A classified raster layer in ArcMap generated from Raster Tools overlaid with a roads shapefile.

Golden Software’s new Raster Tools add-in for ArcMap leverages Surfer’s 12 different gridding methods directly in the ArcMap ecosystem to create accurate and precise raster datasets from your point data with only a few clicks. Raster Tools is a wizard-based add-in that walks you through all of the necessary interpolation parameters that have been elegantly laid out on 3 pages, so you have quick access to select an interpolation method, customize neighborhood search parameters, choose output raster extents and resolution, and more.

For today’s blog post, I would like to walk you through an example of interpolating elevation point data using the Raster Tools add-in, so you can see how user friendly and easy this new tool is to use. To start things off, I am going to add some elevation data from Oahu (near Honolulu) to ArcMap. Now that the elevation data has been added to an ArcMap project, I am going to start the interpolation by clicking the Raster Tools tool bar and choosing Raster Tools | Interpolation Wizard.

The first page of the Interpolation Wizard opens. On the left-hand side, I can choose from any of the 12 interpolation methods, where each have a nice help tip describing the method.  On the right-hand side of the page, I can choose the dataset I want to interpolate, which field I am interpolating, and how to handle duplicate points with the data (if there are any). For this example, I am going to select the ever-popular Kriging as my interpolation method.

The first page of Raster Tools Interpolation Wizard.

After clicking Next, the second page of the Interpolation Wizard opens.  On this page, I get a quick look at the statistics surrounding the data and a preview of the data point dispersion with an overlapping search ellipse. Since I selected Kriging for my interpolation method, I have the option to pick Kriging-specific parameters on this page. I am working in ArcMap, so I will select the Block Kriging type, which estimates the average value of the cells centered on the grid nodes.  I am also going to use a custom search neighborhood because I don’t want all of the data to influence the resultant interpolated points. I think a search radius of 3000 will work well for the data dispersion of this dataset.

The second page of the Interpolation Wizard showing the search neighborhood options among other interpolation parameters.

I don’t have any breaklines for the area that need to be included in the interpolation, so I’m going to click Next to go to the final page of the wizard. On the third and final page, I can set the output raster’s resolution and extents. The data I’m working with is in meters and I’m working on a large scale mapping project, so it makes sense to generalize a little bit and use a cell size of  25. I am also going to leave the extent parameters as-is because I can clip the raster later in ArcMap, if necessary. Finally, Raster Tools writes the output raster in ADF, IMG, and TIF format in personal geodatabases, file geodatabases, or simple file folders.  The default output raster is ADF, which I’m OK with, and I’m going to click next to Filename to name the raster and click Finish to start the interpolation and save the output raster to the project’s default geodatabase.

The third page of the Interpolation Wizard, where the output raster parameters are assigned.

Now that the interpolation has quickly completed, a new raster layer has been added to my ArcMap project. I can now use the tools available in ArcMap for customizations like changing the symbology, adding a hill shade effect, adding vector files, etc. I also now have the ADF file that was added to the default geodatabase for use in other ArcMap projects and 3rd party applications.

The resulting raster layer created from Raster Tools added to the ArcMap project.

As you can see, Raster Tools is a quick and easy way to interpolate data directly inside of ArcMap, using the intuitive controls and powerful options Surfer offers! For more information, visit the Raster Tools product page, or test it our yourself with the free 14-day trial!

This past weekend, the entire Golden Software team met in Golden for our 8th annual All Hands Meeting. Golden Software is primarily a telecommuting company with employees located all over the US. Every year, we gather all of the Golden Software team together in a single room. We sit down and talk about what we’ve accomplished, what the future holds, and ways we can improve to best serve our customers. We also play some games, gather with our family and co-workers for a great Saturday evening dinner, and reconnect with each other. It is always fun at the end of the meeting to go back home knowing how everyone’s kids are doing, what new personal hobbies we all have, and what significant events have happened since we last saw each other.

This year’s meeting was primarily focused on the future and how Golden Software can change to meet today’s more demanding market. We are looking at possibilities that did not exist 10, or even 5, years ago. We’re all super excited to get back to the office and start working on future projects that will give you, our users, more of what you are asking for!

Just a sneak peek at some of the topics we discussed:

• updating our licensing model to give you more options with how you purchase and use our software
• enhancing our development procedures to give you a more stable product with new features faster
• increasing our technical support options on our website so you can get your questions answered faster in the method you prefer

The focus on customers was really emphasized during the final segment of the meeting. We were each asked what our focus would be moving forward, and the majority of the group answered customers. We truly value your requests, so please keep sending them our way so we can empower you as you turn your data into knowledge!

While less than 1 mile (1.42 km) in length, the Manitou Springs Incline is not for the faint of heart. Originally built for cable cars used to carry materials during the construction of Pikes Peak pipelines, the Incline was a tourist attraction until 1990. Thereafter, the cable cars were disassembled, and soon the Incline grew in popularity as a hiking trail and fitness challenge.

The bottom of the Manitou Springs Incline. Approximately 2,744 railroad ties <br />make up the steps to get from this location to the summit.

The Incline’s average grade is 41% (68% at its steepest) over a 2,000 foot (610 meter) elevation gain. The trail consists of uneven stairs made with roughly 2,744 railroad ties. The Incline is a mecca for exercise enthusiasts and anyone desiring a challenge.

As one of those aforementioned exercise enthusiasts and challenge seekers, I decided to embark on this grand cardio-adventure earlier this year. One early Saturday morning, I joined a few hundred other hikers and began the trek up the Incline, one railroad tie at a time.

The above 3D surface map was created with our gridding, contouring, and 3D surface mapping software program, Surfer. The elevation, imagery, and trail data was downloaded from The National Map courtesy of the USGS.

I frequently work out and consider myself to be in pretty good shape, but within the first 5 minutes of hiking, I knew this would be a workout to remember. My heartrate quickly increased and sweat began beading on my forehead. After 20 or so minutes of hiking, my legs screamed for a break. The breaks were quite pleasant as they not only allowed me to catch my breath, they also gave me a chance to take in the spectacular views. I soon developed a system of hiking for 10 minutes followed by a 1-2 minute break, and at that pace, I summited the incline after 1 hour and 2 minutes.

The hike back down to Manitou Springs was not nearly as intense as the hike up. While I could have gone back down the Incline, I opted to take the meandering Barr Trail to give my legs a much needed respite. This 3 mile (4.8 km) stretch took another hour and provided additional scenic views. From car to car, the trip took around 3 hours.

The above map was created with a base map, contour map, and profile map. It was plotted with our gridding, contouring, and 3D surface mapping software program, Surfer. The elevation, imagery, and trail data was downloaded from The National Map courtesy of the USGS.

I highly recommend conquering the Incline at least once in your lifetime. Fellow hikers are extremely friendly and encouraging, and the sense of accomplishment upon summiting is quite a rush. Plus, the post-hike brew never tasted so good!

My next challenge will be summiting the Incline’s neighbor, Pike’s Peak, a popular Colorado 14er. Happy hiking!

The 142^nd annual Run for the Roses, better known as the Kentucky Derby, took place this past weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. The race for 3-year-old Thoroughbred horses began in 1875 and takes place annually at Churchill Downs. Each year horses compete in 35 preliminary races for 1 of 20 coveted spots in the Derby.

Location of the Kentucky Derby, base map created in Surfer 13.

This year the win went to Nyquist, who is currently undefeated. Nyquist finished with an impressive time of 2:01.31, which is the 14^th fastest finish of all time! The graph below shows the top 10 finishers of the Derby and the year of the race next to each bar. I found it interesting that there is no clear correlation of year and time. I was expecting to see a trend of faster times over the years as breeding and training have changed. But, this expectation did not fit the reality of the finish times. The race is commonly called “the most exciting two minutes in sports” and only 2 horses have ever finished in less than 2 minutes, and only 1 was in the last 20 years!

