More advanced mapping with cartopy and matplotlib ================================================= From the outset, cartopy's purpose has been to simplify and improve the quality of mapping visualisations available for scientific data. Thanks to the simplicity of the cartopy interface, in many cases the hardest part of producing such visualisations is getting hold of the data in the first place. To address this, a Python package, `Iris `_, has been created to make loading and saving data from a variety of gridded datasets easier. Some of the following examples make use of the Iris loading capabilities, while others use the netCDF4 Python package so as to show a range of different approaches to data loading. Contour plots ------------- .. plot:: :include-source: import os import matplotlib.pyplot as plt from netCDF4 import Dataset as netcdf_dataset import numpy as np from cartopy import config import cartopy.crs as ccrs # get the path of the file. It can be found in the repo data directory. fname = os.path.join(config["repo_data_dir"], 'netcdf', 'HadISST1_SST_update.nc' ) dataset = netcdf_dataset(fname) sst = dataset.variables['sst'][0, :, :] lats = dataset.variables['lat'][:] lons = dataset.variables['lon'][:] ax = plt.axes(projection=ccrs.PlateCarree()) plt.contourf(lons, lats, sst, 60, transform=ccrs.PlateCarree()) ax.coastlines() plt.show() Block plots ----------- .. plot:: :include-source: import iris import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import cartopy.crs as ccrs # load some sample iris data fname = iris.sample_data_path('rotated_pole.nc') temperature = iris.load_cube(fname) # iris comes complete with a method to put bounds on a simple point # coordinate. This is very useful... temperature.coord('grid_latitude').guess_bounds() temperature.coord('grid_longitude').guess_bounds() # turn the iris Cube data structure into numpy arrays gridlons = temperature.coord('grid_longitude').contiguous_bounds() gridlats = temperature.coord('grid_latitude').contiguous_bounds() temperature = temperature.data # set up a map ax = plt.axes(projection=ccrs.PlateCarree()) # define the coordinate system that the grid lons and grid lats are on rotated_pole = ccrs.RotatedPole(pole_longitude=177.5, pole_latitude=37.5) plt.pcolormesh(gridlons, gridlats, temperature, transform=rotated_pole) ax.coastlines() plt.show() Images ------ .. plot:: :include-source: import os import matplotlib.pyplot as plt from cartopy import config import cartopy.crs as ccrs fig = plt.figure(figsize=(8, 12)) # get the path of the file. It can be found in the repo data directory. fname = os.path.join(config["repo_data_dir"], 'raster', 'sample', 'Miriam.A2012270.2050.2km.jpg' ) img_extent = (-120.67660000000001, -106.32104523100001, 13.2301484511245, 30.766899999999502) img = plt.imread(fname) ax = plt.axes(projection=ccrs.PlateCarree()) plt.title('Hurricane Miriam from the Aqua/MODIS satellite\n' '2012 09/26/2012 20:50 UTC') # set a margin around the data ax.set_xmargin(0.05) ax.set_ymargin(0.10) # add the image. Because this image was a tif, the "origin" of the image is in the # upper left corner ax.imshow(img, origin='upper', extent=img_extent, transform=ccrs.PlateCarree()) ax.coastlines(resolution='50m', color='black', linewidth=1) # mark a known place to help us geo-locate ourselves ax.plot(-117.1625, 32.715, 'bo', markersize=7, transform=ccrs.Geodetic()) ax.text(-117, 33, 'San Diego', transform=ccrs.Geodetic()) plt.show() .. _vector_plotting: Vector plotting --------------- Cartopy comes with powerful vector field plotting functionality. There are 3 distinct options for visualising vector fields: :meth:`quivers ` (:ref:`example `), :meth:`barbs ` (:ref:`example `) and :meth:`streamplots ` (:ref:`example `) each with their own benefits for displaying certain vector field forms. .. literalinclude:: /examples/arrows.py .. plot:: examples/arrows.py Since both :meth:`~cartopy.mpl.geoaxes.GeoAxes.quiver` and :meth:`~cartopy.mpl.geoaxes.GeoAxes.barbs` are visualisations which draw every vector supplied, there is an additional option to "regrid" the vector field into a regular grid on the target projection (done via :func:`cartopy.vector_transform.vector_scalar_to_grid`). This is enabled with the ``regrid_shape`` keyword and can have a massive impact on the effectiveness of the visualisation: .. literalinclude:: /examples/regridding_arrows.py .. plot:: examples/regridding_arrows.py