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 diagram
A graphical expression of the relation between indication and corresponding measurement result, showing the strip of estimated uncertainty around the relation.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 4.30
Verification
Provision of objective evidence that a given item fulfils specified requirements — e.g. that an instrument performs within its maximum permissible errors. A pass/fail attestation, distinct from calibration.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.44
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
Calibration hierarchy
The sequence of calibrations from a stated reference to the final measuring system, each calibration depending on the previous one; uncertainty necessarily grows down the chain.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.40
Metrological comparability of measurement results
Comparability of results traceable to the same reference — what shared traceability buys: results that can be meaningfully compared even from different labs and methods.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.46
Calibrator
A measurement standard used in calibration — in some fields, a device or material whose assigned value is transferred to the instrument under calibration.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 5.12