Re: Contour plots

["Jeffrey A. Edlund" <jaedlund@glaxonlabs.com>]

Hi Andy, 

The data come from simulations of populations of binaries white dwarf
stars.  I'm trying to plot the number of binary systems (z) in a given
frequency range (x) and chirp mass range (y).  I'm not quite sure how to
answer your question about how curved the contours will be. Nothing
really crazy I suppose.  Here's a sample data set:  (Note that it's
actually 24x25.)

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 82 200 141 104 101 85 53 41 26 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
181046 127596 91571 69071 77701 68817 51692 38767 27074 17805 11495 7169 4422 2675 1602 918 521 280 118 58 7 0 0 0 0 
4.69396e+06 2.12525e+06 1.62312e+06 1.14817e+06 775924 502745 313221 188141 111081 64518 36766 20845 11632 6487 3509 2042 1043 598 316 184 57 5 0 0 0 
5.37011e+06 1.68005e+06 1.09126e+06 679732 400404 235639 135739 77169 43212 24026 13300 7340 4030 2206 1183 648 353 188 105 66 23 8 1 0 0 
2.08591e+06 774381 526021 342308 215414 128341 72620 40315 22257 12319 6784 3708 2002 1096 600 308 180 90 60 22 11 3 0 0 0 
1.83186e+06 528595 336905 203759 116788 66411 37112 20606 11277 6165 3363 1817 996 527 280 164 82 64 16 14 7 6 0 0 0 
857673 205552 133031 81532 49643 28143 15632 8604 4709 2571 1389 756 422 223 121 75 37 18 9 7 3 1 0 0 0 
379035 115276 97853 68412 40835 23554 13363 7455 4115 2245 1235 665 365 200 106 53 32 17 4 5 1 2 0 0 0 
255529 106973 76769 50496 30881 18500 10649 5884 3215 1730 953 512 276 163 81 44 21 13 8 1 2 3 0 1 0 
215921 74481 53293 34332 21216 12218 6847 3803 2090 1124 620 329 175 103 51 37 16 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 
283627 86796 57830 36345 21394 12410 6874 3775 2090 1121 598 333 176 102 53 26 18 8 6 1 2 2 1 1 0 
164011 58442 39672 24431 14279 8247 4560 2497 1373 738 391 221 113 69 40 17 12 6 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 
167736 56347 36193 21611 12559 7155 3975 2183 1179 637 341 185 119 57 30 18 8 4 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 
178542 53039 31410 18405 10488 5967 3257 1773 959 513 301 148 96 34 25 19 7 4 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 
171242 46292 28470 16706 9297 5144 2838 1523 857 428 263 126 76 32 13 20 3 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 
137348 34592 20595 11862 6703 3712 2026 1105 602 317 183 96 44 29 18 10 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 
138522 28890 16627 9361 5238 2905 1590 862 463 258 134 76 39 24 9 5 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 
97701 22196 12778 7064 3868 2122 1151 635 341 186 92 51 33 18 6 5 6 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 
57959 12632 7123 3929 2145 1169 636 338 188 99 55 33 14 10 7 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
47599 10524 5844 3201 1745 947 517 283 147 81 45 26 12 6 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
16437 2811 1555 849 466 253 138 75 36 24 12 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
8722 1821 1010 552 300 166 89 47 28 14 6 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

I'd definitely be willing to do some programming to get this to work
if I had some suggestions on the right way to approach this problem.  

My thoughts:  Ideally I'd like something that will autoselect contour
levels that work well (while at the same time allowing the user to set
specific levels).  Also the contours need to be labeled in some way. 
Having an auto labeler would be nice. 

Thanks, 

Jeffrey