I am collecting sensordata in a database. Observations are stored at an hourly or daily resolution, as timestamp – value. I have to deceide to make the timestamps
- forward-looking (i.e 01/01/24 02:00 refers to the period 01/01/24 02:00-03:00
- backward-looking i.e 01/01/24 02:00 refers to the period 01/01/24 01:00 02:00
I am not aware of a standard for this, although metereological data mostly uses backward-looking timestamps. forward-looking timestamps seem, however more consistent when also storing daily values.
The choice seems arbitrary, but there may be important considerations that I am missing. Any input on this would be appreciated.