Ten fastest Derby finishes, created in Grapher 12.

Many great traditions come along with the Kentucky Derby, including eating a stew called burgoo and wearing lavish clothing and hats. The greatest tradition of all, however, may be the imbibing of the mint julep. The mint julep is a simple cocktail consisting of bourbon (native to Kentucky), mint, sugar, water, and crushed ice. For the Derby, it is traditionally served in a silver cup, and the water, sugar, and bourbon are combined in a ready-to-pour cocktail mix from Old Forester. Each year, Churchill Downs serves nearly 120,000 mint juleps to its attendees, and 2016 had the second highest number of attendees at 167,227 people. Just what does it take to serve up so many drinks? See the graph below.

Ingredients needed for mint juleps at Churchill Downs, step graph created in Grapher 12.

As a Southerner, the Run for the Roses is a big part of ringing in the spring! You can bet I enjoyed a mint julep while wearing my largest, most obnoxious hat this weekend! I hope you’ve also enjoyed this graphical look at the 2016 Kentucky Derby. We’ll have to wait another month to see if Nyquist is able to remain undefeated at Belmont and Preakness to take the Triple Crown!

If you aren’t a horse racing enthusiast, you can still have fun around race time. As you may know, race horses have some interesting names. Nyquist, Exaggerator, and Gun Runner were the top three horses at the Kentucky Derby this year. Continue the Derby spirit, and find out what your derby horse name is here, courtesy of The Des Moines Register! (Mine was Buttermilk Blur!)

Creating a map of slopes is common practice when looking at slope stability. Some examples of when you may want to create slope maps would be to identify areas with high slope to indicate avalanche or landslide danger. Another example may be to present slope maps of the seabed so that a structure with set tolerances for inclination could be located. Slope and gradient maps can be easily generated using Surfer.

Slope information can be easily computed from grid, raster or digital elevation models (DEMs) using options under the Grid | Calculus menu command in Surfer. The slope values can be expressed either in degrees or as a decimal (rise/run) which can then be computed as a percentage. For example, using Grid | Calculus you could select:

1. Terrain Modeling | Terrain Slope. This option generates a grid file of the slopes expressed in degrees, from 0° (horizontal) to 90° (vertical). This is the most commonly used option to create a grid file of terrain slopes.
2. Differential and Integral Operators | Gradient Operator. This option generates a grid file of the slope or gradient expressed as a decimal ratio of rise over run, from zero (horizontal) to approaching infinity at vertical. To calculate slopes as a percentage (e.g. 15%) instead of a decimal, use Grid | Math to multiply the Gradient Operator results by 100.

Using a digital elevation model (or any grid file), create slope maps either by calculating terrain slope in degrees or the gradient of the slope in percent.

Let’s walk through an example. Let’s say we have an area that is prone to avalanches and we want to indicate on a map the areas where the slope is greater than 30°. To do this, follow these steps:

1. First, let’s create a map of the area
   1. Click Map | New | 3D Surface Map, select LovelandPass_DryGulch.grd and click Open.
   2. Let’s drape an aerial image over it. Click on the map to select it and click Map | Add | Base Layer, select LovelandPass.tif and click Open. 
   3. Click Yes to adjust the limits.
   4. You can change the properties of the 3D surface layer to see the draped image a little better. 
      1. Select the 3D Surface layer in the Object Manager.
      2. In the Property Manager, click the General tab.
      3. Click the  button to the right of Upper. 
      4. In the Colormap dialog, set the Preset to GrayScale (at the top of the list)
      5. Click the color node on the left side of the colormap and change the Color to White (so the colormap goes from white to white). 
      6. Click OK.
      7. Click the Lighting tab and set the Vertical (degrees) light position to 80. This brightens the map up a bit.
   5. Select Map in the Object Manager and in the Property Manager click the Scale tab.
   6. In the Z Scale section, set the Map units per in. to 720.8333333, eliminating the vertical exaggeration.

   
   Create a 3D surface map and drape a georeferenced image on top of it to visualize the DEM.

2. Now let’s calculate the grid of slope data, in degrees.
   1. Click Grid | Calculus, select LovelandPass_DryGulch.grd and click Open.
   2. Select Terrain Modeling | Terrain Slope.
   3. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File. 
   4. Enter the name LovelandPass_DryGulch_Slope.grd and click Save.
   5. Click OK and the grid is created. 

   
   Select the Terrain Modeling | Terrain Slope option in the Grid Calculus dialog.

3. Add contours of the slope data to the existing map. Click on the map to select it.
4. Click Map | Add | Contour Map, select LovelandPass_DryGulch_Slope.grd and click Open. Contours of the slope are added to the map.

   
   Add slope contours to the 3D surface map

5. Now we can highlight the areas above 30 degrees, which indicate the zones of avalanche danger. 
   1. Select the Contours layer in the Object Manager.
   2. In the Property Manager, click the Levels tab. 
   3. Set the Minimum contour level to 30.
   4. Change the contour Interval to cover the entire range of values (e.g. 40). Now I can see on the map where the slope is greater than 30°.
   5. Check the Fill contours check box to fill the contours.
   6. Change the Level method to Advanced and click the Edit Levels button.
   7. In the Levels for Map dialog:
      1. Double click on the level button under the Fill column and set the fill to a solid red foreground color with 25% opacity. Click OK.
      2. Double click on the level button under the Line column and set the line properties to the desired color, such as a red 0.010 inch line. Click OK.
      3. Under the Label column, double click Yes to change it to No.
   8. Click OK in the Levels for Map dialog to apply the changes.

Set the contour levels to visualize the areas that have a slope above a 30° angle.

Another way to visualize this data is to create a base map of a USGS DRG file showing the elevation contours, and overlaying that map with a contour layer of the slope data.

Additionally visualize the slope results on a 2D map of elevation contours. Print this map to take with you in the field.

Please note that when calculating slopes from DEM or grid files, Surfer uses the X, Y and Z values proportionally when calculating the slope values. Therefore, the X, Y and Z values must be in the same units, and the units must be linear (e.g. feet or meters) for the slope calculation to be correct.  If the X and Y units in the grid file are in lat/lon, then the slope calculated for each node will be almost vertical because the X and Y extents (the lat/lon ranges) are so small compared to the difference in Z values. In this case, convert the coordinate system of your data, DEM or grid file from lat/lon to another system with linear units prior to calculating the slope. For instructions on how convert the XY coordinates for raw data, DEMs, please see our newsletter article: Converting the Coordinate System of Data, Image, Vector, and Grid Files in Surfer .

Slope maps can be powerful tools when evaluating sites for safety, field engineering, projecting road layouts or drainage patterns, and many other applications. Surfer can also calculate other terrain modeling information, such as aspect and curvature to make sure you get the information you need to make informed decisions.

Other Resources:

1. Click Help | Contents. On the Contents page, navigate to Surfer 13 | Gridding | Grid Operations | Grid Calculus.
2. Blog article: Calculate Terrain Slope Using Surfer 10's Mapping Software
3. Knowledge Base articles:
   1. How can I calculate slope as a percentage?
   2. How can I find the maximum slope within an area around a point?
   3. How can I find the slope of a terrain at a specific XY point?
   4. When I use the Data Metrics Terrain Slope gridding option, the resulting grid is a horizontal plane. What happened?
   5. How do I create a vector map with magnitude and direction arrows at the data points?
   6. How can I export the direction and magnitude data from a 1-grid vector map?
   7. When I create a grid of Terrain Slope, why is the reported slope in the resulting grid all 89 or 90°?
   8. When I create a grid of Terrain Slope, why is the reported slope in the resulting grid all 89 or 90 degrees?

