GRIDDING & CONTOURING

OBJECTIVES
 To become familiar with Surpac’s Gridding and Contouring tools.
 To learn to grid point samples based on elevation as well as descriptive data.
 To learn to create contours from resulting interpolated grids.

FILES USED
Files used in this lab exercise are found in the following folder:

C:\CONTOURING.LAB\

DISCUSSION
The Gridding & Contouring functionality in Surpac consists of tools for importing irregularly-
collected data, regularizing that data, and generating contours of the resulting regular grid.

There are several uses for the Gridding & Contouring functionality in Surpac:

1. Thinning out extremely dense data such as those from aerial surveys.
2. Gridding radmonly collected data to regularly spaced grids.

3. Recreating contours on different contour intervals.

4. Creating contours of geochemical data.

5. Creating contours of stratigraphic thicknesses.

The following diagrams illustrate how irregular point data may be regularized by gridding:

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 Figure 1: Irregular point data. This raw data may represent collection points for soil
geochemistry or topography.

Figure 2: The same data gridded in a regular pattern using geostatistical interpolation
methods.

Measurements in Surpac are unitless and depend entirely on the measurement system
used while collecting the data. For instance, elevation may be collected in feet(ft) or
metres (m) so it is up to the user to be consistent when working with data from various
sources. Throughout this exercise, you will see m/ft which means that if the raw data
data is collected in metres then a contour interval of “2 “ means 2 metres. The same goes
for assay units. If the samples are recorded in grams per tonne then a contour interval of
“5” means 5 grams per tonne.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Import the ‘geo_chem1.csv’ file into a Surpac string file.
2. Create a DTM surface of ‘geo_chem1.str’.
3. Colour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ based on Z and Arsenic (D1) and save GIF images of
each.
4. Contour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ on a 2 m/ft. interval and save the contours.
5. Grid the Z field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation)
6. Contour the resulting grid from step 5 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 0 to 100).
7. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 6 and submit this file.
8. Grid the D1 field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation)
9. Contour the resulting grid from step 8 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 0 to 100).
10. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 9 and submit this file.

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PROCDURE
1. Import the ‘geo_chem1.csv’ file into a Surpac string file.
a. The file ‘geo_chem1.csv’ pictured below is a ‘comma-separated value’ file. This
is simply a text file containing columns of data, each separated by a comma. The
data contained in this text file are X,Y,Z coordinates of geochemical samples plus
the arsenic samples themselves.

b. To import this file choose from the File menu, Import, Data from one file.
c. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

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2. Create a DTM surface of ‘geo_chem1.str’.
a. From the Surfaces menu choose DTM File functions, Create DTM from string file.
b. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

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3. Colour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ based on Z and Arsenic (D1).
a. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ into the viewport.

b. Click on the render button ( ) to apply a light source to the surface.

c. From the Display menu choose DTM with colour banding.
d. Fill the subsequent form as follows:

e. From the File menu choose Images, Save GIF image.

f. Fill the subsequent form as follows:

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Please note that the fields X resolution and Y resolution will be filled automatically with the
values pertaining to your screen resolution, not necessarily the values displayed above.

g. From the Display menu choose DTM with colour banding.

h. Fill the subsequent form as follows:

i. From the File menu choose Images, Save GIF image.

j. Fill the subsequent form as follows:

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 Please note that the fields X resolution and Y resolution will be filled automatically with the
values pertaining to your screen resolution, not necessarily the values displayed above.

4. Contour the DTM ‘geo_chem1.dtm’ on a 2 m/ft. interval and save the contours.

a. From the main toolbar click the Reset Graphics button ( ).

b. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.dtm into the viewport.

c. Click on the render button ( ) to apply a light source to the surface.

d. From the Contouring menu choose Contour DTM in layer.
e. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

f. Make sure the active layer is set to ‘contours’ by selecting it from the layer
chooser:

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 Layer chooser

g. Save the newly created contours by choosing the File menu and Save,
String/DTM file.
h. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

5. Grid the Z field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation)

a. From the main toolbar click the Reset Graphics button ( ).

b. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.str’ into the viewport.
c. From the Contouring menu choose Begin contouring.
d. Apply the subsequent forms:

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e. From the Contouring menu choose Contouring area, Define extents.
f. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

Note: click the ‘Calulate’ button to fill the two grid step size fields.

g. From the Contouring menu choose Estimate grid values, By triangulation.

h. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

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6. Contour the resulting grid from step 5 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 150
to 250).
a. From the Contouring menu choose Contour grid.
b. Fill the subsequent form as follows:

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7. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 6 and submit this file.
a. Make sure the active layer is set to ‘contours’ by selecting it from the layer
chooser:

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 Layer chooser

b. From the Surfaces menu choose Create DTM from layer.

c. Choose Apply to the subsequent form:

d. Choose the File menu and Save, String/DTM file.

e. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

8. Grid the D1 field of ‘geo_chem1.str’ using a 30x30 m/ft pattern. (interpolation)

a. From the main toolbar click the Reset Graphics button ( ).

b. From the Navigator, click and drag the file ‘geo_chem1.str’ into the viewport.
c. From the Contouring menu choose Begin contouring.
d. Apply the subsequent forms:

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e. From the Contouring menu choose Contouring area, Define extents.
f. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

Note: click the ‘Calulate’ button to fill the two grid step size fields.

g. From the Contouring menu choose Estimate grid values, By triangulation.

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 h. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

9. Contour the resulting grid from step 8 using a contour interval of 5 m/ft (from 0 to
100).
a. From the Contouring menu choose Contour grid.
b. Fill the subsequent form as follows:

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10. Create a DTM surface of the contours resulting from step 9 and submit this file.
a. Make sure the active layer is set to ‘contours’ by selecting it from the layer
chooser:

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 Layer chooser

b. From the Surfaces menu choose Create DTM from layer.

c. Choose Apply to the subsequent form:

d. Choose the File menu and Save, String/DTM file.

e. Fill in the subsequent forms as follows:

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