Reading this question I was instantly reminded my activities as factory inspector. One of the tasks was to verify correct calibration of instruments and the calibration chain as well as the accreditation of the calibration laboratory.

« étalonnage » means « calibration », the set of operation that establish, under specified conditions, the relationship between values indicated by a measuring instrument or measuring system, or values represented by a material measure, and the corresponding known values of a measurand.
« chaine de mésure » refers to that continued calibrations traceable to the standard (material property or physical constants).

Calibration is a comparison between measurements – one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a second device. The device with the known or assigned correctness is called the standard.
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In many countries a National Metrology Institute (NMI) will exist which will maintain primary standards of measurement (the main SI units plus a number of derived units) which will be used to provide traceability to customer's instruments by calibration. The NMI supports the metrological infrastructure in that country (and often others) by establishing an unbroken chain, from the top level of standards to an instrument used for measurement.

Il y a dix ans, personne ne songeait à mettre en doute l’indicateur de température d’une enceinte climatique. Aujourd’hui, 25 laboratoires sont accrédités par le Cofrac pour la caractérisation et la vérification des enceintes ; salles frigorifiques ou autres étuves. Des exigences, des normes ont incité ainsi le développement de cette nouvelle activité. Dans ce milieu en plein essor, une norme internationale l’IEC 60068-3-11 publiée en 2007 remplacera progressivement la norme française
NF X 15-140.
http://www.mesures.com/archives/806_Norme_Validation_enceint...

NF EN 60068-3-11 Août 2007
- Essais d'environnement - Partie 3-11 : documentation d'accompagnement et guide - Calcul de l'incertitude des conditions en chambres d'essais climatiques
La présente partie de la CEI 60068 montre comment estimer l'incertitude des conditions de température et d'humidité à l'état stable dans une chambre d'essais de température et d'humidité. Sachant que cela est inextricablement lié aux méthodes de mesures, celles-ci sont également décrites. La présente norme est également applicable à tout type d'enceintes d'environnement, et même les salles ou laboratoires. … Afin d'aborder les incertitudes il est important tout d'abord de comprendre ce qui est mesuré ou caractérisé. L'étalonnage ou la caractérisation de la performance d'une chambre d'essais fait appel à la détermination de l'humidité et de la température de l'air de la chambre, vu par l'objet en essai, à une valeur de consigne donnée. Il convient que cela ne soit pas confondu avec le calibrage ou l'étalonnage du capteur de la chambre d'essai, qui est une opération différente.

http://www.boutique.afnor.org/norme/nf-en-60068-3-11/essais-...

BS EN 60068-3-11:2007
Environmental testing. Supporting documentation and guidance. Calculation of uncertainty of conditions in climatic test chambers
The performance of climatic test chambers is a key concern in environmental test engineering. To comply with any test specification, the performance of the chamber needs to be characterized to decide whether the generated conditions fall within the specified limits. This characterization can be a difficult task, and the analysis of uncertainties in chamber performance is often surrounded by confusion.
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BS EN 60068-3-11:2007 is equally applicable to all environmental enclosures, including rooms or laboratories. The methods used apply both to temperature chambers and combined temperature and humidity chambers.
http://shop.bsigroup.com/en/ProductDetail/?pid=0000000000301...

XXXX est accréditée COFRAC ce qui l’autorise à réaliser des prestations d’étalonnage de chaînes de mesure de température en laboratoire et sur site, et de caractériser des enceintes thermostatiques.

We can now translate :
enceintes = enclosures (limites spaces with same climatic conditions).
caractériser = to characterize.


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Note added at 20 hrs (2013-05-03 10:35:24 GMT)
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But what means "characterization" exactly?

We have an immediate opening for a PhD student focusing on the characterization of a newly developed plant climate chamber. The candidate will determine optimal working parameters for the plant climate chamber and measure the VOCs emitted from plants with mass spectrometric techniques (GC-MS, PTR-MS).
http://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/...

Brennstoffzellen DMFC
Zell-, Stack-, Systementwicklung und Charakterisierung
cell, stack, system development and characterization
http://www.brennstoffzelle-nrw.de/index.php?id=110&L=0&no_ca...

Characterization of conductive textile materials for SoftWearAntenna
:
Abstract
Transmission line measurements have shown a potential in characterization of conductive textiles for SoftWearAntenna applications. Decrease in the conductivity of the fabric is seen to decrease the propagation velocity of a wave. This is expected to have a lowering effect on the operation frequency of textile antennas based on conductive fabrics when compared with antennas utilizing copper as conductive elements.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5...