As Blakelee mentioned in her introduction blog, my name is Scott C. Carter and I am the Owner and Creative Director of Creative Map Solutions, a Geographic Information System (GIS) solution and Mapping Support company based out of Firestone, CO.

Working as a cartographer utilizing geospatial datasets requires extensive knowledge of multiple GIS, CAD and graphic design software applications. Over the past 20 years of offering GIS and custom mapping solutions I have found that there has rarely been an instance where one software package will fulfill the requirements to design a map from start to finish. It is not uncommon that I will use five or more different software applications to create a presentation quality custom map. One of my favorite software applications to assist me with my project is Golden Software's Surfer program.

In 2005 when I produced my 3D Grand Canyon map using the Chromodepth color scheme in Surfer, the cartographic team at National Geographic examined my map through a loupe and was confused as to how I was able to achieve a color shaded relief map without the "banding" effects. The following information will tell you my secret to shaded relief mapping and utilizing Surfer in generating presentation quality maps.

Manipulating Elevation Data and Generating Shaded Relief Maps Using Surfer

In evaluating many different software applications that produce shaded relief maps, I have found that Surfer is the best at producing visually stunning color or grayscale shaded relief maps. Surfer allows you to import many different formats of elevation grid files (DEMs) and generate a "3D Surface", or shaded relief map, from those files. The user has the capability to generate either orthographic or perspective maps in an easy to use interface. Orthographic relief maps are good to use as a base shaded relief map in your custom map design. The orthographic maps can then be exported out with spatial reference information (e.g., GEOTIFF) so the user could bring it into other software applications that support georeferenced images. The perspective maps are good for depicting the terrain heights when exhibiting information in an oblique view. The ability to rotate the DEM and show that information in a perspective view, while adjusting the lighting and the vertical exaggeration assists Creative Map Solutions in generating realistic terrain maps.

Figure 1: Example of the "View" Settings in Surfer

Figure 2: Example of a Perspective Map in the Marketing of Commercial Real Estate

Smoothing Elevation Data Using Surfer

Another advantage of using Surfer in the generation of shaded maps is the ability to smooth DEM data prior to generating a 3D Surface map. Many elevation data sources such as ASTER, SRTM, and LiDAR data contain anomalies in the dataset that are visible and hinder the aesthetic value of the relief map. Utilizing the "Grid Filter" tool in Surfer, we can minimize the visual anomalies of the data to improve the appearance of the DEM data. This filter tool is also good for smoothing out DEM data that has been created in Surfer using x,y,z data. We have found that Surfer contains the best "smoothing" algorithms out of all the software that we tested that can manipulate DEM (elevation) data.

Figure 3: Comparison of Original DEM and Smoothed DEM

Generating Color Ramps in Surfer

Choosing the correct color ramps to depict elevation changes is an important part of any hypsographic map display. Surfer has an easy to use interface when choosing color values based on elevation to build a color ramp. You can easily add or remove values based on elevation heights to create stunning visual shaded relief maps. The color palettes can then be saved and imported back in to Surfer to save time when creating shaded relief maps for other areas. One approach that Creative Map Solutions has taken for generating shaded relief maps is to build multiple color ramps and then export out the images so they can be changed in a graphic design program such as Photoshop. By masking out certain areas within different shaded relief "layers" in Photoshop, you have the ability to further manipulate elevation color ranges to create realistic looking maps. An example of how this is accomplished is shown in the following figures.

Figure 4: Grand Canyon Colormap in Surfer

Figure 5: Multiple Colormaps in Surfer

Figure 6: Shaded Relief Layers in Photoshop with Land Cover

Generating Vector Perspective Maps and Hybrid Shaded Relief Maps in Surfer

Surfer will import a wide variety of GIS and CAD vector formats while maintaining the spatial location of those files. In certain cases, it is important to show perspective maps with layered information such as roads, buildings, water, etc. that can easily be manipulated in graphic design programs such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. To achieve this in Surfer, you simply create a "3D Wireframe Map" by importing a DEM file to serve as the base terrain data. You can then add multiple "Base Maps" in Surfer of various vector datasets and combine those datasets with the wireframe map. You can change the colors of the base layers along with line widths as depicted below.

Figure 7: 3D Wireframe Map with Vector .shp File Overlays

Once you combine the data that you need for the perspective map, you can then export the file into common vector formats such as a .dxf file. The vector file can then be imported into other graphic design or CAD programs for further manipulation. The file maintains the layer information allowing you to turn on and off certain layers in your graphic design or CAD application. The advantage of exporting out a vector wireframe, along with a 3D Surface (shaded relief map) is that the vector features come out cleaner and you have more control over colors, line weights, etc. Creative Map Solutions utilizes this feature along with the 3D Surface tool to create shaded relief perspective maps as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Hybrid Shaded Relief and Vector Data from Surfer

Draping Aerial Photographs in Surfer

Surfer allows the user to drape aerial photographs on a DEM to create realistic visual effects. To do this you simply pull in DEM data and create a 3D Surface map. Once you have the surface map created, you simply add a base layer and choose the aerial photograph that you want to drape over the DEM. Make sure that both the DEM and the aerial are in the same projection, datum, and units so that the aerial photograph will correctly display on top of the elevation data. Also, you want to make sure that the colormap is set to white otherwise you will have the default shader colors in the DEM.

Figure 9: Draping Aerial Imagery in Surfer

Figure 10: Draping Aerial Imagery and Vector Data

Summary

There are many great features of Surfer that I did not cover in this article. I highly recommend Surfer to any individual or company that is looking to design aesthetically pleasing maps. This application, coupled with other GIS, CAD, and graphic design applications will enable you to quickly and easily generate presentation quality maps.

About Us

My name is Scott C. Carter and I am the Owner and Creative Director of Creative Map Solutions, a Geographic Information System (GIS) solution and Mapping Support company based out of Firestone, CO. Creative Map Solutions has over 20 years of experience in providing GIS and Custom Mapping Solutions to companies. We leverage our experience to handle everything from large one-time projects to ongoing GIS and mapping support.

A true artist at heart, I have become an expert on a number of industry leading software applications utilized for GIS, mapping, drafting, 3D modeling, and data conversion. My custom map work has been published in many different media formats including magazines, books, television programs, and a major motion picture.

Creative Map Solutions provides custom map solutions for a wide-variety of industries including oil and gas, mining, litigation, real estate, and various media outlets. Using state-of-the art mapping and graphic design software, Creative Map Solutions can quickly and affordably create an eye pleasing visual presentations. Creative Map Solutions has an extensive library of in-house datasets such as aerial photography, elevation data, and vector feature layers (roads, hydro, buildings, etc.). This gives Creative Map Solutions a competitive advantage as we can quickly and compile any map base information to assist in the final map composition. Our maps can be delivered in a variety of formats based on your specific capabilities and needs.

I'm pleased to introduce our first ever guest blogger, Scott Carter, Owner and Creative Director of Creative Map Solutions. Creative Map Solutions is a Geographic Information System (GIS) solution and Mapping Support company based out of Firestone, CO. Creative Map Solutions has over 20 years of experience in providing GIS and Mapping Solutions to companies. They leverage their experience to handle everything from large one-time projects to ongoing GIS and mapping support.

A true artist at heart, Scott has become an expert on a number of industry leading software applications utilized for GIS, mapping, drafting, 3D modeling, and data conversion. His custom map work has been published in many different media formats including magazines, books, television programs, and a major motion picture.

