Abstract
This paper considers a future scenario in which digital reporting of measurement results is ubiquitous and digital calibration certificates (DCCs) contain information about the components of uncertainty in a measurement result. The task of linking international measurement comparisons is used as a case study to look at the benefits of digitalization. Comparison linking provides a context in which correlations are important, so the benefit of passing a digital record of contributions to uncertainty along a traceability chain can be examined. The International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) uses a program of international “key comparisons” to establish the extent to which measurements of a particular quantity may be considered equivalent when made in different economies. To obtain good international coverage, the results of the comparisons may be linked together: a number of regional metrology organization (RMO) key comparisons can be linked back to an initial CIPM key comparison. Specific information about systematic effects in participants’ results must be available during linking to allow correct treatment of the correlations. However, the conventional calibration certificate formats used today do not provide this: participants must submit additional data, and the report of an initial comparison must anticipate the requirements for future linking. Special handling of additional data can be laborious and prone to error. An uncertain-number digital reporting format was considered in this case study, which caters to all the information required and would simplify the comparison analysis, reporting, and linking; the format would also enable a more informative presentation of comparison results. The uncertain-number format would be useful more generally, in measurement scenarios where correlations arise, so its incorporation into DCCs should be considered. A full dataset supported by open-source software is available.
Highlights
The national and international infrastructures that disseminate critical measurement information throughout society are due for renovation
degree of equivalence (DoE) evaluated during an regional metrology organization (RMO) comparison have equal standing to DoEs obtained from the initial CIPM comparison
A detailed description of the analysis recommended for Consultative Committee for Photometry and Radiometry (CCPR) comparisons was given in [6], where expressions for the uncertainty in DoE values were obtained according to the law of the propagation of uncertainty (LPU) [7]
Summary
The national and international infrastructures that disseminate critical measurement information throughout society are due for renovation. The DCC will be a fundamental component of digital measurement infrastructures, but many decisions still need to be made about its structure. Among these is how best to represent measurement uncertainty. The study relates to the analysis and linking of international measurement comparisons. Comparison analysis is a specialized topic, the limitations of current reporting in calibration certificates become clear in this context, and so, the benefits of digitalization are recognized. The challenge posed by correlated data arises in many other measurement scenarios as well, so the representation of measurement uncertainty described in this work would offer advantages in other digital systems
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