The importance of metrology as a scientific discipline gained momentum during the industrial revolution. Continuing technological advancement further necessitated refinement in this segment. Metrology is practised almost every day, often unknowingly, in our day-to-day tasks.
Measurement is closely associated with all the activities pertaining to scientific, industrial, commercial, and human aspects. Its role is ever increasing and encompasses different fields such as communications, energy, medical sciences, food sciences, environment, trade, transportation, and military applications. Metrology concerns itself with the study of measurements. It is of utmost importance to measure different types of parameters or physical variables and quantify each of them with a specific unit. Thus, measurement is an act of assigning an accurate and precise value to a physical variable. The physical variable then gets transformed into a measured variable. Meaningful measurements require common measurement standards and must be performed using them. The common methods of measurement are based on the development of international specification standards. These provide appropriate definitions of parameters and protocols that enable standard measurements to be made and also establish a common basis for comparing measured values. In addition, metrology is also concerned with the reproduction, conservation, and transfer of units of measurements and their standards. Measurements provide a basis for judgements about process information, quality assurance, and process control