geoplot

Plot line in geographic coordinates

Syntax

geoplot(lat,lon)

geoplot(lat,lon,LineSpec)

geoplot(lat1,lon1,...,latN,lonN)

geoplot(lat1,lon1,LineSpec1,...,latN,lonN,LineSpecN)

geoplot(___,Name,Value)

geoplot(gx,___)

h = geoplot(___)

Description

geoplot(lat,lon) plots a line in a geographic axes with vertices at the latitude-longitude locations specified (in degrees) by the vectors lat and lon. The lat and lon inputs must be the same size. By default, geoplot draws a solid line, with no markers, using colors specified by the ColorOrder property of the geographic axes object.

geoplot(lat,lon,LineSpec) sets the style, marker symbol, and color for the line.

geoplot(lat1,lon1,...,latN,lonN) combines the plots specified by several sets of latitude-longitude locations.

geoplot(lat1,lon1,LineSpec1,...,latN,lonN,LineSpecN) combines the plots specified by several sets of latitude-longitude locations, with a separate LineSpec for each line.

geoplot(___,Name,Value) specifies properties of the chart line using one or more Name,Value pair arguments.

geoplot(gx,___) plots in the geographic axes specified by gx instead of the current axes.

h = geoplot(___) returns a column vector of Chart Line objects. Each object corresponds to a plotted line. Use h to modify the properties of the Chart line objects.

Examples

Create Geographic Plot

Plot a straight line between two points on a map. Specify the endpoints of the line using the coordinates of Seattle and Anchorage. Specify latitude and longitude in degrees.

latSeattle = 47.62;
lonSeattle = -122.33;
latAnchorage = 61.20;
lonAnchorage = -149.9;

Plot the data on a map. Customize the appearance of the line using the line specification 'g-*'. Adjust the latitude and longitude limits of the map using geolimits.

geoplot([latSeattle latAnchorage],[lonSeattle lonAnchorage],'g-*')
geolimits([45 62],[-149 -123])

Add Text to Geographic Plot

Plot a straight line between two points on a map. Specify the endpoints of the line using the coordinates of Seattle and Anchorage. Specify latitude and longitude in degrees.

latSeattle = 47.62;
lonSeattle = -122.33;
latAnchorage = 61.20;
lonAnchorage = -149.9;

Plot the data using geoplot. Customize the appearance of the line using the line specification 'g-*'. Adjust the latitude and longitude limits of the map using geolimits.

geoplot([latSeattle latAnchorage],[lonSeattle lonAnchorage],'g-*')
geolimits([45 62],[-149 -123])

Identify Anchorage using the text function.

text(latAnchorage,lonAnchorage,'Anchorage');

Identify Seattle using the text function. Adjust the alignment of the text label by specifying properties of the Text object.

text(latSeattle,lonSeattle,'Seattle',...
    'HorizontalAlignment','right',...
    'VerticalAlignment','bottom');

Customize Individual Lines on Map

Specify the latitude and longitude coordinates of Seattle, Anchorage, and Point Barrow.

latSeattle = 47.62;
lonSeattle = -122.33;

latAnchorage = 61.20;
lonAnchorage = -149.9;

latPtBarrow = 71.38;
lonPtBarrow = -156.47;

Plot straight lines from Seattle to each of the other two cities. Draw a solid yellow line from Seattle to Anchorage and a dotted blue line between Seattle and Point Barrow. Adjust the latitude and longitude limits of the map using geolimits.

geoplot([latSeattle latAnchorage],[lonSeattle lonAnchorage],'y-',...
    [latSeattle latPtBarrow],[lonSeattle lonPtBarrow],'b:')
geolimits([44 73],[-149 -123])

Label each city on the map using the text function.

text(latAnchorage,lonAnchorage,'Anchorage');
text(latPtBarrow,lonPtBarrow,'Point Barrow');
text(latSeattle,lonSeattle,'Seattle',...
    'VerticalAlignment','bottom');

Use Chart Line Properties to Customize Appearance of the Line

Plot a straight line between two points on a map. Specify the endpoints of the line using the coordinates of Seattle and Anchorage. Specify latitude and longitude in degrees.

latSeattle = 47.62;
lonSeattle = -122.33;
latAnchorage = 61.20;
lonAnchorage = -149.9;

Plot the data using geoplot. Adjust the latitude and longitude limits of the map using geolimits. Customize the appearance of the line by specifying the LineWidth and Color properties.

geoplot([latSeattle latAnchorage],[lonSeattle lonAnchorage],...
    'LineWidth',2,'Color',[.6 0 0])
geolimits([45 62],[-149 -123])

