Motion-Induced Errors in Buoy-Based Wind Measurements: Mechanisms, Compensation Methods, and Future Perspectives for Offshore Applications

Accurate measurement of sea-surface winds is critical for climate science, physical oceanography, and the rapidly expanding offshore wind energy sector. Buoy-based platforms—moored meteorological buoys, drifters, and floating LiDAR systems (FLS)—provide practical alternatives to fixed offshore structures, especially in deep water where bottom-founded installations are economically prohibitive. Yet these floating platforms are subject to continuous pitch, roll, heave, and yaw motions forced by wind, waves, and currents. Such six-degree-of-freedom dynamics introduce multiple error pathways into the measured wind signal. This paper synthesizes the current understanding of motion-induced measurement errors and the techniques developed to compensate for them. We identify four principal error mechanisms: (1) geometric biases caused by sensor tilt, which can underestimate horizontal wind speed by 0.4–3.4% depending on inclination angle; (2) contamination of the measured signal by platform translational and rotational velocities; (3) artificial inflation of turbulence intensity by 15–50% due to spectral overlap between wave-frequency buoy motions and atmospheric turbulence; and (4) beam misalignment and range-gate distortion specific to scanning LiDAR systems. Compensation strategies have progressed through four recognizable stages: fundamental coordinate-transformation and velocity-subtraction algorithms developed in the 1990s; Kalman-filter-based multi-sensor fusion emerging in the 2000s; Response Amplitude Operator modeling tailored to FLS platforms in the 2010s; and data-driven machine-learning approaches under active development today. Despite this progress, key challenges persist. Sensor reliability degrades under extreme sea states precisely when accurate data are most needed. The coupling between high-frequency platform vibrations and turbulence remains poorly characterized. No unified validation framework or benchmark dataset yet exists to compare methods across platforms and environments. We conclude by outlining research priorities: end-to-end deep-learning architectures for nonlinear error correction, adaptive algorithms capable of all-sea-state operation, standardized evaluation protocols with open datasets, and tighter integration of intelligent software with next-generation low-power sensors and actively stabilized platforms.