Quiver Plots in Python

How to make a quiver plot in Python. A quiver plot displays velocity vectors a arrows.

Plotly Studio: Transform any dataset into an interactive data application in minutes with AI. Sign up for early access now.

Quiver plots can be made using a figure factory as detailed in this page.

Basic Quiver Plot¶

In [1]:

import plotly.figure_factory as ff

import numpy as np

x,y = np.meshgrid(np.arange(0, 2, .2), np.arange(0, 2, .2))
u = np.cos(x)*y
v = np.sin(x)*y

fig = ff.create_quiver(x, y, u, v)
fig.show()

Quiver Plot with Points¶

In [2]:

import plotly.figure_factory as ff
import plotly.graph_objects as go

import numpy as np

x,y = np.meshgrid(np.arange(-2, 2, .2),
                  np.arange(-2, 2, .25))
z = x*np.exp(-x**2 - y**2)
v, u = np.gradient(z, .2, .2)

# Create quiver figure
fig = ff.create_quiver(x, y, u, v,
                       scale=.25,
                       arrow_scale=.4,
                       name='quiver',
                       line_width=1)

# Add points to figure
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=[-.7, .75], y=[0,0],
                    mode='markers',
                    marker_size=12,
                    name='points'))

fig.show()

Reference¶

For more info on ff.create_quiver(), see the full function reference

What About Dash?¶

Dash is an open-source framework for building analytical applications, with no Javascript required, and it is tightly integrated with the Plotly graphing library.

Learn about how to install Dash at https://dash.plot.ly/installation.

Everywhere in this page that you see fig.show(), you can display the same figure in a Dash application by passing it to the figure argument of the Graph component from the built-in dash_core_components package like this:

import plotly.graph_objects as go # or plotly.express as px
fig = go.Figure() # or any Plotly Express function e.g. px.bar(...)
# fig.add_trace( ... )
# fig.update_layout( ... )

from dash import Dash, dcc, html

app = Dash()
app.layout = html.Div([
    dcc.Graph(figure=fig)
])

app.run(debug=True, use_reloader=False)  # Turn off reloader if inside Jupyter

Basic Quiver Plot¶

Quiver Plot with Points¶

See also¶

Reference¶

What About Dash?¶