ArcGIS Time Animation

Use this skill for temporal data, time-aware layers, time filtering, and animation controls.

Import Patterns

ESM (npm)

import TimeExtent from "@arcgis/core/TimeExtent.js";
import TimeInterval from "@arcgis/core/TimeInterval.js";
import TimeSlider from "@arcgis/core/widgets/TimeSlider.js";

CDN (dynamic import)

const TimeExtent = await $arcgis.import("@arcgis/core/TimeExtent.js");
const TimeInterval = await $arcgis.import("@arcgis/core/TimeInterval.js");
const TimeSlider = await $arcgis.import("@arcgis/core/widgets/TimeSlider.js");

TimeExtent

Represents a time range with start and end dates.

const timeExtent = new TimeExtent({
  start: new Date("2024-01-01"),
  end: new Date("2024-12-31"),
});

// Apply to view (filters all time-aware layers)
view.timeExtent = timeExtent;

// Instant in time (start === end)
const instant = new TimeExtent({
  start: new Date("2024-06-15"),
  end: new Date("2024-06-15"),
});

// No time filter (show all data)
view.timeExtent = null;

TimeInterval

Represents a duration of time.

const interval = new TimeInterval({
  value: 1,
  unit: "months",
});

Supported units: milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries

TimeSlider Component

arcgis-time-slider (Map Component)

<arcgis-map item-id="YOUR_WEBMAP_ID">
  <arcgis-time-slider slot="bottom-left" mode="time-window" loop time-visible>
  </arcgis-time-slider>
</arcgis-map>

<script type="module">
  const map = document.querySelector("arcgis-map");
  const timeSlider = document.querySelector("arcgis-time-slider");

  await map.viewOnReady();

  // Configure from layer
  const layer = map.view.map.layers.find((l) => l.timeInfo);
  if (layer) {
    await layer.load();
    timeSlider.fullTimeExtent = layer.timeInfo.fullTimeExtent;
    timeSlider.stops = { interval: layer.timeInfo.interval };
  }
</script>

TimeSlider Widget (Core API)

const timeSlider = new TimeSlider({
  container: "timeSliderDiv",
  view: view,
  fullTimeExtent: {
    start: new Date("2020-01-01"),
    end: new Date("2024-12-31"),
  },
  timeExtent: {
    start: new Date("2024-01-01"),
    end: new Date("2024-03-31"),
  },
  mode: "time-window",
  playRate: 1000,
  loop: true,
  stops: {
    interval: {
      value: 1,
      unit: "months",
    },
  },
});

TimeSlider Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
fullTimeExtent	TimeExtent	—	Complete time range the widget can display
timeExtent	TimeExtent	—	Currently selected time range
mode	string	"instant"	Animation mode
stops	object	—	Snap points for slider
playRate	number	1000	Milliseconds between steps
loop	boolean	false	Restart at end
layout	string	"auto"	"auto", "compact", "wide"
disabled	boolean	false	Disable interaction

TimeSlider Modes

// Instant - single point in time
mode: "instant";

// Time Window - range with start and end
mode: "time-window";

// Cumulative from Start - everything from start to current
mode: "cumulative-from-start";

// Cumulative from End - everything from current to end
mode: "cumulative-from-end";

Custom Stops

// Interval-based stops
stops: {
  interval: { value: 1, unit: "weeks" }
}

// Specific dates
stops: {
  dates: [
    new Date("2024-01-01"),
    new Date("2024-04-01"),
    new Date("2024-07-01"),
    new Date("2024-10-01")
  ]
}

// Number of evenly distributed stops
stops: {
  count: 12
}

Playback Control

timeSlider.play();
timeSlider.stop();

Watch Time Changes

timeSlider.watch("timeExtent", (timeExtent) => {
  console.log("New time range:", timeExtent.start, "to", timeExtent.end);
});

timeSlider.watch("viewModel.state", (state) => {
  console.log("State:", state); // "ready", "playing", "disabled"
});

Custom Labels

const timeSlider = new TimeSlider({
  container: "timeSliderDiv",
  view: view,
  fullTimeExtent: { start, end },

  tickConfigs: [
    {
      mode: "position",
      values: [
        new Date("2021-01-01"),
        new Date("2022-01-01"),
        new Date("2023-01-01"),
      ],
      labelsVisible: true,
      labelFormatFunction: (value) => value.getFullYear().toString(),
    },
  ],

  labelFormatFunction: (value, type, element, layout) => {
    const date = new Date(value);
    if (type === "min" || type === "max") {
      return date.toLocaleDateString();
    }
    return date.toLocaleDateString("en-US", {
      month: "short",
      year: "numeric",
    });
  },
});

Time-Aware Layers

FeatureLayer with Time

const featureLayer = new FeatureLayer({
  url: "https://services.arcgis.com/.../FeatureServer/0",
  timeInfo: {
    startField: "event_date",
    endField: "end_date",
    interval: {
      value: 1,
      unit: "days",
    },
  },
});

// Check if layer supports time
await featureLayer.load();
if (featureLayer.timeInfo) {
  console.log("Time field:", featureLayer.timeInfo.startField);
  console.log("Full extent:", featureLayer.timeInfo.fullTimeExtent);
}

TimeInfo Properties

Property	Type	Description
startField	string	Start date field name (required)
endField	string	End date field name (optional)
fullTimeExtent	TimeExtent	Complete time range of data
interval	TimeInterval	Suggested animation interval
trackIdField	string	Track identifier field (for StreamLayer)

