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16.5: Resampling

  • Page ID
    24550
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    Resampling is a vital operation for changing the frequency of your observations. For example, you may have monthly data and want annual averages.  Resampling can do this.  Or you have daily data and you want hourly data.  Resampling can do this, too.

    Pandas makes this process straightforward through its built-in `.resample()` method. This method allows you to downsample or upsample your data easily. Downsampling involves reducing the frequency of the data points, say from minute-level to hourly data, and typically requires an aggregation method like mean, sum, or max to represent the new, less frequent data points. Upsampling, on the other hand, increases the frequency and uses interpolation to fill in the gaps.

    For example, if you have hourly temperature data and you want the daily average temperature, you could use:

    daily_avg_temp = df['Temperature'].resample('D').mean()

    In this case, the `resample('D')` function changes the frequency to daily, and the `mean()` function calculates the average temperature for each day. If you want to know the daily maximum temperature, you could change the `.mean()` to `.max()`.

    If you have daily data but need to fill in hourly values, you could use interpolation:

    hourly_temp = df['Temperature'].resample('H').interpolate()

    Here, the `resample('H')` function changes the frequency to hourly, and the `interpolate()` function fills in the hourly temperature values based on the available daily data.

    Note that, in order to use this, the index must be a DateTimeIndex (e.g., a list of times).


    16.5: Resampling is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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