get_isolines

Retrieves the points that define a contour line.

Available in version 6.1.1 and later.

Prototype

	function get_isolines (
		contour_plot_id [1] : graphic,                            
		levels          [*] : 1D numeric array or scalar string   
	)

Arguments

The contour plot object id from which to retrieve the isoline(s). You do not need to draw the plot object in order to retrieve isolines but it must be supplied with valid data.

Can be set to the special value "plot", or numeric values that represent the desired isoline level(s).

See the description below for more information.

Description

This function has a serious bug that has been fixed in NCL V6.5.0, which at the time of this writing (Oct 25, 2017), has not yet been released. Unfortunately, there is no work-around. If you need the fix, please email ncl-talk. You must subscribe before you can post to ncl-talk.

This function retrieves the points that define a contour line or a set of contour lines given an existing contour plot.

If levels is set to "plot", then all levels that would be drawn with the current setting of cnLevelSelectionMode will be retrieved.

If levels is a scalar number, then the isoline for that particular level is returned as a 2D array variable with a printVarSummary that looks like this:

Variable: L0
Type: float
Total Size: 896 bytes
            224 values
Number of Dimensions: 2
Dimensions and sizes:   [yx | 2] x [points | 112]
Coordinates:
Number Of Attributes: 5
  _FillValue :  9.96921e+36
  level :        0
  segment_count :       4
  start_point : ( 0, 28, 56, 84 )
  n_points :    ( 28, 28, 28, 28 )

The attributes have the following meaning:

• segment_count - the number of discreet line segments that make up the isoline
• start_point - an array that points to the beginning point of each segment
• n_points - the number of points in each segment

If levels is an array of values, then the return value is a list of array variables that each appear like the variable above. The actual value is a 2D array composed of the y and x coordinates of each point in the isoline. The Y coordinates are element 0 and the X coordinates are element 1 of the first dimension (dimension number 0).

Examples

For more examples, see the Isolines examples page.

Example 1

Get the isolines established by the current settings of ContourPlot "cn" resources. Then print statistics about each isoline and draw it in the plot space using gsn_polyline:

  isolines = get_isolines(cn,"plot")

  do i = 0, ListCount(isolines) - 1
      iso := isolines[i]
      count = 0
      do j = 0, iso@segment_count -1
          b = iso@start_point(j)
          e = b + iso@n_points(j) - 1
          y := iso(0,b:e)
          x := iso(1,b:e)
          gsn_polyline(wid,cn,x,y,False)
          count = count + iso@n_points(j)
      end do
      print(iso@level + " has " + count + " total points in " + iso@segment_count + " segments" )
  end do

Here we get the isolines for three specific levels in the data currently set for ContourPlot "cn". Note the levels do not need to be levels that are set in the cnLevels resource. If any specified level is not in the range of the data currently attached to the ContourPlot a missing value will be returned for that level. Once again print statistics about each isoline aand draw it in the plot space using gsn_polyline:

  isolines = get_isolines(cn,(/ 30.0, 45.0, 47.5 /))
  do i = 0, ListCount(isolines) - 1
      iso := isolines[i]
      count = 0
      do j = 0, iso@segment_count -1
          b = iso@start_point(j)
          e = b + iso@n_points(j) - 1
          y := iso(0,b:e)
          x := iso(1,b:e)
          gsn_polyline(wid,cn,x,y,False)
          count = count + iso@n_points(j)
      end do
      print(iso@level + " has " + count + " total points in " + iso@segment_count + " segments" )
  end do

Get a single level. Notice that in this case the return value is an array rather than a list of arrays:

  isoline = get_isolines(cn, 77.8)
  count = 0
  do i = 0, isoline@segment_count -1
      b = isoline@start_point(i)
      e = b + isoline@n_points(i) - 1
      y := isoline(0,b:e)
      x := isoline(1,b:e)
      gsn_polyline(wid,cn,x,y,False)
      count = count + isoline@n_points(i)
  end do
  print(isoline@level + " has " + count + " total points in " + isoline@segment_count + " segments" )