Outside of the functional testing that occurs on an optical system, considerations must be made for the operating conditions of the optical system as well. Environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity can become critical when taking the optical system out from the lab. While not a direct aspect of ISO 10110, listing the environmental conditions for an optical system can be important when specifying a final assembly. This is especially true for systems with dielectric or metallic coatings that are exposed to the environment when used.

The ISO 9022 series is a group of test standards that define the environmental tests and levels at which a system or component will be tested. Most of the standards in the ISO 9022 series are for specific different environmental conditions. There are also three, more rigorous ISO 9022 standards that combine the individual environmental conditions that the optical system may truly experience.

In each part, a series of conditions, termed “conditioning methods,” are described. These conditioning methods are identified by a numeric “condition code.” To specify a test, the condition code for that test must be identified as well as the “severity code” and the operating state of the instrument being tested. The method of indicating an environmental test on an optics drawing is discussed more in Sec. 11.7.

In addition to the ISO 9022 series of standards, there is another standard (ISO 10109) that provides guidance for environmental conditions an optical system may experience depending on a specific application or global location. This standard lists expected temperature ranges, humidity, pressure, and rain conditions for a series of standard environments. These standard environments are based on global data collected and are meant to guide the user on which parts of ISO 9022 may be applicable for a given situation. These environmental conditions are in place to assist the user if temperature, humidity, and pressure are not known but the type of environment is known. The standard also includes a framework (ISO 10109, Table 9) for identifying and prescribing the environmental testing that may be required for the system, and also serves as a checklist for planning environmental tests.