Animations of gridded data sets are displayed within the Map Display Window on the Arctic-RIMS Data Explorer interface and are accessed via the Animation Tool which can be found in the lower right hand corner of the interface when time series data are loaded in the interface (See: Tour/How do I create a map of Arctic-RIMS gridded data?). The animation tool is hidden from the interface when static non-time series, single layer data sets such as elevation or soil layers are loaded within the interface. Time series data sets appropriate for animation can be animated over the full temporal range of the data or over a user input temporal range. Some of these data sets include precipitation, radiation, runoff, snow cover, snow water equivalent, temperature, vapor pressure, wind direction and wind speed. Users should be cautioned that when the Arctic-RIMS Data Explorer interface is first opened there will be no animation tool present because the default data set within the interface is elevation, a static non-time series data set. Data can be displayed and later animated within the Map Display Window within the Data Explorer interface as either a map product, a map product displaying data anomalies, or as a histogram by choosing one of three redraw radio buttons found directly above the Map Display Window respectively.

Users can animate the full temporal extent of their chosen data set by simply clicking on the Start Animation button in the Animation tool. If a user chooses to alter the temporal range of the animation the user must first alter the From and To fields within the animation tool before clicking the Start Animation button. Once all of the data of a chosen data range has been loaded into the Map Display Window users can alter the speed of the animation by choosing the "Faster" or "Slower" buttons that appear on the Animation Tool. Once an animation is started the Start Animation button changes into a Stop Animation button and user can apply the button when they wish to cease the animation. Chosen temporal data ranges can also be displayed as a time series graph by clicking on the "Time Series Graph for above Dates" button.

In addition to allowing for the display of animation data, the Animation tool also allows users to display a single time slice. Users can do this by entering their chosen temporal time slice in the fields under the "Get Single Image" button. Once this data is entered a simple click of the "Get Single Image" button will retrieve this data slice and display it within the Map Display Window. Once loaded, users have the option to toggle through previous or next time slices within the time series by clicking on the "Previous" or "Next" buttons respectively.