Plotting GPS time scales¶

As we have seen, the default matplotlib representation of GPS scales is not great, given the large zero-offset typically seen with 21st century GPS times.

To improve displays of data with GPS timestamps, GWpy provides a number of custom scales. Each scale uses an epoch and a unit to recentre and format the GPS axis in a way that clearly displays the data, without large offsets or multipliers.

'auto-gps'¶

The 'auto-gps' scale (the default for most GPS-based plots) automatically calculates an epoch and unit each time the figure is drawn, based on the current view limits and data limits:

>>> from gwpy.timeseries import TimeSeries
>>> raw = TimeSeries.fetch_open_data('L1', 1126259446, 1126259478)
>>> data = raw.bandpass(50, 300).notch(60).crop(*raw.span.contract(1))
>>> plot = data.plot(xscale='auto-gps')
>>> plot.show()

(png)

Here the default epoch is just the epoch for the given TimeSeries, and the unit has been automatically chosen as 'seconds'. However, if we zoom the axes to a tiny fraction of a second, the unit is automatically reselected to something more sensible:

>>> ax = plot.gca()
>>> ax.set_xlim(1126259462.415, 1126259462.425)
>>> plot.refresh()

(png)

Fixed units¶

A GPS axis can be fixed to a specific unit via the set_xscale() (or set_yscale()) method of the relevant axis.

The available units are

• 'nanoseconds'

• 'microseconds'

• 'milliseconds'

• 'seconds'

• 'minutes'

• 'hours'

• 'days'

• 'weeks'

• 'years'

>>> ax.set_xscale('seconds')
>>> plot.refresh()

(png)

Fixed epoch¶

A GPS axis can be fixed to a specific epoch via the same set_xscale() (or set_yscale()) method of the relevant axis, or via the special set_epoch() method:

>>> ax.set_xlim(1126259462.2, 1126259462.6)
>>> ax.set_epoch(1126259462.42)
>>> plot.refresh()

(png)