Multi Panel Spectra Comparison

multi-panel-spectra-comparison

Summary

Render and compare multiple mass spectra side-by-side or in a grid layout using matplotlib, enabling visual inspection of spectral differences across retention time, m/z windows, MS levels, or ion mobility conditions. This skill is essential for quality assessment and pattern recognition in multidimensional mass spectrometry workflows.

When to use

When you need to visually compare two or more spectra (MS1, MS2, or extracted ion chromatograms) across different retention times, m/z ranges, or ion mobility bins in a single figure. Apply this skill after extracting spectra arrays from MZA files (e.g., via collect_ms1_arrays_by_rt, collect_ms2_arrays_by_dt, or collect_xic_arrays_by_mz) and before reporting or archiving results. Typical triggers: validating peak picking consistency, comparing fragmentation patterns across adducts, or inspecting ion mobility separation quality.

When NOT to use

• Input is a single spectrum — use plot_spectrum directly instead of multi-panel layout.
• Spectra have incompatible m/z ranges or vastly different intensity scales that cannot be meaningfully compared on a single display — consider normalization or separate figure groups first.
• The goal is statistical comparison (e.g., cosine similarity, peak overlap quantification) rather than visual inspection — use dedicated similarity metrics instead of visualization.

Inputs

• m/z value arrays (1D numpy arrays)
• intensity value arrays (1D numpy arrays, same length as m/z arrays)
• spectrum metadata (retention time, scan number, MS level, ion mobility bin — optional but recommended for labeling)
• optional m/z range windows [min_mz, max_mz] per subplot
• optional figure dimensions (figsize tuple)
• optional color and label strings per spectrum

Outputs

• matplotlib Figure object with multiple Axes (one per spectrum)
• interactive display (if figname='show')
• saved PNG/PDF/SVG file (if figname contains a valid file path)

How to apply

Create a figure with subplots (one per spectrum or spectral pair) using matplotlib.pyplot.subplots() with explicit row/column layout. For each subplot, call the plot_spectrum function (or equivalent line/stem plot) with the corresponding m/z and intensity arrays, respecting optional m/z range windows. Apply consistent axis scaling, color schemes, and labeling across panels to enable visual comparison. Use the decorator _setup_and_save_or_show_plot to handle figure initialization, legend placement, and output routing (display interactively via 'show', or save to a file path). Return the figure object for further customization or directly display/save based on the figname parameter.

Related tools

• matplotlib.pyplot (provides subplots(), line/stem plotting functions, and figure management for multi-panel rendering)
• numpy (provides array slicing, windowing, and masking for m/z range filtering and intensity manipulation)
• mzapy.view.plot_spectrum (core function that renders a single spectrum; wrapped in decorator for output routing; called per subplot) — https://github.com/PNNL-m-q/mzapy
• mzapy.MZA (provides methods collect_ms1_arrays_by_rt, collect_ms2_arrays_by_dt, collect_xic_arrays_by_mz, collect_atd_arrays_by_rt_mz to extract spectrum arrays for comparison) — https://github.com/PNNL-m-q/mzapy

Examples

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt; from mzapy.view import plot_spectrum; fig, axes = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(12, 4)); plot_spectrum(mz_array_1, intensity_1, ax=axes[0], label='MS1 RT=5.2min'); plot_spectrum(mz_array_2, intensity_2, ax=axes[1], label='MS1 RT=5.3min', mz_range=[100, 1000]); plt.savefig('spectrum_comparison.png')

Evaluation signals

• All subplots render without error and display correct m/z and intensity ranges.
• Axis labels, titles, and legends are consistent and readable across panels.
• Spectra are visually alignable (same m/z window and intensity scaling per row/column group, unless intentionally varied).
• Output file (if saved) is valid and opens in standard image viewers or PDF readers.
• Visual inspection confirms expected patterns (e.g., precursor peaks in MS1 at expected m/z, MS2 fragments lower m/z; or consistent peak position across ion mobility bins).

Limitations

• Very large numbers of spectra (>100 panels) may create cluttered, unreadable figures; consider filtering or pagination strategies.
• Matplotlib's default color palette has limited distinct colors; manual color assignment recommended for >10 spectra.
• The MZA format stores spectra as sparse (omitting zero-intensity values); ensure proper m/z window slicing to avoid misleading gaps.
• Ion mobility spectra (with mzbin indexing) require conversion from mzbins to Full_mz_array before comparison; see MZA HDF5 structure documentation.
• No built-in interactive zoom/pan in static output; use matplotlib's interactive mode ('show') for exploration, or export to interactive formats (e.g., plotly) for archival.

Evidence

• [other] Initialize matplotlib figure and axis using _setup_and_save_or_show_plot decorator or accept existing ax: "Initialize matplotlib figure and axis using _setup_and_save_or_show_plot decorator or accept existing ax."
• [other] Plot intensity as a line or stem plot against m/z values using matplotlib.pyplot, respecting the specified m/z range window: "Plot intensity as a line or stem plot against m/z values using matplotlib.pyplot, respecting the specified m/z range window."
• [other] Return ax for further customization, display interactively if figname='show', or save to file if figname contains a path using plt.savefig: "Return ax for further customization, display interactively if figname='show', or save to file if figname contains a path using plt.savefig."
• [readme] Spectra are stored omitting zero-intensity values and as two jagged arrays, one in each corresponding group and named as the "Scan" value in the metadata table: "Spectra are stored omitting zero-intensity values and as two jagged arrays, one in each corresponding group and named as the "Scan" value in the metadata table:"
• [other] MS1 Spectra ... MS2 Spectra ... 2-Dimensional Data ... Extracted Ion Chromatograms ... Arrival Time Distributions: "MS1 Spectra ... MS2 Spectra ... 2-Dimensional Data ... Extracted Ion Chromatograms ... Arrival Time Distributions"