Scott demonstrates how he uses Surfer to generate stunning shaded relief and perspective maps in this blog article: Using Surfer to Generate Stunning Shaded Relief and Perspective Maps. I know you'll enjoy! 

If you're interested in guest blogging for us, email blog@goldensoftware.com and we would be more than glad to hear your story!

On Memorial Day 2016, the 38th annual Bolder Boulder 10K race took place in Boulder, Colorado. As the 3rd largest road race in the country (2nd largest 10K), this race brings a flock of amateur and professional runners alike to Boulder every Memorial Day. Last year, 45,000 people finished the race (52,015 participated), and 70,000 spectators descended on the city, as well. Golden Software founder Pat Madison runs this race each year with his daughter Emily Madison, and my husband and various other friends and family members have run it regularly as well. Since this race is near and dear to my heart, I thought it would be fun to plot up some maps and graphs of various Bolder Boulder statistics.

This map of the 50 largest road races in 2015 shows a symbol at the location of each race. The symbol is sized by the total number of finishers in the race, and colored based on the distance of the race. Purple coloring indicates the state hosts one or more of these races.

Left: This line plot shows the winning race times for both men and women (professional) annually since the start of the Bolder Boulder in 1979. Right: This bar plot shows the total number of professional wins each country has had since 1979.

Like these? Check out our MapViewer thematic mapping program and our Grapher scientific graphing program to get started on creating your own visually stunning maps and graphs!

About a month or so ago, I started working with a user trying to find an easy solution for adding 3D objects, such as buildings and storage tanks, to his Voxler models. The customer was using Voxler to create graphics for a soil contamination report and wanted to give the stakeholders for this project a good frame of reference for where the contamination plume extended under the existing structures. Adding the buildings and storage tanks to the Voxler model paints a clear picture of the subsurface contamination extent. Voxler does not currently offer 3D drawing functionality, so I took a look at some 3^rd party applications to find the best solution for the user.

Searching for the Right 3D Drawing Application

Voxler started supporting 3D DXF in version 4, so finding an application that exports 3D DXF in the correct coordinate space was the main requirement. The user also wanted the solution to be cost effective, so I kept this in mind during my search.

I started with SketchUp, which was free, and quickly found that it was easy to create the desired 3D objects. The only drawback with SketchUp is that it’s difficult to export the 3D objects in the desired coordinate space. Since this is a requirement, SketchUp didn’t make the cut. I then took a look at AutoCAD, which definitely is an attractive application as it will do what I need it to do; however, the price is a lot higher than the user wanted to pay. My next option was to try TurboCAD. I downloaded the demo version to see if creating 3D objects was easy and to verify that they exported in the correct coordinate space. TurboCAD was easy enough to learn, I was able to create objects in the desired 3D coordinate space, and the price was inexpensive. My decision was made; I recommended using TurboCAD for the user’s 3D drawing needs. The rest of today’s blog post discusses creating 3D structures in urboCAD, exporting them in 3D DXF, and adding them to an existing Voxler project.

Creating 3D Objects in TurboCAD:

In order to create objects in TurboCAD that were in the correct coordinates space, I exported a ground surface elevation grid from Voxler in 3D DXF format. I opened the DXF in TurboCAD by using the File | Open command, which gave me a nice palette to start drawing objects on. I also positioned the DXF so that I had a top-down view of it by clicking View | 3D Views | Top. Now I am ready to create some 3D objects such as some tanks and a building.

To create the building, I am going to use these steps:

1. Zoom into the project using the mouse wheel to where the building is going to be located.
2. Click Draw | 3D Object | 3D Primitives | Box and draw a box where the building footprint should be located.
3. Rotate the view a little bit using the mouse so I can see a profile of the surface and box.
4. Click Edit | Select to get the selection tool.
5. Click on the box, when prompted click Box.
6. Click on the top of the box and drag it up until it looks to be relatively the correct height.

Adding a box primitive to represent a building in TurboCAD.

Now that the basic primitive has been created for the building, I turned off the 3D surface so I could see the box better which allowed me to add a roof. There are a few ways to do this in TurboCAD, but since I’m new to TurboCAD I decided to add 2 wedges to create the roof:

1. Click Draw | 3D Object | 3D Primitives | Wedge.
2. With the mouse click on one corner of the box where the wedge should start and then click an opposite corner to make the base of the wedge.
3. Drag the mouse up so that the wedge takes on the necessary height for the roof.
4. Repeat these steps for the next wedge and to complete the roof.

Representing a roof in TurboCAD with Wedge primitives.

Now that the building looks good, it’s time to add a few subsurface storage tanks. This can be done by using the following steps:

1. Turn the display of the 3D surface back on by clicking the eye icon under Layer.
2. Rotate the display so that the underneath portion of the 3D surface is exposed.
3. Start drawing the cylinder by clicking Draw | 3D Object | 3D Primitives | Cylinder.
4. Rotate the view a little bit and extend the cylinder to an appropriate length.
5. Click Edit | Select, and select the cylinder.
6. Rotate the cylinder so that it’s in the correct orientation to the 3D surface and building.
7. If necessary, move the cylinder down by adjusting the Pos Z value at the bottom of the TurboCAD interface.Adjusting the Z position for a storage tank by changing the Pos Z parameter In TurboCAD.

Now that the first storage tank has been created, I am going to copy it and paste another tank into the project. To do so I used the following steps:

1. Click Edit | Select, and select the cylinder.
2. Right-click on the cylinder, and choose the Rubber Stamp command.
3. Position the tank in the appropriate location and click the mouse to insert the new cylinder.
4. Check the elevation of the tank to make sure it’s good by checking the Pos Z value; adjust as needed. Both of the tanks should be at the same Pos Z.

The building and subsurface storage tanks have been added to the project; now they need to be rendered as solids in draft mode before they are exported for use in Voxler. To do so, right-click on the model in TurboCAD and choose the Draft Rendering option. The buildings also look nice if some additional color is added to them. Please note this is important to do in TurboCAD prior to export as Voxler will not allow you to change the colors of the DXF after it has been imported. Select one of the objects like the cylinder, then right-click and choose Properties. In the Properties dialog, select Pen and then change the drop-down menu under Color to change the color of the selected object. I changed the tanks to grey and the building to red and brown. The building and storage tanks rendered as solids with colors in TurboCAD.

Exporting the 3D Objects

Finally, I can export the building and tanks so I can use them in Voxler. Before I do so, I am going to delete the 3D surface so it is not included in the export. To do so, click Edit | Select and select the 3D surface and press the DELETE key. To export, click File | Save As. In the Save As dialog, name the file and make sure that the Save as type is set to DXF – Drawing eXchange Format and click Save. The DXF can be imported into Voxler and will locate in the correct coordinate space as shown in the image below. The final project in Voxler that contains the 3D buildings and storage tanks created in TurboCAD.

TurboCAD ended up being a very easy-to-use tool and satisfied the user’s need for adding 3D objects, such as storage tanks and buildings, to Voxler projects. This low-cost solution gives Voxler users the ability to add any 3D object that can be drawn inside of TurboCAD to Voxler, increasing the effectiveness of any Voxler model to all involved stakeholders. New copies of Voxler and upgrades from previous versions are available for purchase from our shopping page. Contact voxlersupport@goldensoftware.com with any suggestions or questions you may have!

It seems that this year is one of the colder and wetter years in my recent memory, at least in Colorado. Several ski areas have stayed open or have reopened every weekend past the original closing date because of additional snow fall. At least one ski area was still open this June, which is traditionally biking, hiking, and mountain climbing season. Trail Ridge Road in early June reportedly had 20 foot deep snowbanks in places, which is some of the highest I can remember. I recall back in the spring hearing about winter 2016 being one of the strongest El Niño years. So, I began to wonder, did we receive more precipitation this year because of the El Niño? Does Colorado normally receive more precipitation in El Niño years? And, because I love to see actual data and graphs “proving” the results, how can I visualize this?

