Polar contour plot / Contourpolar request

[silvanbrummen]

Hi!

Your plotting library is really awesome! Thanks for that!

I'm currently trying to make the switch from matplotlib (for Python plots) to Plotly (also Python) and I was looking for an option to display contour plots in a polar coordinate system.

I came across the following issue in plotly.py where @emmanuelle suggested to create a post here in plotly.js.

Do you guys have the intention of creating a Contourpolar type of chart? Similar to the plot show below (created in matplotlib):

(source)

I've tried the Barpolar option, but it's not sufficient for the amount of detail I would like to visualize (a 360 degree water surface elevation plot), I think the plot I would like to display greatly benefits from being a contour plot.

Thanks in advance,
Sil

[nicolaskruchten]

This would be a great addition to the library, and we'd be happy to work with someone who wants to add it :)

[silvanbrummen]

Great!

If there is any Python work that could be done in order to implement this kind of chart/trace, I'm willing to contribute. Although I do have the feeling that the Plotly codebase is JavaScript and all Python code is autogenerated from JavaScript. Is that correct?

[nicolaskruchten]

You're correct that the plotly.graph_objects Python module is largely auto-generated, but there is still a lot in Python e.g. plotly.subplots, plotly.express etc. New trace types need to be implemented in Javascript, but there is also the option of building a Figure Factory which leverages existing trace types. For example we have a ternary contour figure factory which does something similar to what you're looking for: contours in non-cartesian coordinates. So if you wanted you could build a create_polar_contour figure factory along the same lines :)

[silvanbrummen]

Alright, good to know that there is an option to add to Python code directly.

I'll give it a go by using the Figure Factory. Thanks for the help so far.

[archmoj]

FYI - Here is @emmanuelle's PR that added ternary contour to plotly.py
plotly/plotly.py#1413

[coolbud140]

Hi there,

Thanks for all the wonderful work!

Has there been any development on this issue? Polar contour plot is something very useful for what I'm working on.

Thanks

[bernardopacini]

Hi @nicolaskruchten, I am not sure if there has been progress on this, but if not, I would be happy try to implement it if you can provide me some guidance on where to modify the JS and Python libraries.