Calibration and Performance Test of Electro-optical Distance Meters Using a Laser Interferometer

In order for the measurement results of an electro-optical distance meter(EDM), which is widely used in surveying, to be reliable, an EDM should be calibrated. For the calibration of an EDM, we have settled a traceability chain, which connects the EDM under calibration to the definition of metre. The chain starts from the iodine stabilized He-Ne laser which realizes the definition of metre, and then connected to a stabilized laser interferometer, a standard EDM, and finally to the EDM under calibration through the baseline. We achieved the expanded calibration uncertainties of the scale and length measurement of an EDM being evaluated to be 610 and 0.2 mm, respectively. Two different calibration methods, and their results are compared.