysis calculations.
• The TUR is a 1st order approximation and as TURs approach 1:1 this
technique produces erroneous results.
• An emerging technique is to actually calculate consumer and producer
risk directly using accepted equation and limit the risk as required.
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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Tolerance status
– In tolerance
• A DUT is considered in tolerance when all tested parameters meet the
pass/fail criteria established in the calibration instruction.
• In tolerance instruments may or may not have adjustments performed
depending on closeness to limits, policy, and customer agreements.
– Out of tolerance
• A DUT is considered out of tolerance when any tested parameter is
beyond the pass/fail criteria established in the calibration instruction.
• A good calibration program requires out of tolerance instruments to be
adjustment unless proscribed by customer restriction.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Adjustment/Alignment
– Definition of calibration
• “Calibration” is the process of comparing a DUT to a reference standard.
• Differences are observed and recorded – the instruments do not have to
agree.
• “Calibration” does not involve adjustment or alignment.
• A “calibration program” or a “calibration service” may (should) include
adjustment and alignment.
• However, ALL data is recorded before any adjustments are undertaken to
preserve the as found condition.

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability
• Calibration
START

flowchart COLLECT
AF
DATA

TOL
ADJUST IN? OUT ADJUST
STATUS
IN

COLLECT CERTIFICATE COLLECT

AL DATA AL DATA

COMPLETE

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 Standards, Calibration, & Traceability

QUESTIONS?

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 Metrology and Calibration

QUESTIONS?

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