Time and location belong together
See why a position becomes much more useful when you also know when it was true.
Why this matters
A station may stay put, but vehicles, people, wildlife, weather, and conditions change. Without time, two valid locations can appear to contradict each other when they simply describe different moments.
Learn it
Observation time describes when something happened in the real world. Ingest time describes when a system received or processed the record. A timestamp should carry UTC or timezone context so systems can compare records reliably. Ordered positions with time can become a track; derived values such as speed or dwell should remain distinguishable from the observations used to calculate them.
Work through an example
A vehicle at 47.61, -122.33 at 10:00 and 47.62, -122.31 at 10:05 did not create conflicting coordinates. It moved.
observed_at: 2026-09-30T17:00:00Z
ingested_at: 2026-09-30T17:00:04ZPractice
- 1Take three positions and assign increasing timestamps.
- 2Put them in chronological order and describe the movement in words.
- 3Add a later ingest time and explain why it should not replace the original observation time.
What to watch for
Do not use server receipt time as a substitute for observation time when the source provides the real event time.
Where this takes you
Time-aware location supports tracks, telemetry, arrivals, departures, environmental change, replication, and longitudinal research.