Dictionary · Calibration
Metrological traceability
The property of a result whereby it can be related to a stated reference — usually the SI — through a documented unbroken chain of calibrations, each contributing to the uncertainty.
Related terms
More from Calibration
Calibration interval
The period between successive calibrations of an instrument, set and adjusted from stability history, usage, environment, and risk — commonly managed with interval-analysis methods such as those in NCSLI RP-1 and ILAC-G24.
ILAC-G24:2022
Calibration
The operation that, under specified conditions, first establishes a relation between values (with uncertainties) provided by measurement standards and corresponding indications (with uncertainties), and second uses that information to obtain results from indications. Calibration is not adjustment.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.39
Calibration curve
The expression of the relation between indication and corresponding measured quantity value established by calibration — the diagram's central line, without the uncertainty strip.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.31
Adjustment of a measuring system
The set of operations carried out on a measuring system so that it provides prescribed indications corresponding to given quantity values. Adjustment changes the instrument; calibration afterwards re-establishes its relation to standards.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 3.11
Metrological traceability chain
The sequence of standards and calibrations used to relate a result to a stated reference — the concrete path behind a traceability claim.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.42
Zero adjustment of a measuring system
Adjustment so that the system provides a null indication corresponding to a zero value of the quantity to be measured.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 3.12