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MinimumTimeIncrement[tes]

gives the minimum time increment in the time or event series data tes.

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Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
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MinimumTimeIncrement

MinimumTimeIncrement[tes]

gives the minimum time increment in the time or event series data tes.

Details

  • MinimumTimeIncrement is typically used to find an appropriate uniform resampling step that avoids data loss in a time series.
  • For times {t1,t2,…,tn}, the minimum time increment is given by Min[{t2-t1,t3-t2,…,tn-tn-1}].
  • Possible forms of time or event series data tes include:
  • TimeSeries[…]continuous time-ordered sampled data
    EventSeries[…]collection of temporal events with values
    TemporalData[…]one or more paths composed of time-value pairs
    {{t1,x1},{t2,x2},…}list of time-value pairs
    {x1,x2,…}list of values with implied integer times starting at 0
  • The minimum time increment may be numeric or temporal quantity.
  • The minimum time increment will be affected by the granularity of tes. »
  • MinimumTimeIncrement threads pathwise for TemporalData objects with multiple paths. »

Examples

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Basic Examples  (3)

Find the minimum time increment for a time series:

Wolfram Language code: Sort@RandomDate[5, DateGranularity -> "Day"]
Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[Range[5], {%}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

The minimum time increment for a regularly sampled time series can be a day type:

Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[Range[10], {Automatic, Today, "BusinessDay"}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

Find the minimum time increments for a collection of paths:

Wolfram Language code: RandomFunction[PoissonProcess[3], {1, 100}, 3]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

Scope  (8)

The MinimumTimeIncrement for a vector is always 1:

Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[RandomReal[10, 100]]

Find the MinimumTimeIncrement for a list of time-value pairs:

Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[d = {{1, Subscript[``v``, 1]}, {2, Subscript[``v``, 2]}, {2.5, Subscript[``v``, 3]}, {4, Subscript[``v``, 4]}}]

Equivalently:

Wolfram Language code: Min[Differences[d[[All, 1]]]]

For time-value pairs measured in calendar time:

Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[{{"2000", Subscript[``v``, 1]}, {"2001", Subscript[``v``, 2]}, {"2002", Subscript[``v``, 3]}, {"2003", Subscript[``v``, 4]}}]

Find the MinimumTimeIncrement for a TimeSeries:

Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[{Subscript[``v``, 1], Subscript[``v``, 2], Subscript[``v``, 3], Subscript[``v``, 4]}, {"2026", Automatic, "Year"}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

Find the MinimumTimeIncrement for an EventSeries:

Wolfram Language code: EventSeries[<||>, {DateObject[{2026, 1, 5}], DateObject[{2026, 3, 5}], {3, "Holiday"}}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

Find MinimumTimeIncrement for automatically computed regular step in a time series:

Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[{Subscript[``v``, 1], Subscript[``v``, 2], Subscript[``v``, 3], Subscript[``v``, 4]}, {DateObject[{2026, 6, 7}, "Day"], DateObject[{2026, 9, 12}, "Day"], Automatic}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

A multicomponent time series still has only one set of times and hence a single minimum time increment:

Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[{{.1, "cat"}, {.2, "dog"}, {.3, "fox"}}, {{Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow}}, {"a", "b"}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

A separate increment is given for each path in an ensemble:

Wolfram Language code: RandomFunction[PoissonProcess[5], {0, 10}, 3]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

Applications  (1)

Find the minimum distance between jumps in a simulation of a PoissonProcess:

Wolfram Language code: ts = RandomFunction[PoissonProcess[3], {1, 30}]
Wolfram Language code: ListPlot[ts]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[ts]

Properties & Relations  (6)

An empty series does not have the minimum time increment defined:

Wolfram Language code: EventSeries[{}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

For series with only one timestamp, the minimum time increment is not defined:

Wolfram Language code: EventSeries[{1}, {{Today}}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

MinimumTimeIncrement for numerical timestamps is not given in any units:

Wolfram Language code: EventSeries[{1, 2}, {{E, Pi}}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

The minimum time increment for a regular time series:

Wolfram Language code: reg = TimeSeries[Range[10], {1, 10}]
Wolfram Language code: Tally @ Differences[reg["Times"]]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[reg]

An irregular time series:

Wolfram Language code: irreg = TimeSeries[Range[10], {Accumulate@RandomChoice[{1, 2, 3}, 10]}]
Wolfram Language code: Tally @ Differences[irreg["Times"]]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[irreg]

The granularity of the time series affects the minimum time increment:

Wolfram Language code: dates = {DateObject[{2026, 3, 5}, "Day"], DateObject[{2026, 8, 11}, "Day"], DateObject[{2026, 10, 27}, "Day"]};
Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[Range[3], {dates}]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]
Wolfram Language code: TimeSeries[Range[3], {dates}, DateGranularity -> "Month"]
Wolfram Language code: MinimumTimeIncrement[%]

Use RegularlySampledQ to determine if the time increment is constant:

Wolfram Language code: RandomFunction[ARProcess[{.1}, 1], {1, 100}]
Wolfram Language code: RegularlySampledQ[%]
Wolfram Language code: RandomFunction[PoissonProcess[3], {1, 100}]
Wolfram Language code: RegularlySampledQ[%]
Wolfram Research (2014), MinimumTimeIncrement, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimumTimeIncrement.html (updated 2026).

Text

Wolfram Research (2014), MinimumTimeIncrement, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimumTimeIncrement.html (updated 2026).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2014. "MinimumTimeIncrement." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2026. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimumTimeIncrement.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2014). MinimumTimeIncrement. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimumTimeIncrement.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_minimumtimeincrement, author="Wolfram Research", title="{MinimumTimeIncrement}", year="2026", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimumTimeIncrement.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_minimumtimeincrement, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={MinimumTimeIncrement}, year={2026}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/MinimumTimeIncrement.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}