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Using matlotlib: why do imshow and contourf not plot together? (contourf "overrides" imshow)

I am trying to plot some meteorological data onto a map and I would like to add an image of a plane using imshow. Plotting i) the trajectory, ii) some contour-data and iii) the image, works fine. But as soon as I add a contourf-plot (see below) the image dissapears!
Any ideas how to fix this?
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
import cartopy.crs as crs
import cartopy.feature as cfeature
def plot_test():
#DEFINE DATA
x,y = np.meshgrid(np.linspace(0,90,100),np.linspace(0,90,100))
z = x**3 + y**3
#BEGIN FIGURE (IN THIS CASE A MAP, IM PLOTTING METEOROLOGICAL DATA)
fig = plt.figure(figsize = (6,6))
ax1 = plt.axes(projection=crs.PlateCarree(central_longitude=0))
ax1.set_extent([0,90,0,90], crs=crs.PlateCarree())
ax1.coastlines(resolution='auto', color='k')
#EXAMPLE DATA PLOTTED AS CONTOURF
v_max = int(z.max())
v_min = int(z.min())
qcs = ax1.contourf(x, y, z, cmap = "Blues", vmin = v_min, vmax = v_max)
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap="Blues",norm=qcs.norm)
sm._A = []
cbar = plt.colorbar(sm, ax=ax1,orientation="vertical")
cbar.ax.set_ylabel("some contourf data", rotation=90, fontsize = 15)
#PLOT IMAGE OF A PLANE (THIS IS NOT SHOWING UP ON THE PLOT!)
x0 = 50
y0 = 40
img=plt.imread("plane2.png")
ax1.imshow(img,extent=[x0,x0 - 10, y0, y0-10], label = "plane")
plt.show()
without contourf (code from above with lines 14-20 commented out):
with contourf:

Thank you 1000 times #JohanC (see comments). I simply had to place the z-order:
ax1.imshow(img, ...., zorder=3)
which made the plane show up!

Set Colorbar range with "contourf" in matplotlib

How to reduce the colorbar limit when used with contourf ? The color bound from the graphs itself are well set with "vmin" and "vmax", but the colorbar bounds are not modified.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
x = np.arange(20)
y = np.arange(20)
data = x[:,None]+y[None,:]
X,Y = np.meshgrid(x,y)
vmin = 0
vmax = 15
#My attempt
fig,ax = plt.subplots()
contourf_ = ax.contourf(X,Y,data, 400, vmin=vmin, vmax=vmax)
cbar = fig.colorbar(contourf_)
cbar.set_clim( vmin, vmax )
# With solution from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53641644/set-colorbar-range-with-contourf
levels = np.linspace(vmin, vmax, 400+1)
fig,ax = plt.subplots()
contourf_ = ax.contourf(X,Y,data, levels=levels, vmin=vmin, vmax=vmax)
cbar = fig.colorbar(contourf_)
plt.show()
solution from "Set Colorbar Range in matplotlib" works for pcolormesh, but not for contourf. The result I want looks like the following, but using contourf.
fig,ax = plt.subplots()
contourf_ = ax.pcolormesh(X,Y,data[1:,1:], vmin=vmin, vmax=vmax)
cbar = fig.colorbar(contourf_)
Solution from "set colorbar range with contourf" would be ok if the limit were extended, but not if they are reduced.
I am using matplotlib 3.0.2

The following always produces a bar with colours that correspond to the colours in the graph, but shows no colours for values outside of the [vmin,vmax] range.
It can be edited (see inline comment) to give you exactly the result you want, but that the colours of the bar then still correspond to the colours in the graph, is only due to the specific colour map that's used (I think):
# Start copied from your attempt
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
x = np.arange(20)
y = np.arange(20)
data = x[:, None] + y[None, :]
X, Y = np.meshgrid(x, y)
vmin = 0
vmax = 15
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
# Start of solution
from matplotlib.cm import ScalarMappable
levels = 400
level_boundaries = np.linspace(vmin, vmax, levels + 1)
quadcontourset = ax.contourf(
X, Y, data,
level_boundaries, # change this to `levels` to get the result that you want
vmin=vmin, vmax=vmax
)
fig.colorbar(
ScalarMappable(norm=quadcontourset.norm, cmap=quadcontourset.cmap),
ticks=range(vmin, vmax+5, 5),
boundaries=level_boundaries,
values=(level_boundaries[:-1] + level_boundaries[1:]) / 2,
)
Always correct solution that can't handle values outside [vmin,vmax]:
Requested solution:

