Make subplot 'stick' to each other

Hi,

I am making a figure with several subplots (maps, specifically). Setting 'Position' will make each subplot very far away from each other since it is setting the outter boundary position. I tried using 'InnerPosition but it seems not working (don't know why, maybe because they are maps?).

How could I make the subplots stick to eachother? My code is also attached below.

fw = 0.5; % figure width
fh = 0.5 ; % figure height 
L1 = 0; % row 1 from bottom;
L2 = L1+fh; % row 2 from bottom;
C1 = 0; % column from left
C2 = C1+fw; % column from left
Positions =[C1 L2 fw fh;
            C2 L2 fw fh;
            C1 L1 fw fh;
            C2 L1 fw fh];

cbh = 0.015;
cbw = fw-0.1;
fhi = fw * (latmax-latmin)/(lonmax-lonmin) ; % inner figure height 
ver_edge = (0.5-fhi)/2;
cbpos =[C1+0.05  1-0.5*ver_edge  cbw cbh;
        C2+0.05  1-0.5*ver_edge  cbw cbh;
        C1+0.05  L1+0.5*ver_edge   cbw cbh;
        C2+0.05  L1+0.5*ver_edge   cbw cbh];

for ps = 1:4
    subplot('Position',Positions(ps,:))
    % skip other settings
    cb1=colorbar('horizontal', 'fontsize',fz, 'fontweight', 'bold','Position',cbpos(ps,:)); % color bar definition; for later use
end

Answer 1

[Hannah]

Okay I see what is the problem. The aspect ratio (figure height / figure width) in worldmap is

((latmax-latmin)/180 )/((lonmax-lonmin)/360)

While what I did is (latmax-latmin)/(lonmax-lonmin). This doubled the aspect ratio therefore leaved lots of white space. Below is the corrected layout I got (without putting any data yet):

[the cyclist]

I'm glad it worked out

[Hannah]

Thanks for helping!!

Answer 2

[the cyclist]

It might be easier to do what you want with the newer tiledlayout command for making subplots.

[Hannah]

Hi,

Thanks! I tried setting 'TileSpacing' to 'none'. But it gives the same layout as what I have now. The space between the top and bottom penel remains. Any solution to that?

[the cyclist]

The code you posted errors out because some of the variables are missing. I tried substituting some values in, but I could not replicate anything close to what your figure shows. So, I can't really suggest any fix.

[Hannah]

Hi there,

Yea I didn't post the entire code since it is super long. I just generated something that can run:

latmin = -45;
latmax = 65;
lonmin = -160;
lonmax = 168;

fw = 0.5; % figure width
fh = 0.5 ; % figure height 
L1 = 0; % row 1 from bottom;
L2 = L1+fh; % row 2 from bottom;
C1 = 0; % column from left
C2 = C1+fw; % column from left
Positions =[C1 L2 fw fh;
            C2 L2 fw fh;
            C1 L1 fw fh;
            C2 L1 fw fh];
cbh = 0.015;
cbw = fw-0.1;
fhi = fw * (latmax-latmin)/(lonmax-lonmin) ; % inner figure height 
ver_edge = (0.5-fhi)/2;
cbpos =[C1+0.05  1-0.5*ver_edge  cbw cbh;
        C2+0.05  1-0.5*ver_edge  cbw cbh;
        C1+0.05  L1+0.5*ver_edge   cbw cbh;
        C2+0.05  L1+0.5*ver_edge   cbw cbh];

fz = 10; % font size

for ps = 1:4
    subplot('Position',Positions(ps,:))
    worldmap([latmin latmax],[lonmin lonmax]);
    setm(gca,'Grid','off','MapProjection','miller','parallellabel','off','meridianlabel','off')
    % skip other settings
    cb1=colorbar('horizontal', 'fontsize',fz, 'fontweight', 'bold','Position',cbpos(ps,:)); % color bar definition; for later use
end

So I usually adjust 'Position' parameter. But it never allows me to put all the subplots stick to each other. Because my maps are not perfect square, there is always space between the top and bottom panel. Do you see how to remove it?

Hannah

[the cyclist]

It's definitely an issue with the map. I swapped in a normal plot, and it fills the space.

I don't have any experience with using worldmap, but it could be that a certain aspect ratio is enforced (perhaps because of the particular projection). That makes sense to me, because if you "stretch" only one dimension, you will no long obey the constraints of the projection.

latmin = -45;
latmax = 65;
lonmin = -160;
lonmax = 168;

fw = 0.5; % figure width
fh = 0.5 ; % figure height 
L1 = 0; % row 1 from bottom;
L2 = L1+fh; % row 2 from bottom;
C1 = 0; % column from left
C2 = C1+fw; % column from left
Positions =[C1 L2 fw fh;
            C2 L2 fw fh;
            C1 L1 fw fh;
            C2 L1 fw fh];
cbh = 0.015;
cbw = fw-0.1;
fhi = fw * (latmax-latmin)/(lonmax-lonmin) ; % inner figure height 
ver_edge = (0.5-fhi)/2;
cbpos =[C1+0.05  1-0.5*ver_edge  cbw cbh;
        C2+0.05  1-0.5*ver_edge  cbw cbh;
        C1+0.05  L1+0.5*ver_edge   cbw cbh;
        C2+0.05  L1+0.5*ver_edge   cbw cbh];

fz = 10; % font size

for ps = 1:4
    subplot('Position',Positions(ps,:))
    plot(rand(5))
    % skip other settings
    cb1=colorbar('horizontal', 'fontsize',fz, 'fontweight', 'bold','Position',cbpos(ps,:)); % color bar definition; for later use
end