subplot with two different x axis

I am trying to make a plot of several figures. I combine them using subplot. The only problem is that the label of the top x axis shifts the red part of the plot down, while the black part stays at its place. This gives a really ugly plot. How do I keep the figure intact?

%% SW N LLM Layers settled

Depth_SW_N_LLM=0:0.1:8.2;
Depth_SW_N_LLM=Depth_SW_N_LLM';

TL_SW_N_LLM=zeros(83,1);          %Thickness Layers
TL_SW_N_LLM(1:21,1)=2;
TL_SW_N_LLM(22:27,1)=0.6;
TL_SW_N_LLM(28:41,1)=1.4;
TL_SW_N_LLM(42:54,1)=1.3;
TL_SW_N_LLM(54:83,1)=2.9;

D_SW_N_LLM=zeros(83,1);          %Density Layers
D_SW_N_LLM(1:21,1)=1;
D_SW_N_LLM(22:27,1)=1.0466;
D_SW_N_LLM(28:41,1)=1.0498;
D_SW_N_LLM(42:54,1)=1.2659;
D_SW_N_LLM(54:83,1)=1.34269;

PS_SW_N_LLM=zeros(83,1);          %PS Layers
PS_SW_N_LLM(1:21,1)=0;
PS_SW_N_LLM(22:27,1)=16.755;
PS_SW_N_LLM(28:41,1)=17.276;
PS_SW_N_LLM(42:54,1)=35.87;
PS_SW_N_LLM(54:83,1)=30.897;



SW_N_LLM_Matrix=[Depth_SW_N_LLM,TL_SW_N_LLM,D_SW_N_LLM,PS_SW_N_LLM];

figure('Name','SW N LLM','NumberTitle','off');
title('Density and particle size over the depth of the sample')
ax1 = gca; % current axes
ax1.XColor = 'r';
line(SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,3),SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax1,'color','r')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
set(gca, 'XAxisLocation', 'top')
axis([0.9 1.5 0 9])
xlabel('Density [g/cm3]')
ax1_pos = ax1.Position; % position of first axes
ax2 = axes('Position',ax1_pos,...
    'XAxisLocation','bottom',...
    'YAxisLocation','left',...
    'Color','none');
line(SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,4),SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax2,'Color','k')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
axis([0 50 0 9])
xlabel('Particle size [um]')
ylabel('Depth [cm]')

%% SW N LLMM SETTLED

Depth_SW_N_LLMM=0:0.1:8.5;
Depth_SW_N_LLMM=Depth_SW_N_LLMM';

TL_SW_N_LLMM=zeros(86,1);          %Thickness Layers
TL_SW_N_LLMM(1:3,1)=0.3;
TL_SW_N_LLMM(4:21,1)=1.8;
TL_SW_N_LLMM(22:34,1)=1.3;
TL_SW_N_LLMM(35:45,1)=1.1;
TL_SW_N_LLMM(46:70,1)=2.5;
TL_SW_N_LLMM(71:86,1)=1.5;

D_SW_N_LLMM=zeros(86,1);          %Density Layers
D_SW_N_LLMM(1:3,1)=1;
D_SW_N_LLMM(4:21,1)=1.02;
D_SW_N_LLMM(22:34,1)=1.0448;
D_SW_N_LLMM(35:45,1)=1.2069;
D_SW_N_LLMM(46:70,1)=1.4539;
D_SW_N_LLMM(71:86,1)=0;

PS_SW_N_LLMM=zeros(86,1);          %Thickness Layers
PS_SW_N_LLMM(1:3,1)=0;
PS_SW_N_LLMM(4:21,1)=14.108;
PS_SW_N_LLMM(22:34,1)=16.385;
PS_SW_N_LLMM(35:45,1)=30.137;
PS_SW_N_LLMM(46:70,1)=45.569;
PS_SW_N_LLMM(71:86,1)=0;

