Overview

One of the slickest features of Google Earth is the time slider, which allows you to visualize changes in a dataset over time. As of version 1.5.2 GeoServer makes it very simple to convert existing geospatial data that has a time element in to Google Earth.

Using Time with GeoServer

To use time with GeoServer you need a dataset that has a time or date as one of the elements. To use it in GeoServer you make a 'template' file called time.ftl, and place it in the featureTypes directory. GeoServer will then return the proper values to Google Earth, and the time slider will automatically appear. For more information on setting this up, see the Time Template Tutorial.