This paper describes the density and diameter measurements of silica aerogel microspheres. The aerogel samples were fabricated in the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Porous Structures Laboratory and by General Atomics. The diameters and densities of the aerogel samples were initially calculated from metrology carried out in the Porous Structures Laboratory. Radiography images of the samples were produced using the Manson soft-X-ray source at AWE from which the diameters and densities of the spheres could be inferred after image digitization.

The two different measurement methods are compared, and the results are presented along with statistical analysis showing how well the results corroborate with each other; best practices are established for future measurements and analysis.