FAQs

How to define the breaks
How to suppress axis labels and ticks
How to rotate the axis label or use a different color
How to add an arrow
How to add an scale
How to overlay a shapefile
How to print several Rasters with different legends in the same page
How to label each panel with a different label from the layer name

How to define the breaks

Use the at argument to define the breaks.

f <- system.file("external/test.grd", package="raster")
r <- raster(f)

my.at <- seq(100, 1850, by = 250)
levelplot(r, at=my.at)

Moreover, if you want to define where the labels are located define the components of colorkey:

myColorkey <- list(at=my.at, ## where the colors change
                   labels=list(
                       at=my.at ## where to print labels
                     ))
levelplot(r, at=my.at, colorkey=myColorkey)

Last, you can even define the contents of the labels:

myColorkey <- list(at=my.at, ## where the colors change
                   labels=list(
                     labels=letters[seq_along(my.at)], ## labels
                     at=my.at ## where to print labels
                     ))
levelplot(r, at=my.at, colorkey=myColorkey)

How to suppress axis labels and ticks

Use xlab=NULL, ylab=NULL and draw=FALSE inside scale.

  r <- raster()
  r <- init(r, runif)
  
  levelplot(r, xlab=NULL, ylab=NULL, scales=list(draw=FALSE))

  levelplot(r, xlab=NULL, scales=list(x=list(draw=FALSE)))

  levelplot(r, ylab=NULL, scales=list(y=list(draw=FALSE)))

How to rotate the axis label or use a different color

Define main, xlab and ylab as vectors or lists with arguments to be passed to grid::gpar.

  r <- raster(nrow=10, ncol=10)
  r[] <- runif(100)
  
  levelplot(r, margin=FALSE,
            main=list('My plot', col='red'),
            xlab=c('Longitude', 'X-Axis'),
            ylab=list('Latitude', rot=30, fontface='bold')
            )

How to add an arrow

Use sp::layout.north.arrow with latticeExtra::layer.

  f <- system.file("external/test.grd", package="raster")
  r <- raster(f)
  
  levelplot(r, margin=FALSE, auto.key=FALSE, scales=list(draw=FALSE)) + 
      layer({
          SpatialPolygonsRescale(layout.north.arrow(),
                                 offset = c(179000,332500),
                                 scale = 400)
      })

How to add an scale

Use grid.rect, grid.text and latticeExtra::layer.

  f <- system.file("external/test.grd", package="raster")
  r <- raster(f)

  levelplot(r) +
    layer({
      xs <- seq(181000, 181400, by=100)
      grid.rect(x=xs, y=330500,
                    width=100, height=30,
                    gp=gpar(fill=rep(c('transparent', 'black'), 2)),
                    default.units='native')
      grid.text(x= xs - 50, y=330560, seq(0, 400, by=100),
                gp=gpar(cex=0.5), rot=30,
                default.units='native')
      })

How to overlay a shapefile

Several layers can be combined using the +.trellis and layer functions from the latticeExtra package (which is automatically loaded with rasterVis).

Let’s build some data to play. You can skip this part if you already have a raster file and a shapefile.

library(maps)
library(mapdata)
library(maptools)

## raster
myRaster <- raster(xmn=-100, xmx=100, ymn=-60, ymx=60)
myRaster <- init(myRaster, runif)

## polygon shapefile
ext <- as.vector(extent(myRaster))

boundaries <- map('worldHires', fill=TRUE,
    xlim=ext[1:2], ylim=ext[3:4],
    plot=FALSE)

## read the map2SpatialPolygons help page for details
IDs <- sapply(strsplit(boundaries$names, ":"), function(x) x[1])
bPols <- map2SpatialPolygons(boundaries, IDs=IDs,
                              proj4string=CRS(projection(myRaster)))

The polygons are printed with sp::sp.polygons using +.trellis and layer to display them over the result of levelplot.

levelplot(myRaster) + layer(sp.polygons(bPols))

Read the help page of sp.polygons for detailed information about its options.

How to print several Rasters with different legends in the same page

Use print.trellis and its argument split.

For two different RasterLayer.

  r <- r2 <- raster()
  r[] <- runif(ncell(r))
  r2[] <- 1:10
  
  p <- levelplot(r, par.settings=RdBuTheme(), margin=FALSE)
  p2 <- levelplot(r2, par.settings=BTCTheme(), margin=FALSE)
  
  
  print(p, split=c(1, 1, 1, 2), more=TRUE)
  print(p2, split=c(1, 2, 1, 2))

A more sophisticated solution to print more than two layers.

  s <- stack(r, r2, 10*r+r2, 10*r-r2)
  nl <- nlayers(s)
  m <- matrix(1:nl, nrow=2)
  themes <- list(RdBuTheme(), BTCTheme(), GrTheme(), PuOrTheme())
  for (i in 1:nl){
      p <- levelplot(s, layers=i,
                     par.settings=themes[[i]],
                     margin=FALSE)
      print(p, split=c(col(m)[i], row(m)[i], ncol(m), nrow(m)), more=(i<nl))
  }

How to label each panel with a different label from the layer name

Use names.attr.

  r <- raster(nrow=10, ncol=10)
  r[] <- runif(100)
  s <- stack(lapply(1:8, function(i)r))
  
  levelplot(s, scales=list(draw=FALSE), colorkey=FALSE,
            par.settings=GrTheme(),
            names.attr=paste0('MNF-', 1:8))