SW_N_LLMM_Matrix=[Depth_SW_N_LLMM,TL_SW_N_LLMM,D_SW_N_LLMM,PS_SW_N_LLMM];

figure('Name','SW N LLMM','NumberTitle','off');
title('Density and particle size over the depth of the sample')
ax1 = gca; % current axes
ax1.XColor = 'r';
line(SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,3),SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax1,'color','r')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
set(gca, 'XAxisLocation', 'top')
axis([0.9 1.5 0 9])
xlabel('Density [g/cm3]')
ax1_pos = ax1.Position; % position of first axes
ax2 = axes('Position',ax1_pos,...
    'XAxisLocation','bottom',...
    'YAxisLocation','left',...
    'Color','none');
line(SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,4),SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax2,'Color','k')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
axis([0 50 0 9])
xlabel('Particle size [um]')
ylabel('Depth [cm]')

%% plot
figure('Name','SW N','NumberTitle','off');

subplot(1,2,1)
title('SW N LLM')
ax1 = gca; % current axes
ax1.XColor = 'r';
line(SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,3),SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax1,'color','r')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
set(gca, 'XAxisLocation', 'top')
axis([0.9 1.5 0 9])
xlabel('Density [g/cm3]')
ax1_pos = ax1.Position; % position of first axes
ax2 = axes('Position',ax1_pos,...
    'XAxisLocation','bottom',...
    'YAxisLocation','left',...
    'Color','none');
line(SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,4),SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax2,'Color','k')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
axis([0 50 0 9])
xlabel('Particle size [um]')
ylabel('Depth [cm]')

subplot(1,2,2)
title('SW N LLMM')
ax1 = gca; % current axes
ax1.XColor = 'r';
line(SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,3),SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax1,'color','r')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
set(gca, 'XAxisLocation', 'top')
axis([0.9 1.5 0 9])
xlabel('Density [g/cm3]')
ax1_pos = ax1.Position; % position of first axes
ax2 = axes('Position',ax1_pos,...
    'XAxisLocation','bottom',...
    'YAxisLocation','left',...
    'Color','none');
line(SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,4),SW_N_LLMM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax2,'Color','k')
set(gca, 'YDir','reverse')
axis([0 50 0 9])
xlabel('Particle size [um]')
ylabel('Depth [cm]')

[Adam Danz]

" The only problem is that the label of the top x axis shifts the red part of the plot down, while the black part stays at its place. This gives a really ugly plot."

A screen shot would help a lot.

[Lodewijk Pleij]

[Heesung Jung]

Wow! You are a GOAT!!! I couldn't find any other way to do this. But it really works just fine! I was having some problem just for plotting multi axes in subplot.

Answer 1

[Adam Danz]

This was a bugger but I finally got it working.

It only works when the margins are symmetric. In this example, the left and right margins are 0.12 (normalized units) and the upper and lower margins are also 0.12. That way when the figure resizes, both axes resize to the same positions.

figure('Name','SW N LLM','NumberTitle','off');
ax1 = axes('position', [.12 .12 .76 .76]); %margins must be symmetric!
ax1.XColor = 'r'; 
ax1.YDir = 'reverse'; 
ax1.XAxisLocation = 'top'; 
line(SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,3),SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax1,'color','r')
title(ax1, 'Density and particle size over the depth of the sample')
xlabel(ax1, 'Density [g/cm3]')
xlim(ax1, [0.9, 1.5]); 
ylim(ax1, [0, 9]); 

ax2 = axes('position', ax1.Position);
ax2.XAxisLocation = 'bottom'; 
ax2.YAxisLocation = 'left'; 
ax2.Color = 'none'; 
ax2.YDir = 'reverse'; 
line(SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,4),SW_N_LLM_Matrix(:,1),'Parent',ax2,'Color','k')
xlabel(ax2, 'Particle size [um]')
ylabel(ax2, 'Depth [cm]')
xlim(ax2, [0, 50])
ylax1 = ylim(ax1); 
ylim(ax2, ylax1)

[Lodewijk Pleij]

Thanks for the edit, it works when I plot just one graph. But now I want to show several subplots next to each other. And then the plots get all messed up. Here you see a photo of the graph that I get when I add your lines of code to the first subplot. The other 4 plots on the right are the ones that I made myself.

[Adam Danz]

I see... hmmmm. Let's see if I can think of something else..

[Lodewijk Pleij]

Thanks!!