Chapter 4
Metrological Traceability
Traceability: tight connectivity, compactness. Traceability is a series of logical causeeffect relationships.
Traceability is the capability to trace something, to verify the history, location, or
application of an item by means of documented recorded identification.
The measurement is a process in which the unknown quantity is compared with the
known quantity, namely with a measurement standard. As discussed in the previous
chapters, using the standard of the highest order is not always possible or economically justified. Thus, secondary standards can be used (standards maintained in an
accredited calibration laboratory) and compared within the chain of traceability with
the standard of the highest order (primary standard). According to the principles of
metrology, a suitable standard should be used for measuring the property to demonstrate traceability of the result to the highest possible standard in the given conditions
of metrological quality. Accordingly, an international system of units (SI) was introduced for the measurement of physical quantities, and the Metre Convention was
signed. The definition of the metrological term ‘traceability’ has undergone change
in the years since the signing of the Metre Convention. In the second edition of the
VIM 2 dictionary (1993), an important feature of the definition was a reference to
international units of measurement, or to national standards. In the current issue of
VIM 3 (2012 r.), the definition emphasizes the relationship of the measurement result
with a specific reference, but without the strict requirement that it is the standard of
national or international units of measurement.
Metrological traceability—property of a measurement result whereby the result
can be related to a reference through a documented unbroken chain of calibrations, each contributing to the measurement uncertainty.
Clause 2.41; ISO/IEC Guide 99
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
E. Bulska, Metrology in Chemistry, Lecture Notes in Chemistry 101,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99206-8_4
35
Metrological Traceability
Traceability: tight connectivity, compactness. Traceability is a series of logical causeeffect relationships.
Traceability is the capability to trace something, to verify the history, location, or
application of an item by means of documented recorded identification.
The measurement is a process in which the unknown quantity is compared with the
known quantity, namely with a measurement standard. As discussed in the previous
chapters, using the standard of the highest order is not always possible or economically justified. Thus, secondary standards can be used (standards maintained in an
accredited calibration laboratory) and compared within the chain of traceability with
the standard of the highest order (primary standard). According to the principles of
metrology, a suitable standard should be used for measuring the property to demonstrate traceability of the result to the highest possible standard in the given conditions
of metrological quality. Accordingly, an international system of units (SI) was introduced for the measurement of physical quantities, and the Metre Convention was
signed. The definition of the metrological term ‘traceability’ has undergone change
in the years since the signing of the Metre Convention. In the second edition of the
VIM 2 dictionary (1993), an important feature of the definition was a reference to
international units of measurement, or to national standards. In the current issue of
VIM 3 (2012 r.), the definition emphasizes the relationship of the measurement result
with a specific reference, but without the strict requirement that it is the standard of
national or international units of measurement.
Metrological traceability—property of a measurement result whereby the result
can be related to a reference through a documented unbroken chain of calibrations, each contributing to the measurement uncertainty.
Clause 2.41; ISO/IEC Guide 99
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018
E. Bulska, Metrology in Chemistry, Lecture Notes in Chemistry 101,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99206-8_4
35