Dictionary · Calibration
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.
Related terms
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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
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
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.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.41
Metrological traceability to a measurement unit
Traceability whose stated reference is the definition of a unit through its practical realization — "traceable to the SI" in its precise sense.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 2.43
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
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