earthimage documentation
earthimage plots an unprojected image base map of Earth.
Back to Climate Data Tools Contents
Contents
Syntax
earthimage
earthimage('gray')
earthimage('watercolor',rgbValues)
earthimage('center',centerLon)
earthimage(...,'bottom')
h = earthimage(...)Description
earthimage plots an image base map of Earth in unprojected coordinates.
earthimage('gray') plots the image in grayscale.
earthimage('watercolor',rgbValues) specifies the color of the ocean with a three-element [R G B] vector (e.g., [1 0 0] for red).
earthimage('center',centerLon) specifies a center longitude, which can be anything between -180 and 360. Default centerLon is 0.
earthimage(...,'bottom') places the earth image at the bottom of the graphical stack (beneath other objects that have already been plotted).
h = earthimage(...) returns a handle h of the plotted image.
Example 1: Simple
For a simple base map image, just type earthimage:
earthimage
You can then go about adding other layers to the base map with normal Matlab plotting functions, where x is used for longitudes and y is used for latitudes:
hold on borders('countries','color',0.5*[1 1 1]) xlabel 'degrees longitude' ylabel 'degrees latitude'
Example 2: Grayscale
For a grayscale image, specify 'gray':
figure
earthimage gray
Example 3: Transparent Ocean
To make the ocean transparent, specify 'watercolor','none':
earthimage('watercolor','none')
Example 4: Grayscale land with transparent ocean
Get grayscale land and transparent oceans like this:
earthimage('gray','watercolor','none')
Example 4: Colorful land with a black ocean
To specify a specific ocean color, enter the RGB values of the color you want the ocean to be. For example, plot make the ocean black by specifying the values [0 0 0] for 'watercolor':
earthimage('watercolor',[0 0 0])
Example 5: Grayscale land with a pink ocean
If you don't know the RGB values of your favorite color, use the rgb function instead:
earthimage('gray','watercolor',rgb('pink'))
Example 6: Centered on the Pacific
By default, the central longitude is 0 degrees, the Prime Meridian. But if you'd like the map to be centered on a different longitude, just specify the center longitude like this:
figure earthimage('center',120) xlabel 'longitude' ylabel 'latitude'
Author info
This function and supporting documentation were written by Chad A. Greene, for the Cimate Data Toolbox for Matlab, 2018.