On Whether Variation in the Uniform Field Area Should be Included in Calculation of Uncertainty for IEC 61000-4-3

In recent years, there has been an increasing need for accredited calibration test services in the commercial EMC area. This is likely to impact the military and aerospace test communities as well in the future. Part of the accreditation process based on ISO 17025 is the determination of measurement uncertainty – a requirement that is often misunderstood or misinterpreted. This tutorial will provide an overview and discussion of measurement uncertainty to further the knowledge of this subject in the EMC testing community, both in the US and internationally. One of the goals of the tutorial is to address head on the fact that the majority of people new to measurement uncertainty are intimidated and overwhelmed. A common scenario is that these people receive a guide on measurement uncertainty and are told “now you are the company expert.” Tips and tools will be provided to make those associated with measurement uncertainty educated and comfortable moving forward in this area. This tutorial brings together a number of different viewpoints on measurement uncertainty in order to provide a well rounded discussion of the topic. Speakers include an aerospace EMC systems engineer, a metrology laboratory engineer/manager, an antenna designer and manufacturer, the member of an IEC working group responsible for addressing measurement uncertainty, and a laboratory manager of an independent EMC test laboratory, who provides test results and the associated uncertainty data to a variety of third party clients.