Periodaten

Periodaten is a data concept used in data management and analytics to describe data that pertains to defined time periods rather than individual timestamps. A periodaten record specifies an interval with a start date and an end date, and it often includes a duration, such as a month, quarter, or year. In practice, periodaten combines time-bound context with summarized metrics that apply to the entire interval, enabling period-over-period comparisons and aggregation across domains.

Data model: A typical periodaten schema includes fields such as period_id, start_date, end_date, duration, granularity, and a set of metrics (for example, totals, averages, or percent changes). Contextual attributes like region, category, or scenario are often included to support filtering and segmentation. The metrics may be stored in a wide or tall format, depending on analysis needs.

Applications: Periodaten is used in economics for quarterly or monthly statistics; in climatology for seasonal or annual climate records; in archaeology and history to record era-based data; and in project management and energy monitoring to summarize period-based performance.

Processing considerations: Defining the period boundaries consistently is essential, as is handling calendars with leap years, time zones, and calendar reforms. Data quality issues include missing periods, overlapping intervals, and inconsistent granularity. When aggregating across periods, careful alignment ensures comparability of metrics.

Example: A periodaten entry for 2023 Q4 might include start_date 2023-10-01, end_date 2023-12-31, duration 92 days, regional_code EU, total_sales 1,234,567, average_temperature 14.2 C.

See also: time series, temporal databases, interval data, calendar dimension.