Filter radiometers as a tool for quality assurance of temperature measurements with linear pyrometers

Measurements made with a pyrometer are vulnerable to errors if the pyrometer is misaligned, inaccurately characterized, or malfunctioning. In this work, thermodynamic temperatures between 1,373 and 1,773 K were studied by measuring a variable-temperature blackbody with a linear pyrometer and four absolutely characterized filter radiometers. The filter radiometer measurements were done in the irradiance mode. In the first set of measurements, there was a 3–5 K difference between the pyrometer and the filter radiometer data. The cause was tracked to malfunctioning of the pyrometer, which was afterwards sent for repair on the basis of these results. In the second set of measurements, with the repaired pyrometer, the agreement of the temperature results was good, the mean difference being −0.41 K with a standard deviation of 0.52 K. The differences between the pyrometer and the filter radiometer temperature measurement results showed no temperature dependence. It was concluded that the filter radiometers used in the irradiance mode provided a straightforward method for the quality assurance of pyrometers.