How could one create a contourslice plot with the color fill property of a contourf plot?

As mentioned in the title, I am attempting to utilize the the function 'contourslice' in order to plot multiple 2-dimensional planes in series, representing data points on an X-Y grid at different depths, Z. I've successfully plotted two slices at different depths with 'contourslice' and I've also plotted one slice with 'contourf'. I find that it is easier to visual the data when the space between contour isolines is appropriately colored (as in 'contourf').

Is it possible to combine the filled isoline 'contourf' property with the multi-dimensional capability of 'contourslice'?

Answer 1

[Prathamesh]

Hi @Brian Oistad,

I understand that you are using the function 'contourslice' to plot multiple 2-dimensional planes in series, with the space between contour isolines colored for better visualization and are unsure if this can be combined with the multi-dimensional capability.

Here is an example code which achieves the same using ‘slice’ and ‘contourf’ functions :

Code:

% Example data

[X, Y, Z] = meshgrid(1:10, 1:10, 1:5); % Create a 3D grid

V = rand(10, 10, 5); % Random volumetric data

% Define the Z-levels you want to slice

zLevels = [1, 3, 5];

figure;

hold on;

% Plot contour lines using contourslice

contourslice(X, Y, Z, V, [], [], zLevels);

% Overlay filled contour plots manually

for i = 1:length(zLevels)

zLevel = zLevels(i);

% Extract the slice data

V_slice = V(:, :, zLevel);

% Create a contourf plot for the current slice

[~, h] = contourf(X(:, :, zLevel), Y(:, :, zLevel), V_slice);

% Adjust the ZData to position the contour plot in 3D space

for j = 1:length(h)

h(j).ZData = zLevel * ones(size(h(j).XData));

end

end

% Set the view to 3D

view(3);

xlabel('X');

ylabel('Y');

zlabel('Z');

colorbar;

grid on;

axis tight;

hold off;

title('Contour Slices with Filled Contours in 3D');

Output: