METROLOGY SOFTWARE FOR THE EXPRESSION OF MEASUREMENT RESULTS BY DIRECT CALCULATION OF PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS

In this paper the possibility of expressing the final result of a (any) measurement by a probability distribution over the set, discrete or continuous, of the possible values of the measurand is considered.

After a brief review of the motivation, state of the art and perspective of this option, the related software tools are discussed, with reference to the package UNCERT developed at the authors’ laboratory.

The software implements an approach based on the direct calculation of probability distributions, for a wide class of measurement models. It is arranged in a hierarchical and modular structure, which greatly enhances validation.

Involved variables are considered as inherently discrete and related quantisation and truncation effects are carefully studied and kept under control.