[Matplotlib-users] Get contourf image as array

[David H. <dh...@gm...>]

I've been searching and reading through source code and google searches 
to see if this is possible, but no luck so far. I'm basically trying to 
map some data using Basemap, use contourf to map it to an image, and 
then put that image in a geotiff (or other format) for use in other GIS 
programs. I have other tools for remapping data and creating geotiffs, 
but the contour image looks better. All I would need to get this to work 
would be an array representing the image inside the axes of a contourf 
plot. I found a lot of geotiff -> Basemap png results, but I would like 
the reverse.

Since the plots are made using paths/patches I'm guessing I would have 
to have a backend render the image and then extract the image somehow. 
Does anyone have some tips or tricks to do something like this? Or am I 
thinking about this completely wrong?

Thanks for any help and if you could CC me in any replies it would be 
much appreciated.

-Dave