globesurf documentation

The globesurf function plots georeferenced data on a globe where values in matrix Z are plotted as heights above the globe.

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Contents

Syntax

globesurf(lat,lon,Z)
globesurf(lat,lon,Z,C)
globesurf(...,'exaggeration',exaggerationFactor)
globesurf(...,'radius',GlobeRadius)
h = globesurf(...)

Description

globesurf(lat,lon,Z) plots the georeferenced values given by Z at heights above a globe of radius 6371, where 6371 corresponds to the average radius of the Earth in kilometers. The inputs lat and lon are the same size as Z and can be defined for arbitray domains using the meshgrid function.

globesurf(lat,lon,Z,C) specifies the colors of the georeferenced values either by a matrix the same size as Z or as an m-by-n-by-3 array of RGB triplets, where Z is m-by-n.

globesurf(...,'exaggeration',exaggerationFactor) scales the plotted height of the georeferenced values by a factor specified by exaggerationFactor.

globesurf(...,'radius',GlobeRadius) plots the georeferenced values as heights above a globe of radius specified by GlobeRadius.

h = globesurf(...) returns the handle h of the plotted objects.

Example 1

For this example, plot color-scaled global topography. use cdtgrid to create a quarter-degree grid, and topo_interp to get the corresponding topography. Here's the data we'll be plotting:

% Create the 1/4 degree grid:
[Lat,Lon] = cdtgrid(1/4);

% Get the corresponding topography:
Z = topo_interp(Lat,Lon);

Plot the surface topography, exaggerated by a factor of 50. Set the colormap with cmocean using the 'pivot' option to put zero in the middle of the colormap.

figure
globesurf(Lat,Lon,Z,'exag',50)
axis tight
cmocean('topo','pivot')

Set the viewing angle and adjust the lighting position and material reflectance:

view(60,20)
camlight
material dull

Example 2

Plot deviation of the Earth radius from the average Earth radius exaggerated million-fold. Use earthradius to get the ellipsoidal radius of the Earth:

[lat,lon] = cdtgrid;

R = earth_radius(lat,'km');
dR = R - 6371;

figure
globesurf(lat,lon,dR,'exag',1e6)
axis tight

% Adjust the view:
view(10,20)
camlight
material dull

Author Info

This function and supporting documentation were written by Natalie S. Wolfenbarger for the Climate Data Toolbox for Matlab, 2019.

Published with MATLAB® R2018b