Other Time-Aware Layers

// ImageryLayer
const imageryLayer = new ImageryLayer({
  url: "...",
  timeInfo: { startField: "acquisition_date" },
});

// MapImageLayer
const mapImageLayer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "...",
  timeInfo: { startField: "date_field" },
});

// StreamLayer
const streamLayer = new StreamLayer({
  url: "wss://services.arcgis.com/.../StreamServer",
  timeInfo: {
    trackIdField: "vehicle_id",
    startField: "timestamp",
  },
  purgeOptions: {
    displayCount: 1000,
    age: 5,
  },
});

Initializing TimeSlider from Layer

async function setupTimeSlider(view, layer) {
  await layer.load();

  if (!layer.timeInfo) {
    console.warn("Layer is not time-aware");
    return null;
  }

  const timeSlider = new TimeSlider({
    container: "timeSliderDiv",
    view: view,
    fullTimeExtent: layer.timeInfo.fullTimeExtent,
    mode: "time-window",
    playRate: 1000,
    loop: true,
    stops: {
      interval: layer.timeInfo.interval || { value: 1, unit: "months" },
    },
  });

  timeSlider.watch("timeExtent", (extent) => {
    document.getElementById("currentTime").textContent =
      `${extent.start.toLocaleDateString()} - ${extent.end.toLocaleDateString()}`;
  });

  return timeSlider;
}

Filtering by Time

Client-Side Filter

// Filter all time-aware layers via view
view.timeExtent = new TimeExtent({
  start: new Date("2024-01-01"),
  end: new Date("2024-06-30"),
});

// Filter specific layer via layerView
const layerView = await view.whenLayerView(featureLayer);
layerView.filter = {
  timeExtent: new TimeExtent({
    start: new Date("2024-03-01"),
    end: new Date("2024-03-31"),
  }),
};

Query with Time

const query = featureLayer.createQuery();
query.timeExtent = new TimeExtent({
  start: new Date("2024-01-01"),
  end: new Date("2024-12-31"),
});
query.where = "status = 'active'";
query.returnGeometry = true;

const results = await featureLayer.queryFeatures(query);

Animation Patterns

TimeSlider with Statistics

timeSlider.watch("timeExtent", async (timeExtent) => {
  const query = featureLayer.createQuery();
  query.timeExtent = timeExtent;
  query.outStatistics = [
    {
      statisticType: "count",
      onStatisticField: "OBJECTID",
      outStatisticFieldName: "count",
    },
    {
      statisticType: "sum",
      onStatisticField: "value",
      outStatisticFieldName: "total",
    },
  ];

  const result = await featureLayer.queryFeatures(query);
  const stats = result.features[0].attributes;
  document.getElementById("count").textContent = stats.count;
  document.getElementById("total").textContent = stats.total;
});

Time-Based Highlighting

let highlightHandle;

timeSlider.watch("timeExtent", async (timeExtent) => {
  if (highlightHandle) highlightHandle.remove();

  const query = featureLayer.createQuery();
  query.timeExtent = timeExtent;

  const layerView = await view.whenLayerView(featureLayer);
  const results = await featureLayer.queryFeatures(query);
  highlightHandle = layerView.highlight(results.features);
});

Manual Animation Loop

async function animateOverTime(layer, startDate, endDate, intervalDays) {
  const current = new Date(startDate);

  while (current <= endDate) {
    const nextDate = new Date(current);
    nextDate.setDate(nextDate.getDate() + intervalDays);

    view.timeExtent = new TimeExtent({
      start: current,
      end: nextDate,
    });

    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 500));
    current.setDate(current.getDate() + intervalDays);
  }
}

TimeZoneLabel Component

<arcgis-map>
  <arcgis-time-zone-label slot="bottom-left"></arcgis-time-zone-label>
</arcgis-map>

Graphics Visibility with Time

// Set time visibility on individual graphics
graphic.visibilityTimeExtent = new TimeExtent({
  start: new Date("2024-01-01"),
  end: new Date("2024-06-30"),
});

Common Pitfalls

1. Time zone issues: Dates are affected by JavaScript's local timezone — use UTC dates for consistency.

   const date = new Date("2024-06-15T00:00:00Z");
   

2. Layer must be loaded: timeInfo is only available after await layer.load().

3. TimeExtent not applied: The view's timeExtent must be set to filter all time-aware layers.

4. Null removes filter: Use view.timeExtent = null to show all data (no time filter).

5. Performance: Large time ranges can return many features — use server-side queries when possible.

6. Stops required: TimeSlider needs stops configured to define slider positions.

Reference Samples

• timeslider — Basic TimeSlider widget
• timeslider-filter — Filtering data with TimeSlider
• timeslider-component-filter — TimeSlider component with filtering
• time-layer — Working with time-aware layers
• widgets-timeslider — TimeSlider widget examples
• widgets-timeslider-offset — TimeSlider with timezone offset
• layers-scenelayer-time — Time-aware SceneLayer
• layers-voxel-time — Time-aware VoxelLayer
• layers-graphics-visibilitytimeextent — Graphics visibility with time

Related Skills

• arcgis-imagery — Multidimensional imagery with time
• arcgis-layers — Layer configuration
• arcgis-widgets-ui — Widget placement and slots