I am not sure how long it has been there, but in matplotlib 3.5.0 in contourf there is an "extend" option which makes a cutesy little arrow on the colorbar. See the contourf help page. In your scenario we can do
fig,ax = plt.subplots()
contourf_ = ax.contourf(X,Y,data, levels=np.linspace(vmin,vmax,400),extend='max')
cbar = fig.colorbar(contourf_,ticks=range(vmin, vmax+3, 3))

Adding a colorbar to pyplot [duplicate]

I have a sequence of line plots for two variables (x,y) for a number of different values of a variable z. I would normally add the line plots with legends like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
# suppose mydata is a list of tuples containing (xs, ys, z)
# where xs and ys are lists of x's and y's and z is a number.
legns = []
for(xs,ys,z) in mydata:
pl = ax.plot(xs,ys,color = (z,0,0))
legns.append("z = %f"%(z))
ax.legends(legns)
plt.show()
But I have too many graphs and the legends will cover the graph. I'd rather have a colorbar indicating the value of z corresponding to the color. I can't find anything like that in the galery and all my attempts do deal with the colorbar failed. Apparently I must create a collection of plots before trying to add a colorbar.
Is there an easy way to do this? Thanks.
EDIT (clarification):
I wanted to do something like this:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.cm as cm
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
mycmap = cm.hot
# suppose mydata is a list of tuples containing (xs, ys, z)
# where xs and ys are lists of x's and y's and z is a number between 0 and 1
plots = []
for(xs,ys,z) in mydata:
pl = ax.plot(xs,ys,color = mycmap(z))
plots.append(pl)
fig.colorbar(plots)
plt.show()
But this won't work according to the Matplotlib reference because a list of plots is not a "mappable", whatever this means.
I've created an alternative plot function using LineCollection:
def myplot(ax,xs,ys,zs, cmap):
plot = lc([zip(x,y) for (x,y) in zip(xs,ys)], cmap = cmap)
plot.set_array(array(zs))
x0,x1 = amin(xs),amax(xs)
y0,y1 = amin(ys),amax(ys)
ax.add_collection(plot)
ax.set_xlim(x0,x1)
ax.set_ylim(y0,y1)
return plot
xs and ys are lists of lists of x and y coordinates and zs is a list of the different conditions to colorize each line. It feels a bit like a cludge though... I thought that there would be a more neat way to do this. I like the flexibility of the plt.plot() function.

(I know this is an old question but...) Colorbars require a matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable, plt.plot produces lines which are not scalar mappable, therefore, in order to make a colorbar, we are going to need to make a scalar mappable.
Ok. So the constructor of a ScalarMappable takes a cmap and a norm instance. (norms scale data to the range 0-1, cmaps you have already worked with and take a number between 0-1 and returns a color). So in your case:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.normalize(min=0, max=1))
plt.colorbar(sm)
Because your data is in the range 0-1 already, you can simplify the sm creation to:
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap)
EDIT: For matplotlib v1.2 or greater the code becomes:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
# fake up the array of the scalar mappable. Urgh...
sm._A = []
plt.colorbar(sm)
EDIT: For matplotlib v1.3 or greater the code becomes:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
# fake up the array of the scalar mappable. Urgh...
sm._A = []
plt.colorbar(sm)
EDIT: For matplotlib v3.1 or greater simplifies to:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=my_cmap, norm=plt.Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=1))
plt.colorbar(sm)

Here's one way to do it while still using plt.plot(). Basically, you make a throw-away plot and get the colorbar from there.
import matplotlib as mpl
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
min, max = (-40, 30)
step = 10
# Setting up a colormap that's a simple transtion
mymap = mpl.colors.LinearSegmentedColormap.from_list('mycolors',['blue','red'])
# Using contourf to provide my colorbar info, then clearing the figure
Z = [[0,0],[0,0]]
levels = range(min,max+step,step)
CS3 = plt.contourf(Z, levels, cmap=mymap)
plt.clf()
# Plotting what I actually want
X=[[1,2],[1,2],[1,2],[1,2]]
Y=[[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[1,5]]
Z=[-40,-20,0,30]
for x,y,z in zip(X,Y,Z):
# setting rgb color based on z normalized to my range
r = (float(z)-min)/(max-min)
g = 0
b = 1-r
plt.plot(x,y,color=(r,g,b))
plt.colorbar(CS3) # using the colorbar info I got from contourf
plt.show()
It's a little wasteful, but convenient. It's also not very wasteful if you make multiple plots as you can call plt.colorbar() without regenerating the info for it.

Here is a slightly simplied example inspired by the top answer given by Boris and Hooked (Thanks for the great idea!):
1. Discrete colorbar
Discrete colorbar is more involved, because colormap generated by mpl.cm.get_cmap() is not a mappable image needed as a colorbar() argument. A dummie mappable needs to generated as shown below:
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1, n_lines + 1)
cmap = mpl.cm.get_cmap('jet', n_lines)
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
# Make dummie mappable
dummie_cax = ax.scatter(c, c, c=c, cmap=cmap)
# Clear axis
ax.cla()
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap(i))
fig.colorbar(dummie_cax, ticks=c)
plt.show();
This will produce a plot with a discrete colorbar:
2. Continuous colorbar
Continuous colorbar is less involved, as mpl.cm.ScalarMappable() allows us to obtain an "image" for colorbar().
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib as mpl
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1, n_lines + 1)
norm = mpl.colors.Normalize(vmin=c.min(), vmax=c.max())
cmap = mpl.cm.ScalarMappable(norm=norm, cmap=mpl.cm.jet)
cmap.set_array([])
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap.to_rgba(i + 1))
fig.colorbar(cmap, ticks=c)
plt.show();
This will produce a plot with a continuous colorbar:
[Side note] In this example, I personally don't know why cmap.set_array([]) is necessary (otherwise we'd get error messages). If someone understand the principles under the hood, please comment :)

As other answers here do try to use dummy plots, which is not really good style, here is a generic code for a
Discrete colorbar
A discrete colorbar is produced in the same way a continuous colorbar is created, just with a different Normalization. In this case a BoundaryNorm should be used.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.colors
n_lines = 5
x = np.linspace(0, 10, 100)
y = np.sin(x[:, None] + np.pi * np.linspace(0, 1, n_lines))
c = np.arange(1., n_lines + 1)
cmap = plt.get_cmap("jet", len(c))
norm = matplotlib.colors.BoundaryNorm(np.arange(len(c)+1)+0.5,len(c))
sm = plt.cm.ScalarMappable(norm=norm, cmap=cmap)
sm.set_array([]) # this line may be ommitted for matplotlib >= 3.1
fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=100)
for i, yi in enumerate(y.T):
ax.plot(x, yi, c=cmap(i))
fig.colorbar(sm, ticks=c)
plt.show()

Matplotlib: Set cmap in plot_surface to x and y-axes

How can I set the colormap in relation to the radius of the figure?
And how can I close the ends of the cylinder (on the element, not the top and bottom bases)?
My script:
import numpy as np
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
from math import sin, cos, pi
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
h, w = 60,30
znew = np.random.randint(low=90, high=110, size=(60,30))
theta = np.linspace(0,2*pi, h)
Z = np.linspace(0,1,w)
Z,theta = np.meshgrid(Z, theta)
R = 1
X = (R*np.cos(theta))*znew
Y = (R*np.sin(theta))*znew
ax1 = ax.plot_surface(X,Y,Z,linewidth = 0, cmap="coolwarm",
vmin= 80,vmax=130, shade = True, alpha = 0.75)
fig.colorbar(ax1, shrink=0.9, aspect=5)
plt.show()

