The names "lowess" and "loess" are derived from the term "locally weighted scatter plot smooth," as both methods use locally weighted linear regression to smooth data. From: http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/toolbox/curvefit/c h_data7.html D David Lee Duewer National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive Stop 8390 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8390 USA [[alternative HTML version deleted]]