Overlaying two contour plots on same axis

I am trying to plots two contours on top of each other

Code is below, cannot work out why it is not working.

figure(1)
[c1,h1]=contourf(long1,lat1,squeeze(asal(:,:,36))',[34.6:0.01:34.9],'LineColor','none')
cmocean('balance')
colorbar
hold on
[c2,h2]=contour(long1,lat1,squeeze(pot_dens(:,:,36))',[26.80:.01:27.0],'k--')
clabel(c2,h2)

I have attached the different plots seperately, and the combined result.

I want just the sal plot as is, with the potential density contours overlaid

Thanks in advance

[Elie Hatem]

Hello,

I am trying to do the same thing.

Have you found a solution?

[James Wyatt]

Hi Elie,

I have some code that works kind of well:

figure(1)
ax(1)=axes;
contourf(long1,lat1,squeeze(PV(:,:,34))',[0.05*10^-10:0.05*10^-10:1*10^-10],'LineColor','none')
cmocean('balance')
hc(1)=colorbar;
ax(2)=axes;
[c2,h2]=contour(long1,lat1,squeeze(dyn_height(:,:,34))',[10:.1:15],'c--')
clabel(c2,h2)
set(ax(2), 'XAxisLocation','top',...
           'YAxisLocation','right',...
           'Color','none'); 
pos=get(ax(1),'Position');
set(ax,'Position',[pos(1) pos(2) 0.9*pos(3) pos(4)]);
cpos=get(hc(1),'position');
set(hc(1),'position',[cpos(1)+0.05 cpos(2:4)]);
title('PV at 500m depth in SEI Ocean with dynamic height overlay')
xlabel('Longitude')
ylabel('latitude')

This does give an overlay, however I'm sure there is probably a simpler way of doing it.

[Elie Hatem]

Thank you !

Answer 1

[Pratheek Punchathody]

Hi James,

As per my understanding you are looking for plotting two contour plots on the same axis.

Here is the reference code where two contour plots are overlaid on the same axis.

%%code starts here 

Z1 = peaks; %Sample data 1 
Z2 = peaks.^2; %Sample data 2 

hold on 
contourf(Z1,'-r'); 
contour(Z2,'--k'); 
colormap('map') 
axis equal 

%%code ends here 

The plot for the above code with the sample data where the two counter plots are overlaid is shown below

The output figure shows both Z1 and Z2 are contour plotted on the same axis, with Z1 being filled 2D plot and Z2 with the contour plot.

Potential density contours are overlaid with the different colour using the "colormap"

Contour plots can be colour mapped using the “colormap”. For more information on colour mapping the contour plots, please check here

Look for the alternate solutions in this link where two contours can be overlaid in a subplot.

Reference information on Filled 2D contour Plot the Contor plot