I started by collecting precipitation data from NOAA for the entire state of Colorado. The data only went through the end of April, 2016 so I wasn’t able to evaluate the last 6 weeks of data. I compiled the data from 1950 to 2016, using only the data from January through the end of April. I then separated the data into El Niño years, La Niña years, and Normal years, based on the oceanic niño index information. I then created a bar chart in Grapher displaying the data. I was surprised to discover that it didn’t seem to affect precipitation over the entire state whether the ocean temperatures were cool (blue bars) or warm (red bars).

This bar chart displays Colorado state data for year-to-date precipitation, separated by oceanic temperature.

But, my theory that it was a wetter than average year was confirmed. However, it is only the wettest in the last 5 years. In the last 66 years, it ranks as only the 18th wettest.

I then decided to look at just the data for the Platte River drainage, which includes only the northeast portion of the state, including Rocky Mountain National Park and a few of the ski areas. Again, I decided to look at only the January through April precipitation totals. Again, I was surprised to see that the ocean temperature wasn’t a good predictor of more local precipitation.

This bar chart displays Platte River drainage basin for January through April precipitation, separated by oceanic temperature.

But, I did find that the precipitation has been higher than average for this area, the fifth wettest year in the last 66 years and the wettest in over a decade.

I then repeated the same process for temperature comparing Colorado and Platte River drainage annual temperature and whether the year was an El Niño, La Niña, or normal weather year. Again, no direct quick correlation was found, by me. There are several El Niño, La Niña, and normal weather years above and below the average year-to-date temperature.

This scatter plot displays average Colorado year-to-date average temperature, separated by oceanic temperature.

So, for me, at least, there is no quick way to guess whether my home area in Colorado will have a year with heavy snow and cooler temperatures based on the El Niño-La Niña determination. But, I did discover my theory in the wetter-than-normal year was correct, at least for my small slice of the world. This past weekend, my family traveled over Trail Ridge Road. This is a trip that we take at least once a summer, so I was able to visually compare the area to past years. There was definitely more snow at higher elevations, which meant the growing cycle had not yet begun in ernest. I did see some snow drifts that were much larger than in recent years, but nothing 20 feet deep! Oh what a difference more snow makes.

Poudre Lake, near Milner Pass along Trail Ridge Road, shown on the left in early summer 2012 (dry year) and on the right in June 2016 (wet year). Once the snow melts, the area should look similar to 2012, with more flowers and growth due to the additional moisture.

In a few short months, the United States National Park Service will celebrate its one hundredth anniversary. August 25, 2016 marks the day when President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Organic Act. This act created the National Park Service, a federal bureau tasked with “conserving the scenery and the natural and historical objects and the wild life therein…and by such means will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Today, the National Park System covers more than 84 million acres across 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. Over 400 areas consisting of national parks, preserves, monuments, resources, rivers, and historical sites are managed by the National Park Service.

The US Park System consists of 84 million acres across 50 states and territories. Map plotted in Surfer.

To celebrate this milestone, the National Park Service and National Park Foundation are working together to show people how to embrace opportunities to explore, learn, and enjoy the national parks. I’ve visited 6 out of the 11 national parks located in my Colorado backyard, and over Labor Day for the past 5 years, I’ve trekked out into the Yellowstone National Park wilderness (read about last year’s excursion) for a backpacking weekend. This July, I’ll be running 20 miles of Rocky Mountain National Park trails.

I encourage you to get out and experience these impressive areas for yourself. To see which ones are close to you, check out the National Park Service Stats page. More information on the centennial celebrations can be found at FindYourPark.com.

Happy centennial, National Park Service!

Did you know more than 307.2 million people visited America’s national parks in 2015? Here’s a graph of the top 10 visited national parks. Data acquired from https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/ and plotted in Grapher.

Today marks another exciting day in Golden Software history with the latest release of Strater. Strater is an intuitive subsurface visualization program designed to display a wide variety of well log, borehole, and cross section data.

All fifteen log types available in Strater.

Introduced in 2004, Strater is a leading competitor in subsurface modeling software. Designed for geoscientists and engineers, Strater converts geotechnical, geophysical, environmental, and mining data from a wide variety of file formats into 15 different log types, borehole models, and cross section views. Strater offers unsurpassed flexibility in design and layout of the log and cross section displays. Virtually every aspect of Strater’s plot is customizable, allowing users to quickly and easily create publication-quality reports.

The most popular new feature in Strater 5 is raster log support. Users can create both registered and unregistered raster logs. Paper logs can be viewed as digital raster logs, and unregistered raster logs can be depth-registered with the dynamic depth-registration tool. Additionally, raster logs can be used to create cross sections. Strater’s other log types include line/symbol, bar, zone bar, lithology, post, classed post, complex text, percentage, crossplot, well construction, graphic, depth, tadpole, and function logs.

“[Registered raster logs] is great addition to Strater's functionality. I used it to add optical televiewer images to logs and it worked well. It'll also be really valuable in adding scans of legacy logs to new documents.”

John Vanderlaan, Prism Geoimaging, Inc.

The already powerful cross sections have experienced a number of in-demand enhancements. Automatically create cross sections from specified boreholes, and easily update the plot with new information by adding and deleting wells from an existing cross section. Other cross section features include deviated display for line/symbol log cross sections, the ability to draw layer lines horizontally across the width of the well track, and the option to flip the horizontal scale bar.

This plot combines a variety of features including a cross section view, map view, legend, and water levels. Courtesy of Enviro Sense, LLC.

Understand the horizontal orientation of your borehole locations with Strater’s map view. Enhance this top-down view with georeferenced imagery and include traces for deviated or inclined well paths. Finally, connect the boreholes in the map to automatically create a cross section.

Strater 5 also features extensive customization options. Include project information in headers and footers, create detailed legends, adjust scales, generate custom fill patterns, include end of log lines, display water level and water level symbols, and save the completed project as a template for future use! The options are limited only by your imagination.

Finally, Strater’s redesigned user interface makes it easy to transform subsurface data into an understandable display.

"The new user interface is considerably more attractive and easier on the eyes than the classic version. It was comfortable to use and all commands were located where I expected them to be."

Steven Schamel, GeoX Consulting Inc.

Strater’s modern and new user interface organizes the Strater features into a series of tabs at the top of the window. This design increases discoverability and enables users to more quickly learn the program.

Experience Strater for yourself with the free demo, then place your order at shop.goldensoftware.com.

The United Kingdom (UK) voted on the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the Brexit vote, on June 23, 2016. This referendum was to gauge citizen support for whether or not to remain a member of the European Union (EU), an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. Overall, the UK voted 51.9% to leave the EU, with 71.8% turnout. The world reacted when the news was announced on June 24. I've spent the last two weeks reading about this historic vote and what it means for the people of the UK, the EU, and the rest of the globe. It has already had some effects on international economic markets. It remains to be determined how it will affect the future, but I find this to be a fascinating time for trade, politics, economics, and international relations.

The first thing that interested me was the demographic breakdown of the vote. Various exit and other polls were done with information about how different demographics voted. I sifted through the information available at Lord Ashcroft Polls, and noticed some clear correlations between education level and age and how an individual in the poll voted. Older voters, less educated voters, and less employed voters were more likely to vote to leave the EU. I wondered if those in less-than-ideal socioeconomic situations were looking for anything different that may help provide a higher quality of life. Another issue that caught my attention was when voters made their decisions. Nearly 25% of those polled made their decision within the week before casting their votes! Just over 1/3 always knew how they would vote. The remaining ~40% made their minds up in the last 6+ months. To me, this shows some uncertainty about how to vote or perhaps uncertainty about what the effects of the vote would be on the individual and UK.

