Biogeosciences
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Articles | Volume 14, issue 1
Articles | Volume 14, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-17-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-17-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 14, issue 1
Research article
 | 
03 Jan 2017
Research article |  | 03 Jan 2017

The long-solved problem of the best-fit straight line: application to isotopic mixing lines

Richard Wehr and Scott R. Saleska

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Short summary
In 1969, Derek York published a highly general solution to the common problem of how to fit a straight line to points measured with error in both x and y. Unfortunately York's solution is almost unknown outside the geophysical literature, and new studies wrestle with the problem each year. We introduce York's solution and demonstrate it using an example from biogeochemistry: the isotopic mixing line. By Monte Carlo simulation, we show that York’s solution is superior to all popular fit methods.
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