BIPM e-NewsJune 2013 www.bipm.org

World Metrology Day 2013 Measurements in daily life

New Member State

The Republic of Colombia became a Member State on 6 February 2013.

Full list of Member States and Associates

The theme chosen for World Metrology Day 2013 was Measurements in daily life. This was the most successful ever, with posters in 17 languages and events organized in 29 countries.

BIPM e-News

Dr Martin Milton awarded an Honorary Professorship

The BIPM is pleased to announce that Dr Martin Milton, Director of the BIPM, became an Honorary Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of York, UK, on 1 June 2013.

Whilst working at the NPL, Dr Milton collaborated with academics at the University of York to develop standards for long-term monitoring of atmospheric composition.

BIPM e-News is published twice a year and circulated to stakeholders by email. It is also available on the BIPM website. The June 2013 issue includes a four-page supplement detailing BIPM core data for 2012.

Martin Milton, Director

World Metrology Day recognizes and celebrates the contribution made by all the individuals that work in the field of metrology in intergovernmental and national organizations. It   is organized jointly by the BIPM and the OIML and is held annually on 20 May, the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875.

Official publication of Rapid UTC (UTCr) began on 1 July 2013. UTCr results are available on the BIPM website athttp://www.bipm.org/jsp/en/TimeFtp.jsp?TypePub=publication and ftp://tai.bipm.org/UTCr/Results/.

This new service has been introduced following the BIPM Time Department's successful pilot experiment on the computation of UTCr, the results of which were approved by the Consultative Committee for Time and Frequency (CCTF) Working Group on TAI, which also authorized the start of publication of UTCr from 1 July 2013.

The pilot experiment began in January 2012 with the objective of studying the feasibility of computing a weekly UTC solution to assist the contributing laboratories to better synchronize their local time scale realizations to UTC. Of the 72 laboratories participating in the computation of UTC, 39 contributed to the pilot experiment.

While the monthly BIPM Circular T provides formal traceability to UTC, the rapid UTC solution allows contributing laboratories to better monitor the behaviour of their local realizations UTC(k) by checking daily values of [UTCr – UTC(k)] published weekly.

Official introduction of Rapid UTC

Session I of the 102nd meeting of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) was held at the BIPM headquarters from 19 to 21 June 2013.

The Director of the BIPM gave a report on his activities since taking up the position on 1 January 2013. A priority has been to visit and meet senior staff at as many National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) as possible and this will continue with a series of visits to NMIs in Asia, including the NIM (China), the KRISS (Republic of Korea) and the NMIJ (Japan) during July and August 2013. Direct involvement in the scientific work of the BIPM included a discussion on the use of the international prototype of the kilogram (IPK) in the run up to redefinition. The Consultative Committee (CC) strategic planning process is on schedule.

The CIPM heard presentations from the Directors of the BIPM scientific departments and had a tour of the laboratories. The CIPM endorsed the initiative of the President of the Consultative Committee for Mass and Related Quantities (CCM) and the CCM in developing a roadmap showing the steps required to achieve a redefinition of the International System of Units (SI) by 2018. The CIPM approved the plans for an extraordinary campaign of measurements with the IPK, presented by the Acting Director of the Mass Department, and confirmed their agreement that the BIPM Director should have access to the vault to use the IPK in the campaign of measurements.

Session I of the 102nd meeting of the CIPMAs part of the CIPM’s intention to encourage a stronger strategic perspective, the CIPM will identify one or two cross-cutting “grand metrology challenges” considering potential liaisons with the ILAC, the ISO and the OIML and other relevant international organizations with missions complementary to the BIPM and charge the Presidents of the CCs to assess the implications to their strategies and future programmes.

New members of the CIPM

Three new members have been provisionally elected to the CIPM and took their seats at Session I of the 102nd meeting:

• Prof. H.S. Brandi, Director for Scientific and Industrial Metrology, INMETRO, Brazil

• Dr W. Louw, Director of Research and Technology Development, NMISA, South Africa

• Prof. J. Ullrich, President, PTB, Germany.

This follows the resignations from the CIPM of Prof.  E.O.  Göbel, Dr F. Hengstberger and Dr W. Schwitz.

