Straight Line on ArcScene after adding Z-coordinate

[GauravBhardwaj1]

I'm trying to do space-time analysis on ArcScene. In doing so, I'm using Add XY data to input my tabular data. When I input X and Y values, I get a normal map in 2D, but when I add the third axis (time), it just gives me a straight line on ArcScene and X and Y values loose their significance. (Note: My time column has values in HHMMSS.SS format)

This is my data

This is the ArcScene output I get after importing XYZ data

[DanPatterson_Retired]

If looks like your longitude and latitude are from a very limited range relative to the z

[GauravBhardwaj1]

Hi Dan,

I tried taking log of the time column but still getting a single line point values. Now my log_time ranges from 33-36 which is comparable to the latitude and longitude

[XanderBakker]

I assume you have not defined a particular vertical coordina system for the data, right? In that case it will assume the same unit used for the X and Y values to be used for the Z values leading to unwanted results. You could create another field that expresses the time from the start time and use a different unit (minutes, hours days, depending on the range of time values). What is your use case for using time as Z axis? What do you want to visualize?

Normally time is used to visualize an animation of movement over time (in 2D or in 3D, if you have Z values)

[GauravBhardwaj1]

Yes, I'm visualizing space-time variation of my data in 3D. When i try to use my time field as Z-axis, it doesn't show up on ArcScene's 'Add XY Data'  as its not of integer form. This was the reason I was trying to convert the time to integer and then use it. 

[XanderBakker]

For space-time analysis have a look at: An overview of the Space Time Pattern Mining toolbox—Help | ArcGIS Desktop