NPL’s optical radiation scientists provide a wide range of measurements for characterising sources and detectors and the properties of materials, covering the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions.
- Some of NPL's key research activities in Environment and climate change research includes providing traceable measurements for Earth Observation Instrumentation, and Support for Vicarious Calibration.
- As well as measurements in the visible part of the spectrum including colour, NPL can also characterise materials in the infra-red up to 50 μm.
- NPL has extensive facilities for the characterisation and calibration for optical fibre, related test equipment and components.
- NPL has extensive facilities for characterising all kinds of light source, including a new goniometer facility which can characterise both the wavelength and spatial distribution of the output from a source.
- Radiometry is the measurement of optical radiation and cryogenic radiometry, initially developed at NPL, is now widely used by most NMIs as the basis of all optical radiation scales and in particular the SI unit, the candela.