Understanding the time series dataset
This is the key first step in any new dataset you come across, even before Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), which we will be covering in Chapter 3, Analyzing and Visualizing Time Series Data. Understanding where the data is coming from, the data generating process behind it, and the source domain is essential to having a good understanding of the dataset.
London Data Store, a free and open data-sharing portal, provided this dataset, which was collected and enriched by Jean-Michel D and uploaded on Kaggle.
The dataset contains energy consumption readings for a sample of 5,567 London households that took part in the UK Power Networks-led Low Carbon London project between November 2011 and February 2014. Readings were taken at half-hourly intervals. Some metadata about the households is also available as part of the dataset. Let’s look at what metadata is available as part of the dataset:
- CACI UK segmented the UK’s population...