polarscatter

Scatter chart in polar coordinates

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Syntax

polarscatter(th,r)
polarscatter(th,r,sz)
polarscatter(th,r,sz,c)
polarscatter(___,mkr)
polarscatter(___,'filled')
polarscatter(___,Name,Value)
polarscatter(pax,___)
ps = polarscatter(___)

Description

example

polarscatter(th,r) plots th versus r and displays a circle at each data point. th and r must be vectors of the same length. You must specify th in radians.

polarscatter(th,r,sz) sets the marker sizes, where sz specifies the area of each marker in points squared. To draw all the markers with the same size, specify sz as a scalar. To draw the markers with different sizes, specify sz as a vector the same length as th.

example

polarscatter(th,r,sz,c) sets the marker colors, where c is either a vector, a three-column matrix, an RGB triplet, or a color name, such as 'red'.

polarscatter(___,mkr) sets the marker symbol. For example, '+' displays cross markers. Specify the marker symbol after any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

example

polarscatter(___,'filled') fills the marker interiors.

polarscatter(___,Name,Value) modifies the appearance of the scatter plot using one or more name-value pair arguments. For example, you can use semi-transparent markers by specifying 'FaceAlpha' and a scalar value between 0 and 1.

polarscatter(pax,___) plots into the polar axes specified by pax instead of into the current axes.

example

ps = polarscatter(___) returns the Scatter object. Use ps to modify the appearance of the Scatter object after it is created. For a list of properties, see Scatter Properties.

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create a scatter chart in polar coordinates.

th = pi/4:pi/4:2*pi;
r = [19 6 12 18 16 11 15 15];
polarscatter(th,r)

Open Live Script

Create a scatter chart that uses filled markers by specifying the optional input argument, 'filled'. Set the marker size to 75 points squared.

th = linspace(0,2*pi,20);
r = rand(1,20);
sz = 75;
polarscatter(th,r,sz,'filled')

Open Live Script

Create a scatter chart with markers of varying sizes and colors. Specify the optional size and color input arguments as vectors. Use unique values in the color vector to specify the different colors you want. The values map to colors in the colormap.

th = pi/4:pi/4:2*pi;
r = [19 6 12 18 16 11 15 15];
sz = 100*[6 15 20 3 15 3 6 40];
c = [1 2 2 2 1 1 2 1];
polarscatter(th,r,sz,c,'filled','MarkerFaceAlpha',.5)

Open Live Script

Create data where the angle values are in degrees. Since polarscatter requires angle values in radians, convert the values to radians before plotting using deg2rad.

th = linspace(0,360,50);
r = 0.005*th/10;
th_radians = deg2rad(th);
polarscatter(th_radians,r)

Open Live Script

Combine two scatter charts in the same polar axes using the hold command. Add a legend with a description of each chart.

th = pi/6:pi/6:2*pi;
r1 = rand(12,1);
polarscatter(th,r1,'filled')

hold on 
r2 = rand(12,1);
polarscatter(th,r2,'filled')
hold off

legend('Series A','Series B')

Open Live Script

Create a scatter chart and assign the scatter object to the variable ps. 

th = pi/6:pi/6:2*pi;
r = rand(12,1);
ps = polarscatter(th,r,'filled')

ps = 
  Scatter with properties:

             Marker: 'o'
    MarkerEdgeColor: 'none'
    MarkerFaceColor: 'flat'
           SizeData: 36
          LineWidth: 0.5000
          ThetaData: [1x12 double]
              RData: [1x12 double]
              ZData: [1x0 double]
              CData: [0 0.4470 0.7410]

  Show all properties

Use ps to modify properties of the scatter object after it is created.

ps.Marker = 'square';
ps.SizeData = 200;
ps.MarkerFaceColor = 'red';
ps.MarkerFaceAlpha = .5;

Input Arguments

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theta values, specified as a vector or a scalar in radians. th and r must be the same size. To convert degrees to radians, use deg2rad.

The ThetaData property of the scatter object stores the theta values.

Example: th = [3 2 4 5 7 2 3];

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

rho values, specified as a vector or a scalar. th and r must be the same size.

The RData property of the scatter object stores the rho values.

Example: r = 0:pi/2:2*pi;

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Marker sizes in points squared, specified in one of these forms:

  • Scalar — Uniform marker size. For example, sz = 100 creates all markers with an area of 100 points squared.

  • Vector — Different marker size for each data point. The vector must be the same length as th and r.

  • Empty brackets [] — Default marker size with an area of 36 points squared. Use this option if you want to specify the color input argument, but use the default marker area; for example, polarscatter(th,r,[],c).

The SizeData property of the scatter object stores the marker sizes.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Marker colors, specified in one of these forms.

  • RGB triplet or color name — Uniform marker color, such as 'red'.

  • Vector — Different marker colors for each data point. The values in c are linearly mapped to colors in the colormap. The vector must be the same length as th and r.

  • Three-column matrix of RGB triplets — Different marker colors for each data point using RGB triplet colors. The length of the matrix must be the same length as th and r.

An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7]. Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the long and short color name options and the equivalent RGB triplet values.

OptionDescriptionEquivalent RGB Triplet
'red' or 'r'Red[1 0 0]
'green' or 'g'Green[0 1 0]
'blue' or 'b'Blue[0 0 1]
'yellow' or 'y'Yellow[1 1 0]
'magenta' or 'm'Magenta[1 0 1]
'cyan' or 'c'Cyan[0 1 1]
'white' or 'w'White[1 1 1]
'black' or 'k'Black[0 0 0]

When you specify the marker colors, polarscatter sets the MarkerFaceColor property of the scatter object to 'flat' and stores the marker colors in the CData property.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | char | string

Marker symbol, specified as one of the marker symbols listed in this table.

ValueDescription
'o'Circle
'+'Plus sign
'*'Asterisk
'.'Point
'x'Cross
'_'Horizontal line
'|'Vertical line
'square' or 's'Square
'diamond' or 'd'Diamond
'^'Upward-pointing triangle
'v'Downward-pointing triangle
'>'Right-pointing triangle
'<'Left-pointing triangle
'pentagram' or 'p'Five-pointed star (pentagram)
'hexagram' or 'h'Six-pointed star (hexagram)
'none'No markers

The Marker property of the scatter object stores the marker symbol.

PolarAxes object. If you do not specify the polar axes, then polarscatter uses the current axes. polarscatter does not support plotting into Cartesian axes.

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: polarscatter(th,r,'filled','MarkerFaceAlpha',.5) creates filled, semi-transparent markers.

The scatter object properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see Scatter Properties.

Marker face transparency, specified as a scalar in the range [0,1]. A value of 1 is opaque and 0 is transparent. Values between 0 and 1 are semi-transparent.

Marker outline color, specified 'flat', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of 'flat' uses colors from the CData property.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

  • A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB® uses in many types of plots.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

Example: [0.5 0.5 0.5]

Example: 'blue'

Example: '#D2F9A7'

Marker fill color, specified as 'flat', 'auto', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The 'flat' option uses the CData values. The 'auto' option uses the same color as the Color property for the axes.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

  • A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

Example: [0.3 0.2 0.1]

Example: 'green'

Example: '#D2F9A7'

Width of marker edge, specified as a positive value in point units.

Example: 0.75

See Also

Functions

Properties

Introduced in R2016b

MATLAB Documentation

Support