Contour/imshow plot for irregular X Y Z data

Question

I have data in X, Y, Z format where all are 1D arrays, and Z is the amplitude of the measurement at coordinate (X,Y). I'd like to show this data as a contour or 'imshow' plot where the contours/color represent the the value Z (amplitude).

The grid for measurements and X and Y look are irregularly spaced.

Many thanks,

len(X)=100

len(Y)=100

len(Z)=100

Answer 1

Does plt.tricontourf(x,y,z) satisfy your requirements?

It will plot filled contours for irregularly spaced data (non-rectilinear grid).

You might also want to look into plt.tripcolor().

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
x = np.random.rand(100)
y = np.random.rand(100)
z = np.sin(x)+np.cos(y)
f, ax = plt.subplots(1,2, sharex=True, sharey=True)
ax[0].tripcolor(x,y,z)
ax[1].tricontourf(x,y,z, 20) # choose 20 contour levels, just to show how good its interpolation is
ax[1].plot(x,y, 'ko ')
ax[0].plot(x,y, 'ko ')
plt.savefig('test.png')