Prerequisites & Notation

Before You Begin

This chapter builds on Matplotlib fundamentals (Chapter 15) and extends into 3D. Familiarity with meshgrids and array broadcasting (Chapter 5) is essential for constructing 3D surfaces.

Matplotlib OO API, subplots, colormaps (Chapter 15)(Review ch15)
Self-check: Can you create a figure with imshow and a colorbar?
NumPy meshgrid and 2D array operations (Chapter 5)(Review ch05)
Self-check: Can you evaluate $f(x,y) = x^2 + y^2$ on a meshgrid?
3D coordinate systems: Cartesian, spherical, cylindrical
Self-check: Do you know $x = r\sin\theta\cos\phi$ , $y = r\sin\theta\sin\phi$ , $z = r\cos\theta$ ?

Notation for This Chapter

Symbols and conventions used in this chapter.

Symbol	Meaning	Introduced
$(r, \\theta, \\phi)$	Spherical coordinates: radius, elevation, azimuth	s03
$G(\\theta, \\phi)$	Antenna gain pattern in spherical coordinates	s03
$\\mathbf{a}(\\theta)$	Array steering vector	s03
$STL$	Stereolithography file format for 3D meshes	s05
$voxel$	Volume element — the 3D analogue of a pixel	s04

← Ch 16 Matplotlib 3D