Time Pattern #

A time pattern defines a series of specific points in time throughout the year and is used to sample time based data like weather when creating a sky series or to calculate time dependent values like sun positions in a sun rig.

Time Step#

The points in time $p$ within the time pattern are created by sampling a series of hours. The time step $t$ is the amount of samples per hour $h$ and the sampling ensures that the points in time are equally distributed. The amount of time steps also determines the time span $s$ that each point in time will represent. $$ s = \frac{h}{t} $$ $$ p_i = \frac{s}{2} + s \cdot i \quad \text{for all } 0 \leq i < t $$

From Schedule#

A time pattern can be created using a schedule with a list of months, a list of days, a list of hours and a time step for the hourly sampling. The points in time in the time pattern will then be constructed on a for each basis where the hours are sampled using the time step and then repeated for all days and for all months.

Info

The points in time will be within the hour following each hour that is specified. This means that if the list of hours contain 10, 11 and 12 and the time step is set to 1 then the points in time will be at 10:30, 11:30 and 12:30.

Time pattern from schedule nested repetition — A time pattern that is constructed from a schedule using the hours $(6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17)$ the day $(21)$ and all months of the year $(1,\ldots, 12)$.

From Time Span#

A time pattern can be created by specifying a time span from a start hour to an end hour in the year and a time step for the hourly sampling.

A time pattern created from a time span. — A time pattern created using a time span from 12:00 21st March to 12:00 21st September.

Merge Time Patterns#

Multiple time patterns can be merged into a single time pattern as long as they have the same amount of time steps per hour. This enables all possible combinations of hours in the year.