Signal¶

Collection of related time series representing a measured parameter.

A Signal groups multiple time series that represent the same physical
parameter (e.g., temperature) at different processing stages or from
different processing paths. This enables comparison between raw and
processed data, evaluation of different processing methods, and
maintenance of data lineage.

Signals handle the naming conventions for time series, ensuring consistent
identification across processing workflows. They support processing
operations that can take multiple input time series and produce new
processed versions with complete metadata preservation.

Field Definitions¶

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
`created_on`	`datetime`	✗	`Factory: datetime()`	Timestamp when this Signal was created
`last_updated`	`datetime`	✗	`Factory: datetime()`	Timestamp of the most recent modification to this Signal
`input_data`	`None`	✗	`None`	Initial data used to create the Signal (removed after initialization)
`name`	`str`	✗	`signal`	Name identifying this signal with automatic numbering (e.g., 'temperature#1')
`units`	`str`	✗	`unit`	Units of measurement for this parameter (e.g., '°C', 'mg/L', 'NTU')
`provenance`	`DataProvenance`	✗	`Factory: DataProvenance(...)`	Information about the source and context of this signal's data
`time_series`	`dict`	✗	`Factory: dict()`	Dictionary mapping time series names to TimeSeries objects for this signal

Detailed Field Descriptions¶

created_on¶

Type: datetime Required: No Default: Factory: datetime()

Timestamp when this Signal was created

last_updated¶

Type: datetime Required: No Default: Factory: datetime()

Timestamp of the most recent modification to this Signal

input_data¶

Type: None Required: No Default: None

Initial data used to create the Signal (removed after initialization)

name¶

Type: str Required: No Default: signal

Name identifying this signal with automatic numbering (e.g., 'temperature#1')

units¶

Type: str Required: No Default: unit

Units of measurement for this parameter (e.g., '°C', 'mg/L', 'NTU')

provenance¶

Type: DataProvenance Required: No Default: Factory: DataProvenance(...)

Information about the source and context of this signal's data

time_series¶

Type: dict Required: No Default: Factory: dict()

Dictionary mapping time series names to TimeSeries objects for this signal

Usage Example¶

from meteaudata.types import Signal

# Create a Signal instance
signal = Signal(
    input_data=temperature_series,
    name="temperature",
    units="°C",
    provenance=provenance
)