Datasets and Benchmarking

Aeon provides comprehensive tools for loading datasets and benchmarking time series algorithms.

Dataset Loading

Task-Specific Loaders

Classification Datasets:

from aeon.datasets import load_classification

# Load train/test split
X_train, y_train = load_classification("GunPoint", split="train")
X_test, y_test = load_classification("GunPoint", split="test")

# Load entire dataset
X, y = load_classification("GunPoint")

Regression Datasets:

from aeon.datasets import load_regression

X_train, y_train = load_regression("Covid3Month", split="train")
X_test, y_test = load_regression("Covid3Month", split="test")

# Bulk download
from aeon.datasets import download_all_regression
download_all_regression()  # Downloads Monash TSER archive

Forecasting Datasets:

from aeon.datasets import load_forecasting

# Load from forecastingdata.org
y, X = load_forecasting("airline", return_X_y=True)

Anomaly Detection Datasets:

from aeon.datasets import load_anomaly_detection

X, y = load_anomaly_detection("NAB_realKnownCause")

File Format Loaders

Load from .ts files:

from aeon.datasets import load_from_ts_file

X, y = load_from_ts_file("path/to/data.ts")

Load from .tsf files:

from aeon.datasets import load_from_tsf_file

df, metadata = load_from_tsf_file("path/to/data.tsf")

Load from ARFF files:

from aeon.datasets import load_from_arff_file

X, y = load_from_arff_file("path/to/data.arff")

Load from TSV files:

from aeon.datasets import load_from_tsv_file

data = load_from_tsv_file("path/to/data.tsv")

Load TimeEval CSV:

from aeon.datasets import load_from_timeeval_csv_file

X, y = load_from_timeeval_csv_file("path/to/timeeval.csv")

Writing Datasets

Write to .ts format:

from aeon.datasets import write_to_ts_file

write_to_ts_file(X, "output.ts", y=y, problem_name="MyDataset")

Write to ARFF format:

from aeon.datasets import write_to_arff_file

write_to_arff_file(X, "output.arff", y=y)

Built-in Datasets

Aeon includes several benchmark datasets for quick testing:

Classification

• ArrowHead - Shape classification
• GunPoint - Gesture recognition
• ItalyPowerDemand - Energy demand
• BasicMotions - Motion classification
• And 100+ more from UCR/UEA archives

Regression

• Covid3Month - COVID forecasting
• Various datasets from Monash TSER archive

Segmentation

• Time series segmentation datasets
• Human activity data
• Sensor data collections

Special Collections

• RehabPile - Rehabilitation data (classification & regression)

Dataset Metadata

Get information about datasets:

from aeon.datasets import get_dataset_meta_data

metadata = get_dataset_meta_data("GunPoint")
print(metadata)
# {'n_train': 50, 'n_test': 150, 'length': 150, 'n_classes': 2, ...}

Benchmarking Tools

Loading Published Results

Access pre-computed benchmark results:

from aeon.benchmarking import get_estimator_results

# Get results for specific algorithm on dataset
results = get_estimator_results(
    estimator_name="ROCKET",
    dataset_name="GunPoint"
)

# Get all available estimators for a dataset
estimators = get_available_estimators("GunPoint")

Resampling Strategies

Create reproducible train/test splits:

from aeon.benchmarking import stratified_resample

# Stratified resampling maintaining class distribution
X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = stratified_resample(
    X, y,
    random_state=42,
    test_size=0.3
)

Performance Metrics

Specialized metrics for time series tasks:

Anomaly Detection Metrics:

from aeon.benchmarking.metrics.anomaly_detection import (
    range_precision,
    range_recall,
    range_f_score,
    range_roc_auc_score
)

# Range-based metrics for window detection
precision = range_precision(y_true, y_pred, alpha=0.5)
recall = range_recall(y_true, y_pred, alpha=0.5)
f1 = range_f_score(y_true, y_pred, alpha=0.5)
auc = range_roc_auc_score(y_true, y_scores)

Clustering Metrics:

from aeon.benchmarking.metrics.clustering import clustering_accuracy

# Clustering accuracy with label matching
accuracy = clustering_accuracy(y_true, y_pred)

Segmentation Metrics:

from aeon.benchmarking.metrics.segmentation import (
    count_error,
    hausdorff_error
)