Graphs showing the Brexit vote according to age, education level, employment level, and when the vote was decided. All graphs created in Grapher 12.

Another interesting aftershock of the Brexit vote is the economic repercussions. The day that the results of the referendum vote were released, Britain's pound took a nosedive. The pound has seen a few small climb attempts since the announcement, but the value has remained relatively low. I've created two different visualizations of the same data below: a 3D ribbon graph and a temporal map. I used a process similar to one used by Surfer user Richard Koehler to create the temporal map, based on months rather than years as Richard’s maps are. In the 3D ribbon plot, the large drop around June 23 is very noticeable. Other smaller dips are also noticeable, as is the long term drop that has been occurring since December 2015, when the official documents enabling the referendum was announced. In the image map, it's easy to see how changes happened day by day over the entire course of the months since December. It's easy to see the color change that took place from December to January in the image map that correlates with a dip in the 3D ribbon graph, when these key documents were filed.

Changes in the value of the British pound, as compared to the US dollar. 3D ribbon graph created in Grapher 12; temporal image map created in Surfer 13.

I'm still not sure I fully understand the extents of this referendum's global effects, but I am eager to watch what happens in the world over the next few years as the UK exits the EU. Will the UK vote again to confirm the referendum? Will the UK move forward to actually exit, following Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty? Will other nations follow the UK in leaving the EU? Will the pound recover? Will Northern Ireland leave the UK and rejoin Ireland? Will Scotland leave the UK? What worldwide economic effects will come? How will trade be affected? These are historic times we live in, and I'm excited to see what happens next! What are your thoughts on the UK's Brexit vote?

Like the graphs and maps you see in this blog? Download the free Grapher 12 and Surfer 13 demos to start creating your visualizations today!

My last blog article described how to create a slope map from a digital elevation model in Surfer. Moving forward on that topic, I found this blog article written for ArcMap on creating aspect-slope maps, which was improved upon for QGIS. This single map combines both the compass direction of slopes (aspect) and the steepness of the slopes (in degrees) and uses both color and saturation to display the combined results. Slopes facing different directions use different colors, and the brightness of that color shows the steepness of that slope (the brighter the color, the steeper the slope). I thought this was a really interesting map type and it made me wonder how this could be done in Surfer.

Coincidentally, at that time, a user asked me this exact question! The user wanted to come up with a way to see the very small slope variations in the soft sediments they have on the surface, using both aspect and slope. Looking at the slopes and aspect together may reveal small variations that otherwise could be overlooked.

Before we delve into the steps on how to create this type of map, I want to go over a little background on what the colors represent. 

Background

To create an aspect-slope map in Surfer, all you need to start with is a grid, DEM, or DTM file. Using the method described in the QGIS article, the idea is to create a grid of slopes (in %) and create grid of aspect directions. Reclassify the slope grid into bins from 0 to 8 in steps of 2, and reclassify the aspect grids into bins from 10 to 80 in steps of 10.

Reclassify the slope (%) and aspect grid files so that the slope values are even numbers from 0 to 8, and the aspect values are ten values from 10 to 80.

Combine the reclassified grids by adding them together to create a single aspect-slope grid. For the combined grid, the values can range anywhere from 10 to 88­, which is the minimum of the slope plus the minimum of aspect (10+0) and the maximum of the slope plus the maximum of the aspect (80+8). The first digit in the number in the ten’s place is the aspect orientation, and the second digit in the one’s place is the slope.  For example, a value of 24 in the combined grid indicate a slope in the direction between 22.5° and 67.5° azimuth (since the first digit is 2), and the slope would be between 15% and 30% (since the second digit is 4).

We will then create a map and color it based on this combined value. The actual color is based on the aspect value (the first digit in the ten’s place) and the brightness of that color based on the slope value (the second digit in the one’s place). Since any value that has a 0 in the one’s place (e.g. 10, 20, 30, etc.) is relatively flat (a slope between 0-5°), we can assign it a flat gray color that we can make completely transparent. For the other colors, we can use colors based on a wheel like the image below. For example, a value of 24 in the combined grid would be assigned a medium green color.

Performing the steps manually is not very difficult, but they do take some time. I decided to shorten this workflow significantly by writing a script, compatible with Surfer 13. The manual process of walking through the steps only takes about 5 minutes, but the script takes only seconds and is wonderfully easy. I’ll provide instructions for both running the script and manually walking through the steps.

Steps to Create an Aspect-Slope Map using a Script

To run the script to create the aspect-slope map in seconds, follow these steps:

1. Download the script Aspect-Slope.bas and the colormap file ColorWheel.clr.
2. Open Scripter by clicking Windows Start | All Programs (or All apps) | Golden Software Surfer 13 | Scripter.
3. In Scripter, click File | Open, select Aspect-Slope.bas and click Open.
4. Click Script | Run.
5. Select the grid file you wish to use (such as Diablo.grd from the Surfer Samples folder) and click Open.
6. Select the ColorWheel.clr color file and click Open. The script works to completion.

That’s it! Surfer is opened and the map is created with the appropriate values and colors. Even with a large grid file, this takes only seconds on my computer.

Steps to Create an Aspect-Slope Map Manually

If you want to work through this manually, the equivalent steps to perform in Surfer are as follows:

1. Create the grid of slope values (in rise/run).
   1. Click Grid | Calculus.
   2. Select your grid file, such as Diablo.grd from the Surfer Samples folder, and click Open.
   3. In the Grid Calculus dialog, select Differential & Integral Operator | Gradient Operator.
   4. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File, give the file a new name (e.g. Diablo_Slope.grd) and click Save.
   5. Click OK and the grid is created.
2. Convert the slope grid in rise/run to percent slope.
   1. Click Grid | Math.
   2. In the Grid Math dialog, click the Add Grids button.
   3. Select Diablo_Slope.grd and click Open.
   4. Enter the function: A*100
   5. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File, give the file a new name (e.g. Diablo_Slope_Percent.grd) and click Save.
   6. Click OK and the grid is created.
3. Reclassify the slope grid file using Grid Math.
   1. Click Grid | Math.
   2. In the Grid Math dialog, click the Add Grids button.
   3. Select Diablo_Slope_Percent.grd and click Open.
   4. Enter the function:  IF (A>=45, 8, IF (A>=30.0 AND A<45, 6, IF (A>=15 AND A<30, 4, IF (A>=5 AND A<15,2, IF(A>=0 AND A<5, 0, A)))))
   5. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File, give the file a new name (e.g. Diablo_Slope_Percent_Reclass.grd) and click Save.
   6. Click OK and the grid is created.
4. Create the grid of aspect values.
   1. Click Grid | Calculus.
   2. Select your grid file, such as Diablo.grd from the Surfer Samples folder, and click Open.
   3. In the Grid Calculus dialog, select Terrain Modeling | Terrain Aspect.
   4. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File, give the file a new name (e.g. Diablo_Aspect.grd) and click Save.
   5. Click OK and the grid is created.
5. Reclassify the aspect grid file using Grid Math.
   1. Click Grid | Math.
   2. In the Grid Math dialog, click the Add Grids button.
   3. Select Diablo_Aspect.grd and click Open.
   4. Enter the function:  IF (A>=337.5 OR A<22.5, 10, IF (A>=22.5 AND A<67.5, 20, IF (A>=67.5 AND A<112.5, 30, IF (A>=112.5 AND A<157.5,40, IF(A>=157.5 AND A<202.5,50, IF(A>=202.5 AND A<247.5,60, IF(A>=247.5 AND A<292.5,70, IF(A>=292.5 AND A<337.5, 80, A))))))))
   5. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File, give the file a new name (e.g. Diablo_Aspect_Reclass.grd) and click Save.
   6. Click OK and the grid is created.
6. Add the reclassified slope and aspect maps together, also using Grid Math.
   1. Click Grid | Math.
   2. In the Grid Math dialog, click the Add Grids button.
   3. Select both Diablo_Slope_Percent_Reclass.grd and Diablo_Aspect_Reclass.grd and click Open.
   4. Enter the function:  A+B
   5. Click the Change Filename button to the right of Output Grid File, give the file a new name (e.g. Diablo_AspectSlope.grd) and click Save.
   6. Click OK and the grid is created.
7. Create the map and color it using the colors defined above.
   1. Click Map | New | Image Map, select Diablo_AspectSlope.grd and click Open.
   2. Select the Image layer in the Object Manager, and click the General page in the Property Manager.
   3. Under the Hill Shading section, uncheck Enable hill shading.
   4. Under the General section,
      1. Uncheck Interpolate pixels.
      2. Click the Custom colormap (…) button to the right of Colors.
      3. In the Colormap dialog, click Load, select ColorWheel.clr, and click Open.
      4. Click OK.
      5. Check Show color scale.
   5. Under the Missing Data section, set the Opacity to 0%.

