Make Space Time Cube Layer (Space Time Pattern Mining)—ArcGIS Pro

Summary

Creates a space-time cube layer from a netCDF space-time cube that was created using a tool from the Space Time Cube Creation toolset. This space-time cube layer contains a copy of all the variables and analysis results in the original space-time cube and is added to the active scene or map.

In a scene, selecting the space-time cube layer in the Contents pane activates a contextual space-time cube layer ribbon that enables interactive visualization of the three-dimensional representation of the space-time cube.

Illustration

Usage

This tool accepts netCDF files created by various tools in the Space Time Pattern Mining toolbox.
Space-time cubes can be visualized using points or polygons to represent each space-time bin, with the exception of point cubes created from defined locations, which can only be symbolized using points. Points have better performance and are the default. If the space-time cube was created from defined locations, it is recommended that you visualize the bins as points, and add the 2D representation of the polygons to the scene using the Visualize Space Time Cube in 2D tool with the Footprints option for the Display Theme parameter.
For additional details about each display theme option, see Visualization display themes for the space-time cube layer.
Time is visualized along the vertical axis of a space-time cube. It is recommended that you turn off any 3D layer that may impact how the space-time cube layer is displayed. For example, bins in the space-time cube layer may be obscured by mountains, buildings, or trees. It is recommended that you turn off any Ground layers that appear in the Elevation Surfaces group in the Contents pane and the Buildings and Trees layers in the 3D Layers group.
If the space-time cube does not appear in the scene, clear the visibility range limits by selecting the new layer in the Contents pane, clicking the Appearance tab, and clicking the Clear Limits button. Ensure that the time slider and range slider are either off or show the full range of possible values.
Shapefile output is not supported because shapefiles cannot store null values and do not support both date and time in the same field. Null values are important for visualizing variables with analysis masks. Fields that contain date and time are important when visualizing 3D results and using the time slider.
The space-time cube layer may render slowly if the space-time cube is large. To improve the rendering speed, use the Extent environment to limit the size of the output space-time cube layer if you are only interested in a portion of the space-time cube.
If a space-time cube layer has an analysis mask, the masked features will have a null attribute value. A null value may represent a no data value, an analysis result, or a masked feature. Use caution when interpreting null values, especially in charts or when using the Data Engineering view.
The space-time cube layer will activate the space-time cube ribbon if the source feature class is a file geodatabase, enterprise geodatabase, big data connection, or SQLite geodatabase.
Space-time cube layers can be published as a point scene layer in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise. The published scene layer will not activate the space-time cube ribbon in ArcGIS Pro.

Parameters

Label	Explanation	Data Type
Input Space Time Cube	The space-time cube that will be used as the source for the output space-time cube layer. A space-time cube has an .nc file extension and was created by a tool in the Space Time Cube Creation toolset.	File
Output Feature Class (Layer Source)	The output features containing variables copied from the input space-time cube. This feature class is the source of the space-time cube layer.	Feature Class
Variables (Optional)	The variables from the input space-time cube that will be included in the output space-time cube layer. By default, all variables will be included.	String
Output Geometry Type (Optional)	Specifies the geometry type of the output feature class. Points—Each space time cube bin will be represented by a point feature. This is the default. Polygons—Each space time cube bin will be represented by a polygon feature.	String

arcpy.stpm.MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer(in_cube, output_features, {cube_variables}, {out_geometry_type})

Name	Explanation	Data Type
in_cube	The space-time cube that will be used as the source for the output space-time cube layer. A space-time cube has an .nc file extension and was created by a tool in the Space Time Cube Creation toolset.	File
output_features	The output features containing variables copied from the input space-time cube. This feature class is the source of the space-time cube layer.	Feature Class
cube_variables [cube_variables,...] (Optional)	The variables from the input space-time cube that will be included in the output space-time cube layer. By default, all variables will be included.	String
out_geometry_type (Optional)	Specifies the geometry type of the output feature class. POINT—Each space time cube bin will be represented by a point feature. This is the default. POLYGON—Each space time cube bin will be represented by a polygon feature.	String

Code sample

MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer example 1 (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer function.

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:\STC_Layer"
arcpy.stpm.MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer(
    "stc_forecast_results.nc", "out_stc_layer", "COUNT", "POINT")

MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer example 2 (stand-alone script)

The following stand-alone Python script demonstrates how to use the MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer function.

# Use the Make Space Time Cube Layer tool to create a space-time cube layer and visualize a space-time cube containing aggregated homicide incidents in a metropolitan area.

# Import system modules
import arcpy

# Set overwriteOutput property to overwrite existing output, by default
arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True

# Local variable
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:\STPM"

# Create Space Time Cube by aggregating homicide incident data with 3 months and
# 3 miles settings
cube = arcpy.stpm.CreateSpaceTimeCube(
    "Homicides.shp", "Homicides.nc", "MyDate", "#", "3 Months", "End time", "#",
    "3 Miles", "Property MEDIAN SPACETIME; Age STD ZEROS", "HEXAGON_GRID")

# Create a space-time cube layer to visualize the space-time cube
arcpy.stpm.MakeSpaceTimeCubeLayer(
    "Homicides.nc", "out_stc_layer", "COUNT", "POINT")

Environments

Output Coordinate System, Geographic Transformations, Current Workspace, Scratch Workspace, Extent

Licensing information

Basic: Yes
Standard: Yes
Advanced: Yes