Change Basemap Used in Geographic Plot

Plot a straight line between two points on a map. Specify the endpoints of the line using the coordinates of Seattle and Anchorage. Specify latitude and longitude in degrees.

latSeattle = 47.62;
lonSeattle = -122.33;
latAnchorage = 61.20;
lonAnchorage = -149.9;

Plot the data using geoplot. Adjust the latitude and longitude limits of the map using geolimits.

geoplot([latSeattle latAnchorage],[lonSeattle lonAnchorage])
geolimits([45 62],[-149 -123])

Change the basemap used in the plot using the geobasemap function.

geobasemap colorterrain

Input Arguments

lat — Latitude coordinates in degrees

real, numeric, finite vector

Latitude coordinates in degrees, specified as a real, numeric, finite vector. The vector can contain embedded NaNs. lat must be the same size as lon.

Example: [43.0327 38.8921 44.0435]

Data Types: single | double

lon — Longitude coordinates in degrees

real, numeric, finite vector

Longitude coordinates in degrees, specified as a real, numeric, finite vector. The vector can contain embedded NaNs. lon must be the same size as lat.

Example: [-107.5556 -77.0269 -72.5565]

Data Types: single | double

LineSpec — Line specification

character vector | string

Line specification, specified as a character vector or string containing a line style, marker, and color specifier. The elements can appear in any order, and you can omit one or more options. If you omit the line style and specify the marker, the plot shows only markers with no line connecting them. For more information, see LineSpec (Line Specification).

Example: '--or' is a red dashed line with circular markers

Data Types: char | string

gx — Target geographic axes

GeographicAxes object

Target geographic axes, specified as a GeographicAxes object.^[1] You can modify the appearance and behavior of a GeographicAxes object by setting its properties. For a list of properties, see GeographicAxes Properties.

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: h = geoplot(lat,lon,'Color','g')

Note

Property settings apply to all the lines in the plot. To set the properties of an individual line, retrieve the handle to the line in the geoplot return value h and use dot notation.

The name-value pairs listed here are only a subset. For a full list, see Line Properties.

'Color' — Line color

[0 1 0] (default) | MATLAB^® ColorSpec | ...

Line color, specified as a MATLAB ColorSpec (Color Specification). If specifying an RGB triplet, the intensities must be in the range [0,1].

Example: 'green'

Example: 'g'

Example: [0 1 0]

'LineStyle' — Line style

'-' (default) | MATLAB LineSpec | ...

Line style, specified as a MATLAB LineSpec (Line Specification).

Example: '--' (dashed line)

Example: ':' (dotted line)

'LineWidth' — Line width

0.5 (default) | positive value

Line width, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch. If the line has markers, then the line width also affects the marker edges.

The line width cannot be thinner than the width of a pixel. If you set the line width to a value that is less than the width of a pixel on your system, the line displays as one pixel wide.

'Marker' — Marker symbol

'none' (default) | 'o' | '+' | '*' | '.' | 'x' | ...

Marker symbol, specified as one of the markers in this table. By default, a chart line does not have markers. Add markers at each data point along the line by specifying a marker symbol.

Value	Description
'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

'MarkerFaceColor' — Marker face color

'none' (default) | 'auto' | MATLAB ColorSpec | ...

Marker face color, specified as 'none', 'auto' or a MATLAB ColorSpec (Color Specification). The 'auto' value uses the same color as the Color name-value pair for the axes. If you specify an RGB triplet, the intensities must be in the range [0,1].

Example: 'green'

Example: 'g'

Example: [0 1 0]

'MarkerSize' — Marker size

6 (default) | positive value

Marker size, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch.

Output Arguments

h — Geographic plot

column vector of Line objects

Geographic plot, returned as a column vector of Line objects. Each object corresponds to a plotted line. Use h to modify the properties of the objects after they are created.

Tips

• Plot 3-D geographic data using the Mapping Toolbox™ functions geoglobe (Mapping Toolbox) and geoplot3 (Mapping Toolbox).

• To customize certain aspects of your plot, use properties of the geographic axes. For a list of properties, see GeographicAxes Properties.

• To plot additional data in the geographic axes, use the hold on command.

• You cannot plot data that requires Cartesian axes in a geographic axes.

• When you plot on geographic axes, the geoplot function assumes that coordinates are referenced to the WGS84 coordinate reference system. If you plot using coordinates that are referenced to a different coordinate reference system, then the coordinates may appear misaligned.