ISO 9022-17:2015 specifies the methods relating to the environmental tests of optical instruments and including additional assemblies from other fields (e.g. mechanical, chemical, and electronic devices) under equivalent conditions, for their ability to resist the influence of combined contamination and solar radiation. "Contamination", as used in ISO 9022-17:2015, means the contact of optical instruments with corrosive chemical substances (hereafter called test agents).

Complete instruments or assemblies are, however, not be tested to ISO 9022-17:2015 except for special reasons (refer to ISO 9022-12). As a rule, representative substrates are used as specimens.

The tests described in ISO 9022-17:2015 are designed for the selection of materials and components for instruments likely to be subjected to combined contamination and solar radiation during service life, rather than for regular production control.

The purpose of testing is to investigate the resistance of an instrument, and in particular, of instrument surfaces, coatings, or synthetic materials, to a short-time exposure to the test agents combined with solar radiation.