Database

Contents

Visualizations

We use Grafana to visualize data from our stations in dashboards here: dataviews.swissfluxnet.ethz.ch

The Grassland Sciences group uses the time series database (TSDB) InfluxDB to store eddy covariance fluxes and auxiliary (meteorological) measurements.
We are currently (Mar 2024) working to make data stored in the database accessible to all.

The server is running the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 8.9 (link) operating system.
InfluxDB v2 (link) is running on the server and used to store data.
Grafana v10 (link) is running on the server and used to visualize data. Recent data can be viewed here.
POET scripts (see below) are running on the server automatically (cronjobs), but can be started from a local machine on demand (e.g. to upload legacy data).

Several scripts are necessary to upload data to the database. The scripts are part of the POET project.

dataflow: source code | Automatically (cronjob) scan server for files and upload data to database. Uses dbc-influxdb to upload files.
dbc-influxdb: source code | Database communication: show, download and upload data. Works with InfluxDB 2.x.
configs: source code | Configuration files for POET scripts.

All timestamps refer to the END of the averaging period.
All data are stored in UTC time.
Data are originally logged in CET, but converted to UTC during upload.
Data can be downloaded from the database using the script dbc-dataflow. During download, timestamps are converted to the desired timezone, normally to CET because data were originally logged in CET.
Grafana by default converts UTC time from the database to local browser time (during European summer the browser time would typically show CEST, which is UTC+02:00 hours) when a visualization is created. However, the desired timezone in which data should be shown can be selected via the drop-down menu.

The general dataflow in Swiss FluxNet can be seen on the page General Dataflow.

Last Updated on 5 Oct 2025 12:21