/cesiumjs-time-properties

name: cesiumjs-time-properties
description: "CesiumJS time, properties, and animation - Clock, JulianDate, TimeInterval, Property, SampledProperty, CallbackProperty, PathMode, interval and sampled path materials, interpolation, splines, CZML temporal data. Use when making entity attributes or path materials time-dynamic, configuring the simulation clock, interpolating positions, or working with sampled, interval, or callback properties."

CesiumJS Time, Properties & Animation

Version baseline: CesiumJS v1.144

Covers the temporal data-binding layer: Clock/JulianDate time system, the Property hierarchy that makes entity attributes change over time, interpolation algorithms, splines, and material properties. Properties live here (not with Entities) because SampledProperty and CallbackProperty are meaningless without Clock/JulianDate. The Material class (Fabric) belongs in cesiumjs-materials-shaders.

JulianDate -- The Time Primitive

Stores whole days + fractional seconds separately for precision. Always uses TAI internally.

import { JulianDate } from "cesium";

// Creation: fromIso8601 (most common), fromDate, now
const date = JulianDate.fromIso8601("2025-06-15T12:00:00Z");
const jd = JulianDate.fromDate(new Date("2025-06-15T12:00:00Z"));
const now = JulianDate.now();

// Conversion: toIso8601, toDate, toGregorianDate
const iso = JulianDate.toIso8601(date); // "2025-06-15T12:00:00Z"
const greg = JulianDate.toGregorianDate(date); // {year, month, day, hour, ...}

// Arithmetic -- all require a result parameter to avoid allocations
const r = new JulianDate();
JulianDate.addSeconds(date, 3600, r); // also: addMinutes, addHours, addDays

// Differences and comparisons
const stop = JulianDate.addHours(date, 24, new JulianDate());
JulianDate.secondsDifference(stop, date); // 86400
JulianDate.lessThan(date, stop);          // true
JulianDate.compare(date, stop);           // negative (date < stop)

Clock -- Simulation Time Controller

The Viewer creates a Clock automatically. Configure it to control playback speed and bounds.

import { Viewer, JulianDate, ClockRange, ClockStep } from "cesium";

const viewer = new Viewer("cesiumContainer");
const start = JulianDate.fromIso8601("2025-06-15T00:00:00Z");
const stop = JulianDate.addHours(start, 24, new JulianDate());
viewer.clock.startTime = start.clone();
viewer.clock.stopTime = stop.clone();
viewer.clock.currentTime = start.clone();
viewer.clock.clockRange = ClockRange.LOOP_STOP; // loop at end
viewer.clock.multiplier = 60;                   // 60x real-time
viewer.clock.shouldAnimate = true;
viewer.timeline.zoomTo(start, stop);

// Per-frame callback: compute a [0,1] fraction for camera or property animation
viewer.clock.onTick.addEventListener((clock) => {
  const elapsed = JulianDate.secondsDifference(clock.currentTime, clock.startTime);
  const total = JulianDate.secondsDifference(clock.stopTime, clock.startTime);
  const t = Math.max(0, Math.min(1, elapsed / total));
  // Example: interpolate camera position linearly between two points
  // const dest = Cartesian3.lerp(startPos, endPos, t, new Cartesian3());
  // viewer.camera.setView({ destination: dest, orientation: { heading: 0, pitch: CesiumMath.toRadians(-30), roll: 0 } });
});

**Manual clock advancement** -- call `viewer.clock.tick()` to advance the clock by one frame outside the render loop (useful for setting up a mid-interval state before a screenshot):

// Advance to midpoint before screenshot
viewer.clock.currentTime = JulianDate.addSeconds(start, 15, new JulianDate());
viewer.clock.tick(); // fires onTick listeners immediately

| ClockRange | Behavior | |---|---| | `UNBOUNDED` | Advances forever in both directions | | `CLAMPED` | Stops at start/stop time | | `LOOP_STOP` | Wraps from stop back to start |

| ClockStep | Behavior | |---|---| | `TICK_DEPENDENT` | Each tick advances by `multiplier` seconds (frame-dependent) | | `SYSTEM_CLOCK_MULTIPLIER` | Elapsed wall time x `multiplier` (default) | | `SYSTEM_CLOCK` | Real-time; ignores multiplier |

TimeInterval & TimeIntervalCollection

import { TimeInterval, TimeIntervalCollection, JulianDate } from "cesium";

const interval = TimeInterval.fromIso8601({
  iso8601: "2025-06-15T00:00:00Z/2025-06-16T00:00:00Z",
  data: { phase: "daylight" },  // attach arbitrary data
});
TimeInterval.contains(interval, JulianDate.fromIso8601("2025-06-15T12:00:00Z")); // true

// Used by Entity.availability to cull entities outside the time window
const availability = new TimeIntervalCollection([
  new TimeInterval({
    start: JulianDate.fromIso8601("2025-06-15T00:00:00Z"),
    stop: JulianDate.fromIso8601("2025-06-16T00:00:00Z"),
  }),
]);

Property System -- Time-Varying Values

Every entity attribute is a Property. CesiumJS calls `property.getValue(time)` each frame.

ConstantProperty

Returns the same value regardless of time. CesiumJS auto-wraps raw values, so explicit use is rare.

import { ConstantProperty, Color } from "cesium";
const prop = new ConstantProperty(Color.RED);
prop.setValue(Color.BLUE); // fires definitionChanged

SampledProperty -- Interpolated Time Series

Stores discrete samples and interpolates. Type can be `Number`, `Cartesian3`, `Color`, or any `Packable`.

import { SampledProperty, JulianDate, LagrangePolynomialApproximation, ExtrapolationType } from "cesium";

const prop = new SampledProperty(Number);
const t0 = JulianDate.fromIso8601("2025-06-15T00:00:00Z");
prop.addSample(t0, 1.0);
prop.addSample(JulianDate.addSeconds(t0, 60, new JulianDate()), 2.5);
prop.addSample(JulianDate.addSeconds(t0, 120, new JulianDate()), 1.0);
prop.getValue(JulianDate.addSeconds(t0, 30, new JulianDate())); // ~1.75

// Default: LinearApproximation degree 1. Switch to smoother Lagrange:
prop.setInterpolationOptions({ interpolationDegree: 5, interpolationAlgorithm: LagrangePolynomialApproximation });
prop.forwardExtrapolationType = ExtrapolationType.HOLD; // ho