Surfer
EXPLORE THE DEPTHS OF YOUR DATA
Create Professional Maps
Easily communicate both simple and complex spatial data. Surfer gives you the tools to create high-quality maps to clearly deliver your message to coworkers, clients, and stakeholders.
Surfer Map Types
- Contour
- Color Relief
- Post
- Base
- Shaded Relief
- Vector
- Watershed
- Viewshed
Image courtesy of Maciek Pasiok, Geofizyka Torun
Image courtesy of Igor Yashayaev, Bedrod Institute of Oceanography, Canada
Surfer Customization Options
- Add legends, profiles, magnifiers, scale bars, and multiple axes
- Apply linear or logarithmic color scales
- Adjust tilt, rotation, and field of view angle
- Edit all axis parameters
- Include graticule lines or another grid
- Combine or stack multiple maps
- Define custom line styles and colors
- Edit text, line, fill and symbol properties
- Add text, polylines, polygons, symbols, and spline polylines
- Many more…
Image courtesy of Eric Dickenson, Environmental Science and Engineering Division, Colorado School of Mines.
Model Data in Multi-Dimensions
View your data in a new dimension. Surfer’s 3D modeling features allow you to model and analyze all aspects of your data. Use 3D maps to distinguish patterns and trends otherwise missed in the 2D space.
Surfer 3D Maps
- 3D Surface
- 3D Wireframe
Enhance Maps & Models
Surfer gives you the tools to visualize and model all types of data, but it doesn ‘t stop there. Surfer ‘s extensive customization options allow you to convey complex ideas in an easy to understand manner. Enhance your maps and models with a variety of customizations options.
Immediate Access to Online Data
An abundance of data is at your fingertips just waiting to be visualized. Surfer gives you immediate access to maps and grids downloaded from any online web mapping services (WMS), public or private.
Surfer Interpolation Features
- Variogram models
- Anisotropy
- Faults and breaklines
- Control over search neighborhood size, shape, and constraints
- Data filtering
- Automatic data statistics
- Grid to convex hull
- Duplicate handling
- Cross validation
- Control over output geometry and resolution
- Limit or clamp z-values
Grid Data with Certainty
Have complete confidence in the accuracy of your model. Surfer provides numerous interpolation methods to grid regularly or irregularly spaced data onto a grid or raster. Each interpolation method provides complete control over gridding parameters.
Surfer Interpolation Features
- Inverse Distance
- Kriging
- Minimum Curvature
- Polynomial Regression
- Triangulation with Linear Interpolation
- Nearest Neighbor
- Modified Shepard ‘s Method
- Radial Basis Function
- Natural Neighbor
- Moving Average
- Data Metrics
- Local Polynomial
Make Meaningful Decisions
Get answers to your questions with Surfer’s geoprocessing tools. Process your data and analyze relationships. Narrow down areas of interest, highlight important intersections, or perform mathematical calculations on the underlying data to make informed decisions.
Surfer Geoprocessing Tools
- Reshape, simplify, smooth polylines, polygons, and grids
- Create buffers around points, polylines, and polygons
- Convert between polygons and polylines
- Create polygons by combining existing polygons
- Create points or polygons in intersecting areas
- Connect or break polylines at specified locations
- Combine and split islands
Work Seamlessly With All Coordinate Systems
Your job is to transform data into valuable visualizations. Surfer’s job is to make it easy for you. Surfer effortlessly manages unreferenced data and data projected in different/multiple coordinate systems. It really is that easy.
Surfer Coordinate System Features
- Over 2500 predefined coordinate systems
- Create custom coordinate systems
- Search coordinate systems by name or EPSG number
- Reproject coordinate systems
- Over 80 ellipsoids
- Over 45 predefined linear units
- Create custom linear units
- Add graticule or grid lines to view different coordinate systems on a map
Full Grid Control
Manipulate grid files down to the finest detail. Surfer’s grid editor lets you quickly edit your grid file as needed. Or utilizethe many grid editing functions to smooth, filter, or transform grids.
Surfer Grid Editing Features
- Smooth grids with spline smoothing
- Filter grids with high- and low-pass filters
- Project grids from one coordinate system to another
- Mosaic multiple grids together seamlessly
- Extract smaller areas from a grid
- Convert areas to nodata
- Add / subtract grids
- Multiply / divide grids
- Perform mathematical functions on grids
- Calculate volume and area of grids
- Transform, offset, rescale, rotate, or mirror grids
Complete Compatibility
Seamlessly visualize and analyze data from multiple sources. Surfer natively reads numerous file formats including SHP, DXF, and XLSX. Surfer also supports all popular export formats. An extensive set of data management tools are at your disposal for complete compatibility.
PDF snippet courtesy of Alecos Demetriades, Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration.
Demetriades, A., 2011. The Lavrion urban geochemistry study, Hellas. Chapter 25 In: C.C. Johnson, A. Demetriades, J. Locutura & R.T. Ottesen (Editors), Mapping the chemical environment of urban areas. Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, U.K., 424-456.
Collaborate With Confidence
Quickly share your work with colleagues, stakeholders, and clients. Surfer models are ready for printed publication with the high quality export formats including PDF or TIF. Alternatively, share your work online with web compatible formats like JPG or PNG. If you are preparing for a presentation, simply copy and paste your map or model into presentation tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Word.
Streamlined Workflows
You will be up and running in matter of minutes. Surfer‘s user interface was designed to take the guesswork out of learning a new program. We worked hard to streamline workflows so you don‘t have to.
Surfer User Interface Features
- Single window to view, edit, and manipulate the data and maps
- Object manager to easily manage layers of maps and models
- Property manager for quick feature editing
- Worksheet window to view or edit raw data
- Dock or float all managers
- Customize toolbar layout
- Welcome dialog to get you started
- Customize practically all components of the user interface to fit your needs
Work Smart, Not Hard with Automation
Don’t waste time doing the same process over and over. Create scripts to automate repetitive or recurring tasks. Surfer can be called from any automation-compatible programming languages such as C++, Python, or Perl. Surfer also ships with Scripter, a built-in Visual Basic compatible scripting tool.
Save time with automation, and save even more time by reviewing the extensive set of sample scripts in the Surfer Automation Knowledge Base!
