The HEC-MetVue Dynamic Time Window allows the user to dynamically scan through and animate time intervals within the data loaded into the Map Window.  Task 2 will demonstrate many of the dynamic time window functions available, such as:

  • Animating the full time period of data
  • Slowing down animation play speed
  • Forward/Backward movement functions
  • Adjusting the timestep

Key functions of the dynamic time window are summarized below for easy reference: 

ItemDescription
1Animation and Dynamic Data Scanning enable checkbox. Checking this box locks the toolbar in place, and begins setting up dynamic data viewing.
2Animation Type Selector. Options are Time Window (moves entire time window), Start Date (keeps end date fixed and moves start date) and End Date (keeps start date fixed and moves End Date)
3Play button to start animating data
4Pause button to pause the animation. This is only enabled after play button has been pressed.
5Stop button. When animation is playing, this will stop the animation and return the data to the first time step.
6Step back button. This steps back the viewed time window one increment back.
7Dynamic time window slider controls. See Interacting with the Dynamic Time Window Controls for details.
8Dynamic time window slider range
9Step forward button. This steps forward the viewed time window one increment back.
10Start date of the viewed time window.
11End date of the viewed time window.
12Step increment amount. The increment that animation steps forward, and the Step Forward and Step Backward  buttons use. The available increments are affected by the underlying data. For example, if the all images are of hourly duration or longer, "Minutes" will not be an option.
13Step increment units.
14Frame rate when animating. This is the rate at which the slider steps forward when animating, and therefore how fast images change in the Map Window.
15Buffering status message (see Image caching with Raster Data)

Animate the Gridded Data.

To animate the August 2023 precipitation event over the watershed, dock the dynamic time window toolbar by hovering over the lower edge of the map window and checking the box on the left side of the toolbar. 

Once the animation toolbar is docked, HEC-MetVue will buffer the gridded data and the animation controls will become available. 

Select the Play button () on the toolbar to animate the incremental precipitation event over the watershed.

Note that the default settings will animate the incremental precipitation on an hourly timestep at a speed of 4 frames per second. The date range indicates the exact time period displayed as the animation plays.

Question: When might animating precipitation data be useful?

Visualizing animated precipitation across a watershed over time can be useful for a variety of reasons, such as:

  • visualizing the variation of rainfall intensity
  • reservoir regulation planning
  • communicating with stakeholders
  • determining "hardest hit" areas
  • & many more!

Slow Down Animation Speed.

Adjust the animation controls to slow down playback to 1 frame per second and animate the 6-hour cumulative precipitation by dragging the blue bar on the right further to the right until the date range spans a 6-hour time period (for example: 28 Aug 2021 12:00 - 28 Aug 2021 18:00). 

Select the Play button () on the toolbar to animate the precipitation event over the watershed in 6-hour cumulative increments at an hourly timestep.

Forward/Backward Movement Functions.

You can also advance the animation manually by:

  • Selecting the blue slider bar with the mouse and sliding the bar throughout the event-

  • Selecting the Step Back or Step Forward buttons to advance back or forth by a single timestep-

Adjusting Animation Timestep.

The animation timestep increment can be modified. Modifying the step increment adjusts how far forward or backward the animation moves with each timestep when pressing Play () or with each click of the Step Backward or Step Forward buttons.

Note that the available increments are impacted by the underlying data. For example, if all images are of hourly duration or longer, "Minutes" will not be an option.  

Adjust the timestep increment to 6 hours and Play the animation to observe how the display progresses with the new timestep. Next, move through the data using the Step Backward and Step Forward buttons to further visualize how adjusting the timestep impacts the animation display.

Question: How does the animation display differently when the timestep increment is adjusted?

The animation is still displaying the cumulative precipitation over a 6 hour timespan since the blue slider bar is still set to 6 hours, however, when pressing Play or progressing the animation with the Step Forward or Step Backward buttons, the animation now progresses in 6 hour increments.

For example, the first time step displays the cumulative precipitation from 28 Aug 2021 12:00-18:00 and the next time step then displays the cumulative precipitation from 28 Aug 2021 from 18:00-24:00 (+6 hours from the start start time).

When the timestep was set to the default of 1 hour, the animation progressed from showing the cumulative precipitation from 28 Aug 2023 12:00-18:00 to 28 Aug 2023 13:00-19:00 (+1 hour from the start time) and so on. 


Prior Task(s):

Task 1 – Open HEC-MetVue & Load Data

Current Task:

Task 2 – Explore Dynamic Time Window Functions

Next Task(s):

Task 3 – Adjust the Animation Type Selection