Plotting contour surfaces of a function of three variables

ABSTRACT

A technique is presented for the graphical representation of some contour (level) surfaces of a function of three variables defined by its values on an array of points (xi, yj, zk). The algorithm involves drawing and projecting the contour curves corresponding to the cross sections x = xI and y = yj. Because the curves are drawn as thick, opaque bands, which mask all bands in the immediate background, a sense of depth is retained, yet background contours are still visible between the bands.

REFERENCES

• 1: William V. Snyder, Algorithm 531: Contour Plotting [J6], ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS), v.4 n.3, p.290-294, Sept. 1978 [doi>10.1145/355791.355800]
• 2: Steven L. Watkins, Algorithm 483: Masked three-dimensional plot program with rotations, Communications of the ACM, v.17 n.9, p.520-523, Sept. 1974 [doi>10.1145/361147.361112]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  G. Mathematics of Computing
  G.1 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
      G.1.0 General
          Subjects: Numerical algorithms

Additional Classification:
  F. Theory of Computation
  F.2 ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS AND PROBLEM COMPLEXITY

  G. Mathematics of Computing

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design