Homogeneity refers to the quality or state of being of a similar kind or having a uniform structure or composition throughout. In physics, a homogeneous material or system has the same properties at every point, and it is uniform without irregularities). Homogeneity can be studied to several degrees of complexity in statistics, and it relates to the validity of the often convenient assumption that all components of the equation have the same degree of value whether or not each of these components is scaled to different values)). In addition, homogeneity can be applied in many different ways, and for certain types of statistical analysis, it is used to look for further properties that might need to be treated as varying within a dataset once some initial types of non-homogeneity have been dealt with).

In climate data, it is often important to determine if a set of data is homogeneous before any statistical technique is applied to it. Homogeneous data are drawn from a single population, and all outside processes that could potentially affect the data must remain constant for the complete time period of the sample. Inhomogeneities are caused when artificial changes affect the statistical properties of the observations through time. Obtaining perfectly homogeneous data is almost impossible, as unavoidable changes in the area surrounding the observing station will often affect the data.

In summary, homogeneity is a term used in physics and statistics to describe the quality or state of being of a similar kind or having a uniform structure or composition throughout. It is important to determine if a set of data is homogeneous before any statistical technique is applied to it, but obtaining perfectly homogeneous data is almost impossible.