“…However, significant temporal changes in the size and type of observing platform (including the introduction of moored buoys in the 1970s) and in measurement methods have introduced inhomogeneities to databases of archived marine winds. Inhomogeneities occur for many reasons, including: different observing methods (Quayle, 1980;Peterson and Hasse, 1987;Cardone et al, 1990;Wilkerson and Earle, 1990;Kent et al, 1993Kent et al, , 1998Lindau 1995a;); systematic changes in measurement height (Cardone et al, 1990); airflow distortion over the ship (Dobson, 1981;Yelland et al, 2002;Moat et al, 2005); different averaging times and methods (Dobson, 1981;Pierson, 1983;Gilhousen 1987;Taylor et al, 2002); and the effect of environmental conditions (Dobson, 1981;Kent et al, 1993). Other sources of observational error include: differences from nominal observing time; the anemometer type, calibration, and location; errors in calculation of true wind from the relative wind (Kent et al, 1993;Gulev, 1999;Smith et al, 1999); rounding artefacts; and for Beaufort winds, the stage of development of the waves.…”