# Number of change points difference
count_err = count_error(y_true, y_pred)

# Maximum distance between predicted and true change points
hausdorff_err = hausdorff_error(y_true, y_pred)

Statistical Testing

Post-hoc analysis for algorithm comparison:

from aeon.benchmarking import (
    nemenyi_test,
    wilcoxon_test
)

# Nemenyi test for multiple algorithms
results = nemenyi_test(scores_matrix, alpha=0.05)

# Pairwise Wilcoxon signed-rank test
stat, p_value = wilcoxon_test(scores_alg1, scores_alg2)

Benchmark Collections

UCR/UEA Time Series Archives

Access to comprehensive benchmark repositories:

# Classification: 112 univariate + 30 multivariate datasets
X_train, y_train = load_classification("Chinatown", split="train")

# Automatically downloads from timeseriesclassification.com

Monash Forecasting Archive

# Load forecasting datasets
y = load_forecasting("nn5_daily", return_X_y=False)

Published Benchmark Results

Pre-computed results from major competitions:

• 2017 Univariate Bake-off
• 2021 Multivariate Classification
• 2023 Univariate Bake-off

Workflow Example

Complete benchmarking workflow:

from aeon.datasets import load_classification
from aeon.classification.convolution_based import RocketClassifier
from aeon.benchmarking import get_estimator_results
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score

# Load dataset
dataset_name = "GunPoint"
X_train, y_train = load_classification(dataset_name, split="train")
X_test, y_test = load_classification(dataset_name, split="test")

# Train model
clf = RocketClassifier(n_kernels=10000, random_state=42)
clf.fit(X_train, y_train)
y_pred = clf.predict(X_test)

# Evaluate
accuracy = accuracy_score(y_test, y_pred)
print(f"Accuracy: {accuracy:.4f}")

# Compare with published results
published = get_estimator_results("ROCKET", dataset_name)
print(f"Published ROCKET accuracy: {published['accuracy']:.4f}")

Best Practices

1. Use Standard Splits

For reproducibility, use provided train/test splits:

# Good: Use standard splits
X_train, y_train = load_classification("GunPoint", split="train")
X_test, y_test = load_classification("GunPoint", split="test")

# Avoid: Creating custom splits
X, y = load_classification("GunPoint")
X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y)

2. Set Random Seeds

Ensure reproducibility:

clf = RocketClassifier(random_state=42)
results = stratified_resample(X, y, random_state=42)

3. Report Multiple Metrics

Don't rely on single metric:

from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score, f1_score, precision_score

accuracy = accuracy_score(y_test, y_pred)
f1 = f1_score(y_test, y_pred, average='weighted')
precision = precision_score(y_test, y_pred, average='weighted')

4. Cross-Validation

For robust evaluation on small datasets:

from sklearn.model_selection import cross_val_score

scores = cross_val_score(
    clf, X_train, y_train,
    cv=5,
    scoring='accuracy'
)
print(f"CV Accuracy: {scores.mean():.4f} (+/- {scores.std():.4f})")

5. Compare Against Baselines

Always compare with simple baselines:

from aeon.classification.distance_based import KNeighborsTimeSeriesClassifier

# Simple baseline: 1-NN with Euclidean distance
baseline = KNeighborsTimeSeriesClassifier(n_neighbors=1, distance="euclidean")
baseline.fit(X_train, y_train)
baseline_acc = baseline.score(X_test, y_test)

print(f"Baseline: {baseline_acc:.4f}")
print(f"Your model: {accuracy:.4f}")

6. Statistical Significance

Test if improvements are statistically significant:

from aeon.benchmarking import wilcoxon_test

# Run on multiple datasets
accuracies_alg1 = [0.85, 0.92, 0.78, 0.88]
accuracies_alg2 = [0.83, 0.90, 0.76, 0.86]

stat, p_value = wilcoxon_test(accuracies_alg1, accuracies_alg2)
if p_value < 0.05:
    print("Difference is statistically significant")

Dataset Discovery

Find datasets matching criteria:

# List all available classification datasets
from aeon.datasets import get_available_datasets

datasets = get_available_datasets("classification")
print(f"Found {len(datasets)} classification datasets")

# Filter by properties
univariate_datasets = [
    d for d in datasets
    if get_dataset_meta_data(d)['n_channels'] == 1
]