First you need to use the facecolors keyword argument of plot_surface to draw your surface with arbitrary (non-Z-based) colours. You have to pass an explicit RGBA colour four each point, which means we need to sample a colormap object with the keys given by the radius at every point. Finally, this will break the mappable property of the resulting surface, so we will have to construct the colorbar by manually telling it to use our radii for colours:
import numpy as np
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.cm as cm
from matplotlib.colors import Normalize
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
h, w = 60,30
#znew = np.random.randint(low=90, high=110, size=(h,w))
theta = np.linspace(0,2*np.pi, h)
Z = np.linspace(0,1,w)
Z,theta = np.meshgrid(Z, theta)
znew = 100 + 10*np.cos(theta/2)*np.cos(2*Z*np.pi)
R = 1
X = (R*np.cos(theta))*znew
Y = (R*np.sin(theta))*znew
true_radius = np.sqrt(X**2 + Y**2)
norm = Normalize()
colors = norm(true_radius) # auto-adjust true radius into [0,1] for color mapping
cmap = cm.get_cmap("coolwarm")
ax.plot_surface(X, Y, Z, linewidth=0, facecolors=cmap(colors), shade=True, alpha=0.75)
# the surface is not mappable, we need to handle the colorbar manually
mappable = cm.ScalarMappable(cmap=cmap)
mappable.set_array(colors)
fig.colorbar(mappable, shrink=0.9, aspect=5)
plt.show()
Note that I changed the radii to something smooth for a less chaotic-looking result. The true_radius arary contains the actual radii in data units, which after normalization becomes colors (essentially colors = (true_radius - true_radius.min())/true_radius.ptp()).
The result:
Finally, note that I generated the radii such that the cylinder doesn't close seamlessly. This mimicks your random example input. There's nothing you can do about this as long as the radii are not 2π-periodic in theta. This has nothing to do with visualization, this is geometry.

matplotlib scatterplot: adding 4th dimension by the marker shape

I would like to add a fourth dimension to the scatter plot by defining the ellipticity of the markers depending on a variable. Is that possible somehow ?
EDIT:
I would like to avoid a 3D-plot. In my opinion these plots are usually not very informative.

You can place Ellipse patches directly onto your axes, as demonstrated in this matplotlib example. To adapt it to use eccentricity as your "third dimension") keeping the marker area constant:
from pylab import figure, show, rand
from matplotlib.patches import Ellipse
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
N = 25
# ellipse centers
xy = np.random.rand(N, 2)*10
# ellipse eccentrities
eccs = np.random.rand(N) * 0.8 + 0.1
fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, aspect='equal')
A = 0.1
for pos, e in zip(xy, eccs):
# semi-minor, semi-major axes, b and a:
b = np.sqrt(A/np.pi * np.sqrt(1-e**2))
a = A / np.pi / b
ellipse = Ellipse(xy=pos, width=2*a, height=2*b)
ax.add_artist(ellipse)
ax.set_xlim(0, 10)
ax.set_ylim(0, 10)
show()
Of course, you need to scale your marker area to your x-, y- values in this case.

You can use colorbar as the 4th dimension to your 3D plot. One example is as shown below:
import matplotlib.cm as cmx
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib
import numpy as np
def scatter3d(x,y,z, cs, colorsMap='jet'):
cm = plt.get_cmap(colorsMap)
cNorm = matplotlib.colors.Normalize(vmin=min(cs), vmax=max(cs))
scalarMap = cmx.ScalarMappable(norm=cNorm, cmap=cm)
fig = plt.figure()
ax = Axes3D(fig)
ax.scatter(x, y, z, c=scalarMap.to_rgba(cs))
scalarMap.set_array(cs)
fig.colorbar(scalarMap,label='Test')
plt.show()
x = np.random.uniform(0,1,50)
y = np.random.uniform(0,1,50)
z = np.random.uniform(0,1,50)
so scatter3D(x,y,z,x+y) produces:
with x+y being the 4th dimension shown in color. You can add your calculated ellipticity depending on your specific variable instead of x+y to get what you want.

To change the ellipticity of the markers you will have to create them manually as such a feature is not implemented yet. However, I believe you can show 4 dimensions with a 2D scatter plot by using color and size as additional dimensions. You will have to take care of the scaling from data to marker size yourself. I added a simple function to handle that in the example below:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
data = np.random.rand(60,4)
def scale_size(data, data_min=None, data_max=None, size_min=10, size_max=60):
# if the data limits are set to None we will just infer them from the data
if data_min is None:
data_min = data.min()
if data_max is None:
data_max = data.max()
size_range = size_max - size_min
data_range = data_max - data_min
return ((data - data_min) * size_range / data_range) + size_min
plt.scatter(data[:,0], data[:,1], c=data[:,2], s=scale_size(data[:,3]))
plt.colorbar()
plt.show()
Result: