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Introduction to Surfer : Preliminary Training Course in Surfer Application in

Contouring Mapping

Presentation · March 2019

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33827.50729

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 Introduction to Surfer®

Preliminary Training Course in Surfer

Application in Contouring Mapping

Prepared by
Dr. Hussein Ilaibi Zamil Al-Sudani
Petroleum Engineering Department
University of Technology
17-18/2/2019
 Introduction to Surfer®
Welcome to Surfer, a powerful contouring, gridding, and surface mapping package for scientists,
engineers, educators, or anyone who needs to generate maps quickly and easily. Producing
publication quality maps has never been quicker or easier. Maps can be displayed and enhanced
in Surfer. Adding multiple map layers, customizing the map display, and annotating with text
create publication quality maps. Virtually all aspects of your maps can be customized to produce
exactly the presentation you want.

Surfer is a grid-based mapping program that interpolates irregularly spaced XYZ data into a
regularly spaced grid. Grids may also be imported from other sources, such as the United States
Geological Survey (USGS). The grid is used to produce different types of maps including
contour, vector, image, shaded relief, 3D surface, and 3D wireframe maps. Many gridding and
mapping options are available allowing you to produce the map that best represents your data.

An extensive suite of gridding methods is available in Surfer. The variety of available methods
provides different interpretations of your data, and allows you to choose the most appropriate
method for your needs. In addition, data metrics allow you to gather information about your
gridded data. Surface area, projected planar area, and volumetric calculations can be performed
quickly in Surfer. Cross-sectional profiles can also be computed and exported.

The grid files themselves can be edited, combined, filtered, sliced, queried, and mathematically
transformed. For example, you can create an isopach map from two grid files. You will need the
original surface grid file and the surface grid file after a volume of material was removed.
Subtract the two surfaces to create an isopach map. The resulting map displays how much
material has been removed in all areas.

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements for Surfer are:

 Windows XP SP2 or higher, Vista, 7 or higher

 512MB RAM minimum for simple data sets, 1GB RAM recommended
 At least 100MB free hard disk space
 1024x768 or higher monitor resolution with a minimum 16-bit color depth

Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani

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 Surfer User Interface
Surfer contains three document window types: the plot document, worksheet document, and grid
node editor. Maps are created and displayed in the plot document. The worksheet document
displays, edits, transforms, and saves data in a tabular format. The grid node editor displays and
edits Z values for the selected grid.

This is the Surfer plot window with the Object Manager on the left, the worksheet and grid node
editor tabs on the top of the horizontal ruler

Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani

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 Menu Commands
Plot Document Commands

File Contains commands for opening and saving files, exporting data, and printing
Edit Contains clipboard commands and miscellaneous editing commands
View Controls the display of toolbars, status bar, rulers, grids, and managers, resets window
positions, tracks cursor between map and worksheet, and controls the zoom level of the plot
Draw Provides tools to draw objects
Arrange Contains commands to arrange objects
Grid Contains grid operations
Map Create new maps, add map layers, digitize maps, adjust map view, stack maps, overlay
maps, break apart map layers, edit contour and post labels, and export contours
Tools Adjust the program options and customize features
Window Controls the display of the windows
Help Provides access to help topics

Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani

Worksheet Commands

File Contains commands for opening files, saving files, and printing
Edit Contains clipboard commands, and miscellaneous editing commands
View Controls the display of toolbars, status bar, and managers, resets window
positions, and tracks cursor between map and worksheet
Format Provides methods to set cell formats, column widths, and row heights
Data Contains commands to sort data, filter data, compute statistics, assign
projection, reproject data, and calculate mathematical transformations
Tools Adjust the program options and customize features
Window Controls the display of the windows
Help Provides access to help topics

Grid Node Editor Commands

File Contains commands to open, save, and close grids

View Controls zoom, redraw, and display of toolbars, status bar, and
managers, and resets window positions
Options Contains grid editing commands
Tools Adjust the program options and customize features
Window Controls the display of the windows
Help Provides access to help topics

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 File Types
Surfer uses four basic file types: data, grid, boundary, and Surfer .SRF files.

Data Files

Data files contain the input data provided by the user, and are used to produce grid files, post data
points on a map, or generate a residuals log. These files are generally referred to as "XYZ data
files" or "data files" throughout the documentation. Data can be read from various file types, and
most contain numeric XY location coordinates as well as optional numeric Z values and label
information. The Z values contain the variable to be modeled, such as elevation, concentration,
rainfall, or similar types of values.

XYZ data files contain the raw data Surfer interprets to produce a grid file. Before you can
create a grid file in Surfer, you must create an XYZ data file. XYZ data files must be organized
in column and row format. Surfer requires the X, Y, and Z data to be in three separate columns.

Grid Files

Grid files are used to produce several different types of grid-based maps, to perform calculations
such as volume, residuals, and grid math, and to carry out blanking, smoothing, and slice
operations. Grid files contain a regularly spaced rectangular array of Z data organized in columns
and rows. Surfer can also use other common grid file types to perform most of the operations
that can be performed with grid files.
Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani
Boundary Files

Boundary files contain XY location data such as state boundaries, rivers, or point locations.
Boundary files are used to create a base map or base map layer on another map. Boundary files
can also be used to specify the boundary limits for blanking, faults, breaklines, and slice
calculations. Boundary files can be vector files, metafiles, or image files.

Surfer Files

Surfer .SRF files preserve al the objects and object settings contained in a plot window. These
files are called Surfer .SRF files throughout the documentation. Surfer 10 can open .SRF files
from all previous versions of Surfer. Surfer 10 can only save .SRF in the Surfer 10 format.
Previous versions of Surfer (i.e. Surfer 9) cannot open Surfer 10 .SRF files.

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 Grid Menu Commands
There are many ways to manipulate grid files in Surfer. The Grid menu contains several utilities
used to convert, combine, mirror, limit, slice, rotate, and extract grids. In addition, volume
calculations, smoothing, blanking, cross section creation, and residual calculations can all be
performed in Surfer using these utilities.

Data Create a grid from irregularly spaced XYZ data

Variogram Create a new variogram and export a variogram
Function Create a grid from a user-specified function
Math Provide grid-to-grid and grid-to-constant math operations
Calculus Perform calculus operations on an existing grid file
Filter Filter an existing grid by applying a moving matrix filter
Spline Smooth Smooth an existing grid using cubic splines
Blank Blank grid nodes inside or outside a boundary
Convert Convert between various grid formats
Extract Extract a subset of a grid from an existing grid file
Transform Scale, offset, mirror, or rotate an existing grid file
Mosaic Combine a series of compatible input grids into a single output grid
Volume Compute the volume under or over a grid surface
Slice Compute a cross section of data through a grid surface
Residuals Compute the difference between XYZ data and a grid surface
Grid Node Editor Change the values of individual nodes in a grid
Assign Coordinate Assign the coordinate system of a grid file and save the information to
System an external file
Grid Info Display information about the grid

Gridding Overview
Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani
What is a grid?

A grid is a rectangular region comprised of evenly spaced rows and columns. The intersection of
a row and column is called a grid node. Rows contain grid nodes with the same Y coordinate, and
columns contain grid nodes with the same X coordinate. Gridding generates a Z value at each
grid node by interpolating or extrapolating the data values.

Creating a .GRD File

The Grid | Data command is used to create a grid file. The Grid Data dialog allows for the Data
Columns, Gridding Method, Output Grid File, and Grid Line Geometry options to be specified.

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The selections made in the Grid Data dialog will impact the output grid file and the maps
created from the grid file. A data file must contain three columns with X, Y, and Z data in order
to create a grid file. At least three data points are required for the X, Y, and Z columns.

Gridding Methods

Gridding methods produce a regularly spaced, rectangular array of Z values from irregularly
spaced XYZ data. The term "irregularly spaced" means that the points follow no particular
pattern over the extent of the map, so there are many "holes" where data are missing. Gridding
fills in these holes by extrapolating or interpolating Z values at those locations where no data
exists.

When XYZ data are collected on regular intervals, you may produce a grid file that uses the Z
values directly and does not interpolate the values for the grid nodes. These procedures are
explained in the Producing a Grid File from a Regular Array of XYZ Data.

General Gridding Options

Each gridding method has its own set of gridding options. Some of the options are the same or
similar for the different gridding methods, while other options are specific to particular gridding
methods. Some options that are available to multiple gridding methods include: Search,
Anisotropy, Breaklines, and Faults.
Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani
Grid Columns and Rows

Grid file columns and rows are sometimes referred to as X grid lines and Y grid lines,
respectively. In fact, when you produce a wireframe map from a grid file, the lines that make up
the wire mesh actually represent the X and Y grid lines. The intersection of the grid lines define
the location of the grid nodes on the wireframe, and the height of the surface at each grid node is
proportional to the Z value assigned to that node. Specify grid line geometry in the Grid Data
dialog.

Using Grid Files to Create Maps

Contour maps, image maps, shaded relief maps, vector maps, 3D surface, and 3D wireframe
maps all require grids for their generation in Surfer. The Grid | Data command provides you with
several methods for generating a .GRD grid file from your XYZ data. Surfer can also use many
grid file formats directly (i.e. USGS .DEM, GTopo30 .HDR, SDTS .DDF, Digital Terrain
Elevation Model DTED .DT*, etc.). This means that you do not have to go through the gridding
process if you already have a supported grid file.

Grid Data
Grid files are necessary in Surfer to create grid-based maps types, including contour, image,
shaded relief, vector, 3D surface, and 3D wireframe maps. Data files are typically randomly

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spaced files, and this data must be converted into an evenly spaced grid before using many of
Surfer's features. Grid files are produced using the Grid | Data command. Refer to the tutorial
for more information on data and gridding data.

