Setting points with no data to white with Matplotlib imshow
graph, matplotlib, python
Solution
Have you tried instantiating your array with NaNs instead of zeros to see if matplotlib's default will ignore the NaNs in a way that works for you? You could also try just using logical indexing to make the locations of 0 equal to NaN right before plotting:
my_data[my_data == 0.0] = numpy.nan
Alternatively, you can use the NaN idea and follow this link's advice and use NumPy masked arrays in order to plot the NaN entries as a color you prefer.
I think you could also use that link's idea to make a masked array at the zero locations too, without going to the NaN option if you don't like it.
Problem
I am graphing data from a numpy array using matplotlib imshow. However, some points have no data in them. I initialized the array using np.zeroes, so these points are dragging down the whole map. I know that none of the data will ever have a value of 0.0. Is there some way for me to tell the imshow routine to ignore these points (ie leave them white so it is clear they are empty)?