Ternary Plots in R using Plotly

Plotly now supports ternary plots and in this post we’ll showcase how to make such charts in R !

library(plotly)
library(jsonlite)

URL <- "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/davenquinn/988167471993bc2ece29/raw/f38d9cb3dd86e315e237fde5d65e185c39c931c2/data.json"
ds <- fromJSON(txt = "URL")

colors = c('#8dd3c7','#ffffb3','#bebada',
          '#fb8072','#80b1d3','#fdb462',
          '#b3de69','#fccde5','#d9d9d9',
          '#bc80bd','#ccebc5','#ffed6f')

Markers

p <- plot_ly()
for(i in 1:length(ds)){
  p <- add_trace(p, data = ds[[i]], a = clay, b = sand, c = silt,
                 type = "scatterternary",
                 mode = "markers",
                 evaluate = T,
                 line = list(color = "black"))
}

p <- layout(p, title ="", showlegend = F,
            xaxis = list(title = "", showgrid = F, zeroline = F, showticklabels = F),
            yaxis = list(title = "", showgrid = F, zeroline = F, showticklabels = F),
            sum = 100,
            ternary = list(
              aaxis = list(title = "Clay", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10)),
              baxis = list(title = "Sand", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10)),
              caxis = list(title = "Silt", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10))),
            annotations = list(
              list(xref = "paper", yref = "paper", align = "center",
                   x = 0.1, y = 1, text = "Ternary Plot in R<br>(Markers)", ax = 0, ay = 0,
                   font = list(family = "serif", size = 15, color = "white"),
                   bgcolor = "#b3b3b3", bordercolor = "black", borderwidth = 2)))
p

Lines

p <- plot_ly()
for(i in 1:length(ds)){
  p <- add_trace(p, data = ds[[i]], a = clay, b = sand, c = silt,
                 type = "scatterternary",
                 mode = "lines",
                 evaluate = T,
                 line = list(color = "black"))
}

p <- layout(p, title ="", showlegend = F,
            xaxis = list(title = "", showgrid = F, zeroline = F, showticklabels = F),
            yaxis = list(title = "", showgrid = F, zeroline = F, showticklabels = F),
            sum = 100,
            ternary = list(
              aaxis = list(title = "Clay", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10)),
              baxis = list(title = "Sand", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10)),
              caxis = list(title = "Silt", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10))),
            annotations = list(
              list(xref = "paper", yref = "paper", align = "center",
                   x = 0.1, y = 1, text = "Ternary Plot in R<br>(Lines)", ax = 0, ay = 0,
                   font = list(family = "serif", size = 15, color = "white"),
                   bgcolor = "#b3b3b3", bordercolor = "black", borderwidth = 2)))
p

Contour

p <- plot_ly()
for(i in 1:length(ds)){
  p <- add_trace(p, data = ds[[i]], a = clay, b = sand, c = silt,
                 type = "scatterternary",
                 mode = "lines",
                 fill = "toself",
                 fillcolor = colors[i],
                 evaluate = T,
                 line = list(color = "black"))
}

p <- layout(p, title ="", showlegend = F,
       xaxis = list(title = "", showgrid = F, zeroline = F, showticklabels = F),
       yaxis = list(title = "", showgrid = F, zeroline = F, showticklabels = F),
       sum = 100,
       ternary = list(
         aaxis = list(title = "Clay", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10)),
         baxis = list(title = "Sand", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10)),
         caxis = list(title = "Silt", tickformat = ".0%", tickfont = list(size = 10))),
       annotations = list(
         list(xref = "paper", yref = "paper", align = "center",
              x = 0.1, y = 1, text = "Ternary Plot in R<br>(Contour)", ax = 0, ay = 0,
              font = list(family = "serif", size = 15, color = "white"),
              bgcolor = "#b3b3b3", bordercolor = "black", borderwidth = 2)))
p