subhourly

Subhourly is an adjective used to describe data, measurements, or analyses that are conducted at intervals shorter than one hour. In practice, subhourly resolutions include 15-minute, 5-minute, or even minute-level records, as opposed to hourly or daily aggregates. The term is common in scientific and engineering disciplines where rapid temporal changes require more granular timing.

In meteorology and environmental science, subhourly data capture precipitation, temperature, wind, and air quality with high temporal granularity to improve forecasting, alerting, and model validation. Solar and wind energy operations rely on subhourly production data to manage variability and grid integration. Urban planning and transportation studies use subhourly traffic counts and travel times to analyze peak demand and congestion patterns.

Handling subhourly data involves timestamp accuracy, time zone standardization, and consistent sampling intervals. When integrating multiple sources, resampling may be used to align data to a common grid (e.g., averaging to hourly or interpolating to finer steps). Data volume increases with finer resolution, necessitating storage, processing, and quality-control considerations, such as dealing with missing values and sensor drift.

While subhourly data offer improved temporal detail, they can also introduce noise and require careful statistical treatment. The term is not a formal standard; its exact meaning depends on the context and the minimum interval used by a given dataset or project.