2025_proceedings: Exploration of acoustic calibration metadata storage and reusability in service of measurement repeatability

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  • Session: 20. Underwater acoustic calibration, measurement, and standards
    Organised by: Stephen Robinson, Will Slater
  • Lecture: Exploration of acoustic calibration metadata storage and reusability in service of measurement repeatability
    Paper ID: 2274
    Author(s): Cameron Castillo
    Presenter: Cameron Castillo
    Abstract: Conforming to repeatability requirements for a measurement in an organized and meaningful manner has proved to be an arduous task. Reconstituting a calibration environment is impossible without metadata recorded at the time the calibration is performed. Technical records of a calibration must contain the measured data along with detailed metadata that enables identification of factors affecting the measurement result and, if necessary, repetition of the calibration under conditions as close as possible to the original. National Metrology Institutes (NMI) are developing digital calibration certificates to better serve this requirement. The challenge in creating this digital record is the organized storage of metadata and data of different format and dimensionality with flexible recall to summarize and correlate various parameters within and across calibration tests. Such parameters include humidity, temperature, pressure, calibration geometry, equipment, and acquisition software version, among others. A case study using the Underwater Sound Reference Division (USRD) Continuous Wave Acquisition System (CWAS) software is described. Recording metadata using this software has taken several different forms, including Yet Another Markup Language (YAML), Tom’s Obvious Minimal Language (TOML), and as database tuples (Transact-SQL, SQLite). The benefits and failures of these formats and others in a calibration laboratory environment are discussed. In most cases, it is shown that utilizing a local or remote relational database more readily enables in-situ and external reconstitution and troubleshooting of a calibration environment.
  • Corresponding author: Mr Cameron Castillo
    Affiliation: NUWC - USRD
    Country: United States

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