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Almost every technological process depends in some way on temperature measurement and control; for example, reliable electricity generation, intercontinental flights, and food processing. They all depend on a sophisticated measurement infrastructure that allows temperature measurements to be traced back to the SI unit of temperature, the kelvin, via the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90). As temperature cannot be measured directly, practical thermometers measure some temperature-dependent property such as electrical resistance or a thermoelectric voltage, and must be calibrated. Both the thermometers and the calibration artefacts exhibit surprisingly rich physics, which is, in many cases, at the limit of current knowledge and capabilities. We discuss four examples: calculation of phase diagrams of binary alloys in the limit of low solute concentration to quantify the effect of impurities in temperature fixed points; calculation of the effect of impurities and crystal defects on the resistivity of platinum wires of resistance thermometers; calculation of Seebeck coefficients of metals to improve characterization of thermocouple behaviour; calculation of the vapour pressure of noble metals and their oxides to improve characterization of thermocouple calibration drift. This paper discusses the state of the art in these topics, as well as their background, how they relate to real-world problems, and how the scientific community may be able to help.

The fundamental metrological concept "traceability" is considered as a key notion for the measurement quality description and ensuring. The essential restrictions of the modern concept "traceability" are revealed, and some possible directions for its extending are outlined. A detailed analysis of measurement quality is presented, which is based on thorough decomposition of measurement errors. It is also proposed to introduce a basic concept of "measurement quality". The basic notions are demonstrated on the practical example of the measurement control of the geometrical parameters for work pieces.

Today, almost all measuring systems involve computation and it is important that software components can be shown to be operating correctly. The European Metrology Research Programme Joint Research Project (JRP) NEW06 “Traceability for computationally-intensive metrology” is specifically concerned with developing technology that will deliver such traceability.

This paper provides a broad overview of the main activity being undertaken within the JRP. An ultimate goal of the JRP is to establish an information and communications infrastructure for software validation. The steps required to reach this goal are described.

This paper aims to address the challenges posed by the evolving landscape of measurements, especially in non-physical domains. With a growing need for informed decision-making, the landscape of measurements has expanded significantly. To address this, measurement procedures for non-physical measurements need to be developed. This paper proposes a framework for achieving traceability in non-physical measurements. A six-step process for the creation of novel measurements is suggested by the following steps. Define the underlying concept, dissect the concept into its constituent components, identify suitable measurement techniques, ensure the validity and reliability of chosen techniques, determine appropriate measurement scales and establish a reference for traceability.