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Time Widget

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Bruce Schubert edited this page Mar 22, 2019 · 1 revision

The Explorer application maintains a central clock for all temporal data. When the clock is updated all time-sensitive layers, widgets and visualizations are updated. The clock can be set to your computer's time, or you can set it to an arbitrary time, or it can be set to a temporal input, like a time-series layer.

Time Display

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The figure above shows the Time Widget displaying clock date & time, time zone offset, local solar hour, and sunrise and sunset.

The Time Widget is not just a clock. It displays temporal data relative to the position of the crosshairs on the globe. As you pan the globe, the widgetupdates the time values for the current location under the crosshairs.

Date/Time

  • The application's date and time and time zone are displayed in the body of the widget
  • The format of the date and time are controlled in the settings

Solar Hour

  • The sun icon that orbits the dial indicates the local solar hour angle.
  • Solar noon is at the top of the dial, and midnight is at the bottom.
  • When the sun icon is at the top of the dial, then the real sun is at its zenith.
  • To see it in action, either move the time slider, or zoom out on the globe and move the crosshairs in an easterly or westerly direction.
  • Note that the sun icon turns dark during nighttime hours.

Sunrise/Sunset

  • The sunrise and sunset times are displayed under the widget.
  • The yellow and orange markers on the dial depict the solar hour angles for sunrise and sunset respectively.
  • The times are relative to the application date/time and the geographic position.
  • To see it in action, zoom out on the globe and then pan north and south to the poles, or rapidly advance the time slider.

Time Controls

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The figure above shows the globe's time controls.
  • The clock button resets the time to "now".
  • The forward and backward buttons advance or retard the time one hour, respectively
  • The fast forward and rewind buttons advance or retard the time 24 hours, respectively
  • The time slider is used to adjust the date and time.

Time Series

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The figure above shows the controls for a layer's time series.

Layers that contain time-based content manifest a set of controls in their layer settings. These controls are used to select the time frame to display, and, when used, they set the time for the entire application, including all other time series layers.

  • The play button starts an automated playback the time frames
  • The forward and backward buttons advance or retard the layer's time frame by one image, respectively
  • The repeat button, when enabled, causes the playback to restart at the beginning when it reaches the end of the time series
  • The time slider is used to select the time frame.
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