diff --git a/modules/util/util.py b/modules/util/util.py
index 5c90a935afda3f7b5e6719f7ce09b4ebabceb277..1c3f2a92536bf6d95c90fc016584b8e5b39227d8 100644
--- a/modules/util/util.py
+++ b/modules/util/util.py
@@ -51,6 +51,12 @@ def get_time_tuple_utc(timestamp):
     return dt_obj, dt_obj.timetuple()
 
 
+def get_timestamp(dt_str, format_code='%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M'):
+    dto = datetime.datetime.strptime(dt_str, format_code).replace(tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+    ts = dto.timestamp()
+    return ts
+
+
 def add_time_range_to_filename(pathname, tstart, tend):
     dt_obj, _ = get_time_tuple_utc(tstart)
     str_start = dt_obj.strftime('%Y%m%d%H')