Capturing both slope and aspect in a single map is an excellent way to identify large and small scale trends in a map. You have tremendous flexibility in Surfer. You can adjust the classifications if you wish, to emphasize certain slope or aspect ranges by adjusting the Grid Math functions, or you can choose to make the flat areas solid gray instead of transparent by setting the Opacity in the Colormap dialog to 100%. There are many options you can choose from so that this map shows exactly what you need it to.

Cross sections are an important tool in illustrating subsurface geology.  Among the many new features added to Strater 5 are several new cross section options including water level display, retaining custom levels, and adding wells to an existing cross section. This blog will address how a new well can be added to a cross section. For this example, we will use the Cross Section.sdg sample file that ships with Strater.

The Strater 5 sample file “Cross Section.sdg” contains a cross section with four wells, well headers, two inset maps, a horizontal cross section, a depth log, and a legend. We will further manipulate this file by adding a new well and reshaping the default layers.

In the image above I’ve already applied some custom fills to the cross section and now I want to add another well.  To do this, I’ll simply add a new well selector to the map view, used to create the cross section, and assign that well selector to the cross section:

1. In the View Manager, click the Map 1 – Detail view.
2. In the Object Manager, click Map 2 to select it.
3. In the Property Manager, click the Limits tab.
4. Click the Fit All button to make all wells visible on the map.
5. Click the Map | Add | Well Selector command.
6. Click on each well in the map from left to right and then press ENTER.&nbsp A new well selector line is drawn beginning at South Barrow 16 (shown in red below).

Update the well selector line in the map view, or add a new well selector line, to update your cross section with a new set of wells.

7. Click Cross Section 1 in the View Manager.
8. In the Object Manager, click the Cross Section object to select it.
9. In the Property Manager, click the current value in the Well selectors field and select the South Barrow 16 well selector.
10. Click Yes in the Strater Warning dialog to redraw the cross section layers.
11. Click the current value in the Well spacing field and select Uniform, if desired.

The new well is added and default layers are drawn. Now I can reshape the layers and add a water level line to finalize the cross section.

Strater 5 allows for even more customization of cross sections, including the ability to add wells, keep custom layers, and draw water level symbols and levels.

The ability to add wells to cross sections is a powerful tool for geologists, making it easy to play around with which wells give the best display and update existing projects with new data. Add to that the other cross section improvements and new features, like water table symbols, and Strater becomes your one-stop-shop for professional and informative cross sections!

As an avid outdoorsman in Colorado, I am always making sure I know what the current local weather pattern is going to do. Whether I’m going into Rocky Mountain National Park for a day hike, attending an outdoor show at Red Rocks amphitheater, or riding in the weekly Denver Cruiser ride, I have learned over the past 17 years that the weather in my colorful state is always unpredictable! I know I need to consult the forecast to see if I need to wear a rain jacket, pack a sweatshirt, cover myself with sunscreen, or a combination of all 3 before I embark on my journey. However, the past weeks and even few months seem to change this mode of thinking. The weather has been more predictable than past years; it’s going to be hot and dry.

There has been a lot of buzz in the media lately about El Niño and the global heatwave this summer. This piqued my interest; I was curious if Colorado was experiencing the same trend locally compared to previous years’ temperatures. My mapping professional side couldn’t balk at the opportunity to create some maps that compare the summer temperatures over past years in hopes to find some obvious temperature-increasing trends.

Mapping Approach:

For this mapping project, I have decided to use Surfer to create contour maps of Colorado’s monthly average temperate in July over the past 7 years to determine if we are seeing the same heatwave trend locally as what is being reported globally. I was able to access data from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center for the maximum daily temperature for July from 2010 through 2016. I downloaded the daily data in TIF grid format and used Surfer’s Grid | Math functionality to combine all of the data into a single, monthly average for each year. The data was also converted from Fahrenheit to Celsius for easier interpretation. To do so I used these steps:

1. After the data was downloaded, I opened Surfer 13 and clicked Grid | Math.
2. In the Grid Math dialog, I clicked the Add Grids button.
3. In the Open Grids dialog, I selected all of the daily temp TIFs and clicked Open.
4. I used the following equation for the function, named the resulting grid, and clicked OK: (((A+B+C+D+E+F+G+H+I+J+K+L+M+N+O+P+Q+R+S+T+U+V+W+X+Y+Z+AA+AB)/28) * 1.8 ) + 32
5. I repeated these steps to create average maximum temperature grids for the rest of the years of data I downloaded.

Results:

Now all of the daily data has been averaged over the month of July for their respective years, I can create contour maps in Surfer for comparison. I created a separate contour map for each year, using the same contour interval and color map so that the maps could be easily compared to one another. The maps were scaled the same and posted next to each other to see if Colorado is on the same track as the rest of the globe. The resulting contour maps are below, showing that the monthly average temperature from year-to-year varies, but it is difficult to isolate a spatial trend between the years. I definitely cannot tell that this July is hotter than any other of the years I downloaded data for.

A comparison of Contour Maps from Surfer that depict the average maximum temperatures in Colorado for July 2010 - 2016.

Mapping Approach, Part 2:

Because I was not able to see a trend across Colorado for the past 7 years from the contour maps, I decided to take a look at the data from another perspective. I wanted to see if there were any spatial temperature trends by differencing the average maximum temperature for this July to the average maximum temperature for the previous 6 years. This can easily be done by, again, using Surfer’s Grid Math feature. The monthly average temperature data can be combined into a single grid that represents the average temperature for July over the previous 6 years. The difference between the July 2016 temperature data and the 6-year average temperature data can be found by subtracting the two grids from one another. This gives me a grid of the temperature departures in July 2016 from the average over the last 6 years that can be visualized using a contour map.

To create the average monthly temperature grids for the previous 6 years:

1. I clicked Grid | Math.
2. In the Grid Math dialog, I clicked the Add Grids button.
3. In Open Grid dialog, I navigated to all of the monthly temp grids and clicked Open.
4. In the Grid Math dialog, I used (A + B + C + D + E + F) / 6 for the function, named the Output Grid File, and click OK.

To difference the monthly average grid and the July 2016 temperature grid:

1. I clicked Grid | Math.
2. In the Grid Math dialog, I clicked the Add Grids button.
3. In the Open Grids dialog, I navigated to the average July grid and clicked Open.
4. I clicked the Add Grids button again.
5. In the Open Grids dialog, I navigate to the 6-year average grid and clicked Open.
6. I clicked Grid | Math.
7. In the Function box I entered A- B, I named the Output Grid File, and clicked OK.