Members of the CIPM

CIPM MRA news

The Director of the Instituto Nacional de Metrología de Colombia (INM), Mr Hernan Dario Alzate Sepulveda (seated right) signed the CIPM MRA on 15 May 2013 in the presence of Dr Martin Milton, Director of the BIPM (seated left) and His Excellency Gustavo Carvajal, the Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia in France (third from left, standing). The signing ceremony was also attended by representatives from the BIPM and the Republic of Colombia.

The Republic of Colombia became a Member State on 6  February 2013.

Signatories of the CIPM MRA

New signatory of the CIPM MRA: INM (Colombia)

News from the KCDB

Also on 6 June 2013, the database covered a total of 834  key comparisons and 359 supplementary comparisons, with a significantly increased rate of registration of new supplementary comparisons compared to previous years. Altogether 65 % of the comparisons registered in the KCDB are complete and have their final reports posted in the KCDB; this percentage has been stable for several years. Nearly 2 000 graphs of equivalence, covering all fields of metrology, are currently posted in the KCDB.

As of 6 June 2013, the BIPM key comparison database (KCDB) included a total of 25 678 Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMCs), with about 900 new CMCs published over the last year. This rate of increase has been almost constant over the last few years. Of the total number of published CMCs, 21 % cover the field of chemistry and 28 % cover electricity/magnetism. There is always some movement related to temporary removal and re-instatement of CMCs, and the total number of ‘greyed-out’ CMCs currently stands at about 300.

A Workshop on Best Practices in CMC Reviews was held on 18  and 19 March 2013, immediately before the 30th JCRB meeting. Each RMO and CC had prepared and circulated a paper which they presented at the workshop detailing their views on improving the efficiency of inter-regional CMC review. This was supplemented by presentations from a number of CC representatives and collectively formed the input for the discussions. The outcomes of the workshop were presented to and reviewed by the JCRB.

The 30th meeting of the Joint Committee of the Regional Metrology Organizations and the BIPM (JCRB) was held on 19  and 20 March 2013. Following a discussion of the outcomes of the CMC Workshop, the JCRB agreed to a series of Resolutions and Recommendations which were forwarded to the CIPM for approval. Resolution 30/1 was concerned with reducing the deadline for inter-RMO review of CMCs. Recommendations 30/1, 30/2, 30/3 and 30/4 were concerned with encouraging the use of the BIPM web forum, reducing unnecessary duplication in CMC reviews, drawing attention to the use of guidelines during intra-RMO review and proposing that the CIPM regularly monitors the status of key comparison reports experiencing significant delays.

Summary of the CMC Workshop and 30th meeting of the JCRB

Additionally, the JCRB Executive Secretary was tasked with developing a text on ‘greying-out’ CMCs and reinstating ‘greyed-out’ CMCs for approval at the next meeting of the JCRB ready for inclusion in document CIPM MRA-D-04. A  series of minor updates to several CIPM MRA procedures were presented. These updates were approved by the CIPM at its 102nd meeting.

Delegates at the 30th meeting of the JCRB.

Science at the BIPM

Secondments in the BIPM Chemistry Department

Dr Sangil Lee, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Republic of Korea, completed his three  month secondment to the BIPM on 5 June 2013. He performed accurate measurements of the ozone absorption cross-section in the UV, and the results of his work were recently presented at the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) and the International Ozone Commission’s (IO3C) committee on Absorption Cross Sections of Ozone (ACSO). This work supports the BIPM.QM-K1 key comparison on surface ozone standards coordinated by the BIPM.

Dr Ming Li, National Institute of Metrology (NIM), China, started his two year secondment at the BIPM on 1  May  2013. He will be working on the development of methods for the purity assignment of large organic molecule standards. This work is part of a BIPM–NIM collaborative project, which will enable the laboratories to coordinate a key comparison on peptide purity (to be designated as CCQM-K115), underpinning NMI capabilities and reference measurement systems for diagnostics and healthcare. This comparison is part of the core capability comparisons defined in the CCQM strategic plan.

