Draw colorbar with twin scales

Question

I'd like to draw a (vertical) colorbar, which has two different scales (corresponding to two different units for the same quantity) on each side. Think Fahrenheit on one side and Celsius on the other side. Obviously, I'd need to specify the ticks for each side individually.

Any idea how I can do this?

Answer 1

That should get you started:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

# generate random data
x = np.random.randint(0,200,(10,10))
plt.pcolormesh(x)

# create the colorbar
# the aspect of the colorbar is set to 'equal', we have to set it to 'auto',
# otherwise twinx() will do weird stuff.
cbar = plt.colorbar()
pos = cbar.ax.get_position()
cbar.ax.set_aspect('auto')

# create a second axes instance and set the limits you need
ax2 = cbar.ax.twinx()
ax2.set_ylim([-2,1])

# resize the colorbar (otherwise it overlays the plot)
pos.x0 +=0.05
cbar.ax.set_position(pos)
ax2.set_position(pos)

plt.show()

Answer 2

If you create a subplot for the colorbar, you can create a twin axes for that subplot and manipulate it like a normal axes.

import matplotlib.colors as mcolors
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

x = np.linspace(-1,2.7)
X,Y = np.meshgrid(x,x)
Z = np.exp(-X**2-Y**2)*.9+0.1

fig, (ax, cax) = plt.subplots(ncols=2, gridspec_kw={"width_ratios":[15,1]})

im =ax.imshow(Z, vmin=0.1, vmax=1)
cbar = plt.colorbar(im, cax=cax)
cax2 = cax.twinx()

ticks=np.arange(0.1,1.1,0.1)
iticks=1./np.array([10,3,2,1.5,1])
cbar.set_ticks(ticks)
cbar.set_label("z")
cbar.ax.yaxis.set_label_position("left")
cax2.set_ylim(0.1,1)
cax2.set_yticks(iticks)
cax2.set_yticklabels(1./iticks)
cax2.set_ylabel("1/z")

plt.show()