Missing Common Domain Type Timeseries

[KathiSchleidt]

At present, it is not possible to create a CovJSON file with a purely temporal domain as required for Timeseries, closest option is PointSeries, that requires a spatial component.

For the provision of pure Timeseries as defined under TSML, a Timeseries Domain Type would be valuable:

• A domain with Timeseries domain type MUST have the axis "t"

Examples provided under TSML:

• EnumeratedDomain
• StartEndNum

[chris-little]

@KathiSchleidt What is the problem with PointSeries? E.g.
A domain with PointSeries domain type MUST have the axes "x", "y", and "t" where "x" and "y" MUST have a single coordinate value only.
Example, albeit with clunky, verbose, date-time "coordinates":

{
  "type": "Domain",
  "domainType": "PointSeries",
  "axes": {
    "x": { "values": [10] },
    "y": { "values": [20] },
    "t": { "values": ["2008-01-01T04:00:00Z","2008-01-01T05:00:00Z","2008-01-01T06:00:00Z","2008-01-01T06:00:00Z"] }
  },
  "referencing": [...]
}

[chris-little]

@jonblower @letmaik FYI.

[jonblower]

I suppose the use case is where the geographic location is not known (or not important)? I haven't come across any such cases in the wild, but if they exist then I think it's sensible to accommodate them using a TimeSeries domain type or similar, as @KathiSchleidt suggests.

[chris-little]

@KathiSchleidt Use cases where the x,y,(z) is not known thus requiring a pure t only domain would be helpful, otherwise we stay with the PointSeries.
@jonblower

[KathiSchleidt]

Use Case could be anything you observe on a sample over time, e.g. radioactive decomposition.

[jonblower]

@KathiSchleidt sure. A more precise question might be, "Does the CovJSON community have a use case for this?", given that CovJSON is primarily used for spatio-temporal data, referenced to the Earth in some way. But of course we can imagine CovJSON being used in other communities too (as happened with xarray).

But I have no objection to creating a TimeSeries domain type - it does no harm. Just to note that you can create a coverage with any domain you like, so you can fulfil the use case right now. The domain type is just a set of constraints that are helpful to clients.