When creating a grid file you can usually accept all of the default gridding parameters and
generate a grid file that represents your data well. Under most circumstances, the recommended
gridding method is kriging with the default linear variogram. This is the selected default gridding
method because it gives good results for most XYZ data sets.

There are several gridding parameters you can set when producing a grid file. Refer to the
gridding method for more information on specific parameters. All gridding methods require at
least three non-collinear data points. Some methods require more data points. For example, a
higher-order polynomial fit needs more than three data points; there must be at least as many data
as there are degrees of freedom. Click the Grid | Data command to choose the data to be used in
the gridding process.
Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani
The Grid Data Dialog

Click the Grid | Data command, or the button, to display the Open Data dialog. Select a
data file and click Open to display the Grid Data dialog.

Gridding options are set in the Grid Data dialog.

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Output Grid File

Choose a path and file name for the grid file in the Output Grid File group. You can type a path
and file name, or click the button to browse to a new path and enter a file name in the Save
Grid As dialog.

Grid Line Geometry

The Grid Line Geometry section defines the grid limits and grid density.

Minimum and Maximum X and Y Coordinate (Grid Limits)

Grid limits are the minimum and maximum X and Y coordinates for the grid. Surfer computes
the minimum and maximum X and Y values from the XYZ data file. These values are used as the
default minimum and maximum coordinates for the grid.

Grid limits define the X and Y extent of contour maps, image maps, shaded relief maps, vector
maps, 3D wireframes, and 3D surfaces created from grid files. When creating a grid file, you can
set the grid limits to the X and Y extents you want to use for your map. Once a grid file is
created, you cannot produce a grid-based map larger than the extent of the grid file. If you find
you need larger grid limits, you must regrid the data. You can, however, read in a subset of the
grid file to produce a map smaller than the extent of the grid file.
Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani

Map Types
Several different map types can be created, modified, and displayed with Surfer. These map
types include contour, base, post, classed post, image, shaded relief, 1-grid vector, 2-grid vector,
3D surface, and 3D wireframe maps.

Contour Maps

A contour map is a two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional data. Contours define

lines of equal Z values across the map extents. The shape of the surface is shown by the contour
lines. Contour maps can display the contour lines; they can also display colors and patterns
between the contour lines.

This is a contour map consisting of contour lines representing elevation.

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 Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani
Base Map

Base maps display boundaries on a map. Boundaries can include roads, buildings, streams, lakes,
etc. Base maps can be produced from several file formats.

Empty Base Maps allow you to create a base map with no objects. Objects can be manually
added and removed as needed.

This is a base map of Michigan with county polygons. One of the individual polygons has filled.

Post Maps

Post maps and classed post maps show data locations on a map. Post symbols and the individual
post label positions can be customized.

The post map layer has black symbols. The classed post map layer has red circles and blue
squares. Only a sample of the data set is displayed in the classed post map.

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3D Surfaces

Surfaces are three-dimensional color representations of a grid file. The colors, lighting, overlays,
and mesh can be altered on a 3D surface.

This is a 3D surface map of the Telluride, Colorado USGS SDTS grid file.
Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani
3D Wireframes

Wireframes are three-dimensional representations of a grid file. A wireframe is created by

connecting Z values along lines of constant X and Y. At each XY intersection (grid node), the
height of the wireframe is proportional to the Z value assigned to that node. The number of
columns and rows in the grid file determines the number of X and Y lines drawn on the
wireframe.

This is a 3D wireframe map with a custom rotation (47° ), tilt (49° ), and field of view (112° ).

Using Surfer
The most common application of Surfer is to create a grid-based map from an XYZ data file.
The Grid | Data command uses an XYZ data file to produce a grid file. The grid file is then used
by most of the Map menu commands to produce maps. Post maps and base maps do not use grid
files.

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The general steps to progress from a XYZ data set to a finished, grid-based map are as follows:

1. Create a XYZ data file. This file can be created in a Surfer worksheet window or outside
of Surfer (using an ASCII text editor or Microsoft Excel, for example).

Start with irregular XYZ data in three columns.

2. To display the data points, click the Map | New | Post Map command.

A post map displays the original XYZ data locations.

3. Create a grid file .GRD from the XYZ data file using the Grid | Data command.

Gridding interpolates a Z value at the intersection of each row and column in the grid file.

Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani

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 This fills the holes in the data. Here the rows and columns are represented by grid lines.

4. To create a map, select the map type from the Map | New menu commands. Select the
grid file from step two. Grid-based maps include contour, image, shaded relief, vector, 3D
surface, and 3D wireframe maps.

The post map layer shows the original data points.

The contour map layer shows the grid based contour map.

Dr. Hussein Al-Sudani

5. Make any changes to the map. Click File | Save to save the map as a Surfer file .SRF.

The contour map layer is filled with a gradational color fill.

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