BIPM-IAEA workshop on CO2 and CH4 stable isotopes

Following the signing of the BIPM-IAEA MoU in November 2012, the BIPM and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a workshop on CO2 and CH4 stable isotope standards, reflecting their importance in greenhouse gas measurements. The meeting was hosted by the VSL, the Netherlands, on 4 June 2013, and was attended by representatives of NMIs developing programmes in this field, to discuss the requirements and value assignment methods for such standards and their impact on greenhouse gas concentration measurements. A key comparison on CO2 in air standards is planned by the CCQM Gas Analysis Working Group.

Recent publications by the Chemistry Department

Following the recent completion of comparisons on nitrogen dioxide standards (CCQM-K74 and CCQM-P110), coordinated by the BIPM, the methods developed for value assigning the travelling standards and used as the comparison reference value for this important air pollutant have been published by the BIPM in Analytical Chemistry (Highly accurate NO2 in nitrogen standards based on permeation) and Applied Spectroscopy (Accurate FT-IR measurements of NO2 and HNO3 calibrated with synthetic spectra).

The BIPM thanks the KRISS and the NIM for making these secondments possible.

Workshops and conferences

ITU/BIPM Workshop on the Future of the International Time Scale, Geneva, 19-20 September 2013

A joint International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/BIPM workshop on the Future of the International Time Scale, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19-20 September 2013 will provide a unique opportunity to collect together all the available information currently used and provide an opportunity to discuss precise frequency and time standards, sources and their characteristics, time scales and dissemination systems, and exchange different views on the future of UTC.

The Radiocommunication Assembly 2012 (RA-12) considered the possible revision to Recommendation ITU-R TF.460-6 "Standard-frequency and time-signal emissions" which has been the subject of special studies and outreach by the ITU-R Working Party 7A since 2000. Recommendation ITU-R TF.460-6 defines Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on the basis of the time kept by atomic clocks and recommends the application of leap seconds to maintain it close to Universal Time 1 (UT1), a time proportional to the rotation angle of the Earth on its axis. UTC is the time scale maintained through the General Conference on Weights and Measures by the BIPM in coordination with the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS). The IERS determines when the UT1 - UTC threshold will reach 0.9 s and announces the need for a leap second. The proposed revision eliminates the insertion of leap seconds in the UTC time scale. After considerable discussion RA-12 concluded that additional studies related to the possible implementation of a continuous reference time-scale are required and postponed the decision to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015.

David Burns becomes a member of the SSC

David Burns has become a member representing the BIPM on the Scientific Committee of the IAEA/WHO Network of Secondary Standards Dosimetry Laboratories (SSDLs), otherwise known as the SSDL Scientific Committee (SSC). The SSC is a standing advisory group established in 1986 to provide technical advice to the Directors General of the IAEA/WHO on the programme of work of the SSDL Network and to review and advise on the Dosimetry Programme of the IAEA. The SSC meets every 2 years at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The next meeting is planned for March 2014.

Other news

The Impact Factor of Metrologia has increased again! As released in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports®, the Impact Factor for Metrologia increased from 1.750 in 2011 to 1.902 in 2012.

New: We are pleased to announce that articles can now be published in Metrologia on an Open Access basis. The journal is henceforth operating under a hybrid model, accepting both standard and Open Access submissions.

Interested readers can find more information on Open Access Publishing on the IOPscience website at http://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/openaccess

Metrologia on-line

Metrologia

The series of core key comparisons on the purity assignment of small molecule organic primary calibrators (CCQM-K55.a, CCQM-K55.b and CCQM-K55.c) coordinated by the BIPM, has permitted improved methods for purity assignment to be developed. A  paper on improved methods has been published in Analytical Chemistry (Mass Balance Method for the SI value assignment of the purity of organic compounds). The BIPM-NIST collaborative projection on large molecule organic primary calibrators has resulted in a publication being accepted in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (Impurity identification and determination for the peptide hormone angiotensin I by liquid chromatography – high resolution tandem mass spectrometry and the metrological impact on value assignments by amino acid analysis), and the development of measurement methods that will be used in the coordination of CCQM-K115 (Purity methods for large organics: C-peptide).