Thermal characterization
Equipment: Modulated Differenctial Scanning Calorimeter.
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Characteristics: cooling-heating module-> FACS: room T -700ºC, RCS: -90ºC to 400ºC LNCS: -180ºC to 400ºC
http://www.unavarra.es/invest/GrupoMateriales/texts/equipos....
Note: The equipment is used for characterization of specimens and has its own characteristics, two different terms, not to be mismatched.

Investigations of Accelerated Climate Aged Wood Substrates by Fourier Transform Infrared Material Characterization
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Abstract
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) material characterization by applying the attenuated total reflectance (ATR) experimental technique represents a powerful measurement tool. The ATR technique may be applied on both solid state materials, liquids and gases with none or only minor sample preparations, also including materials which are nontransparent to infrared radiation. This facilitation is made possible by pressing the sample directly onto various crystals, for example, diamond, with high refractive indices, in a special reflectance setup. Materials undergoing ageing processes by natural and accelerated climate exposure, decomposition and formation of chemical bonds and products, may be studied in an ATR-FTIR analysis. In this work, the ATR-FTIR technique is utilized to detect changes in selected wood building material substrates subjected to accelerated climate exposure conditions. Changes in specific FTIR absorbance peaks are designated to different wood deterioration processes
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2012/827471/

The elucidation of the structure of DNA as macromolecular double helix by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953 and in vitro characterization of the process of protein biosynthesis led to the idea that it was the linear sequence of ribonucleic acid derived from one of the
http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Characterization

characterization, characterisation [ˌkærɪktəraɪˈzeɪʃən]
n
1. description of character, traits, etc.
2. the act of characterizing
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/characterization

waste characterization
Definition
Identification of chemical, microbiological, or radiological constituents of waste material.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/waste-character...

risk characterization
Definitions (2)Save to Favorites
1. Corporate: Component of risk assessment in which risks are ranked according to the extent and severity of their potential economic, environmental, financial, social, or other consequences.
2. Food industry: According to FAO/WHO, it is the integration of hazard identification and exposure assessment into the estimation of risk, and is similar to the definition of risk assessment. Other organizations suggest inclusion of determination of causative factors, contributing to the risk from a particular food product, to facilitate the action(s) required to effectively reduce the risk.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/risk-characteri...

We can conclude that “characterization” in this context means identification and assessment of parameters and characteristics of specimens or equipment.



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Note added at 21 hrs (2013-05-03 11:22:21 GMT)
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Finally, how French accredited laboratories translate « caractérisation »:

Enceintes climatiques ou thermostatiques
Aérométrologie réalise des caractérisations en température sèche entre -80 et 200°C par comparaison à 9 ou 15 sondes de référence et en humidité relative entre 5 et 95 % pour une température sèche comprise entre 5 et 60°C par comparaison à 9 ou 15 sondes de température de référence et 1 hygromètre à point de rosée de référence.

Aérométrologie est accrédité par le COFRAC pour la caractérisation des enceintes climatiques selon les normes NF X 15-140 et NF EN 60068-3 parties 5, 6, 7 et 11.
http://www.aerometrologie.fr/enceintes_climatique.html

Climatic and thermostatic chambers
Aérométrologie characterize for dry temperature by comparison to 9 or 15 thermometric probes and climatic chamber at relative humidity between 5 and 95% for a dry-bulb temperature between -20 an 60°C by comparison to 9 or 15 thermometric reference probes and to one reference dew point hygrometer.

AEROMETROLOGIE is accredited by COFRAC for climatic chamber characterization according to the standard NF X 15-14040, NF EN 60068-3 parts 5, 6, 7 and 11.
http://www.aerometrologie.fr/us/climatic_chambers.html

Son activité est essentiellement l'étalonnage et la vérification d'instruments de mesure, associée à une activité induite de maintenance, formation et ingénierie.

Le laboratoire est accrédité Cofrac « étalonnage » dans 7 grandeurs physiques et Cofrac « essais » pour les enceintes climatiques, les bains thermostatés, et les stérilisateurs.
http://www.aerometrologie.fr/presentation.html

The main activity is the calibration and the verification of measuring instruments, it is associated to an induced maintenance, training and engineering activity.

The laboratory is accredited by the COFRAC (French Committee of Accreditation) for the calibrations in 7 physic domains and for the characterization of thermostatic and climatic chambers.
http://www.aerometrologie.fr/us/about_us.html

• Caractérisation phénolique des raisins et des vins
• Dosage des métaux lourds et éléments minéraux sous accréditation Cofrac
http://www.sarco.fr/

• Characterization of phenolic compounds on grapes and wines
• Analysis on grapes & wines under Cofrac* accreditation
http://www.sarco.fr/index.php?p=1&l=EN

ISO 13779-3
Implants for surgery - Hydroxyapatite - Part 3: Chemical analysis and characterization of crystallinity and phase purity
http://www.medicallab.fr/ressources/fichiers/ml__list_tests_...