Results, Part 2:

A contour map was generated in Surfer that shows the temperature departures for this July compared to the previous 6-year average; shown below. This map shows that the temperature in July has remained relatively unchanged for most of the central mountain region (central portion of the map) and the only notable temperature increases are in the southwest portion and on the eastern planes of Colorado.

A contour map showing the degree departure in July 2016 from a 6-year average of maximum temperatures in July in Colorado.

Wrap-up:

As you can see, utilizing the differencing technique from Surfer’s Grid Math feature proved to be a better analysis approach for determining what areas in Colorado are seeing the same heatwave trend that is being reported across the US and globally than comparing contour maps. Surfer is developed by Golden Software, please feel free to take a look at the free demo version and place your orders at http://shop.goldensoftware.com.

We are pleased to present another story detailing the application of Surfer in the industry.

This story comes from former Golden Software team member, Jared King, who now works as a hydrogeologist for Knight Piésold. Mr. King and the Knight Piésold team were tasked to characterize groundwater resources for a potential mining area. An important component of the mining process, water is used for mineral processing, metal recovery, dust mitigation, and the basic needs for on-site workers. Even more importantly, a thorough understanding of groundwater resources is a major factor in understanding the environmental impact of the mine on those resources.

Read on to learn more about the groundwater characterization project for a decommissioned gold and silver mine: Modeling Groundwater Resources in Surfer

Want to share your own project? We'd be glad to publish it! news@goldensoftware.com

I communicated with a user recently who wanted to find the area of overlap of one specific contour line on one contour map with a specific contour line on another contour map. In his case the first contour map was temperature and the second was rainfall. He wanted to find the area where temperature was above one value and rainfall was above another value. Whether this was for agriculture or for some other purpose I’m not sure, but it got me thinking that there could be many applications for a use like this. For example, you may have a contour map of density of one endangered species, and another for a second endangered species, and you’re trying to identify high populations of both in order to create a wildlife refuge. Or maybe you have population of people on one contour map and energy use on another, and you want to find areas with low population but high energy usage so you can send conservationists into that area to notify the population of smart practices. The uses are endless!

So that said, below are the steps to determine the area where two specific contour levels on two different maps intersect. In this case, I’ll be finding the area in Colorado where temperature is greater than 12oC and precipitation is less than 50 hundredths of inches, which may indicate an area that is more prone to wildfires. The data used in this article was obtained from NOAA. January 2015 – November 2015 data was averaged and then gridded in order to produce the attached grids.

1. Click Map | New | Contour Map.
2. In the Open Grid dialog, choose the rainfall_avg.grd file and click Open.
3. In the Object Manager, select the Contours- rainfall_avg.grd layer.
4. Click on the Levels tab in the Property Manager.
5. Change the Level method to Advanced.
6. Click the Edit Levels button.
   a. Click the Delete button until the top level listed is 50.
   b. Click on the next level (55) and click the Delete button until the 50 level is the only level.
   c. Make sure the Label column says No (if it says Yes, double click on the Yes in the Label column to turn it to a No).
   d. Double click on the line.
   e. Change the Color to Blue and click OK.
   f. Click OK.
7. Click on the Set button on the Coordinate System page in the Property Manager. Setting the coordinate system of the layer will allow us to change the coordinate system of the Map so we can view the area of the overlap in meaningful units.
8. Navigate to Predefined | Geographic (lat/lon) | World Geodetic System 1984 and click OK.
9. Click Map | Add | Contour Layer.
10. In the Open Grid dialog choose the temperature_avg.grd file and click Open.
11. In the Object Manager select the Contours- temperature_avg.grd layer.
12. Click on the Levels tab in the Property Manager.
13. Change the Level method to Advanced.
14. Click the Edit Levels button.
    a. Click the Delete button until the top level listed is 12.
    b. Click on the next level (12.5) and click the Delete button until the 12 level is the only level.
    c. Make sure the Label column says No (if it says Yes, double click on the Yes in the Label column to turn it to a No).
    d. Double click on the line.
    e. Change the Color to Red and click OK.
    f. Click OK.
15. Click on the Set button on the Coordinate System page in the Property Manager.
16. Navigate to Predefined | Geographic (lat/lon) | World Geodetic System 1984 and click OK.
17. Click on the Map in the Object Manager.
18. Click on the Change button on the Coordinate System page in the Property Manager.
19. Navigate to Predefined | Projected Systems | World | Popular Visualisation CRS / Mercator (EPSG 3785) and click OK.
    
    If we were to fill the areas below the rainfall contour and above the temperature contour, it would look like this:
    
    
20. Uncheck the boxes next to each of the four axes in the Object Manager.
21. Click File | Export.
22. In the Export dialog, set the Save as type to GSI Golden Software Interchange, give your file a name (like "overlap"), and click Save.
23. In the Export Options dialog, make sure the Scaling source is set to Map: Contours-rainfall_avg.grd and then click OK.
24. Click Map | Add | Base Layer.
25. In the Import dialog, choose the GSI file and click Open.
26. Click Yes if you are prompted to expand the map limits to include the new layer.
27. In the Object Manager, uncheck the boxes next to the two contour maps to turn them off.
28. Right click on the Base-<filename>.gsi layer in the Object Manager and click Edit Group.
29. Delete the closed blue polylines that don’t overlap.
    
    
30. Select one of the blue polylines and click Geoprocessing | Edit Boundaries | Break Polyline.
    
    
31. Click where this line intersects with a red line.
32. Repeat steps 30-31 for the rest of the blue lines, clicking anywhere the line intersects with a red line, until no blue line intersects a red line, but instead the red lines mark where one blue line ends and the next begins.
33. Repeat steps 30-32 for each of the red lines, clicking at the same locations you clicked for the blue lines, so now no red line intersects a blue line, but instead where red and blue meet this marks the end of one red line and the start of the next.
34. Select the portion of the polyline that is not part of the overlap (using the image from step 19 if needed) and press DELETE.
    
    
35. Click Draw | Polyline and connect the ends of the two big incomplete polygon. Do the same for the red polyline in the upper right corner and press ESC to exit drawing mode.
    
    
36. Click one polyline in the big area and rename it ‘1’ in the Object Manager.
37. Click the next polyline in the clockwise direction and name it ‘2’, then click and drag it in the Object Manager so it’s just above ‘1’.
38. Repeat step 37 for the rest of the polylines in the big area.
39. Select all of the polylines that make up the big area and click Geoprocessing | Edit Boundaries | Connect Polylines.
40. Repeat step 39 for the smaller area on the left and then the area in the upper right corner.
41. Select all of the polylines and click Geoprocessing | Change Boundaries | Polyline to Polygon.
42. With all polygons still selected, click Geoprocessing | Edit Boundaries | Combine Islands/Lakes.
43. Right click on the Base layer in the Object Manager and click Stop Editing Group.
44. You can turn on the axes and contour layers, change the Level method for each contour map back to Simple, and change the line and fill properties of the base layer overlap in the Property Manager, if desired.
45. To get the area of this polygon, you can select the polygon and click to the Info tab in the Property Manager to view the perimeter and area in map units.
    

Although the process takes a little time it’s well worth the result. For practically any field of study, this process can be used to accurately identify where two variables intersect, allowing you to identify your region of interest for overlay with other informative maps in Surfer.

A wild Zubat appeared!

Last month was the launch of Pokemon GO, an augmented reality (AR) mobile game from Niantic, the makers of the popular AR game Ingress. I must confess I've caught the fever, but I haven't caught them all! I am admittedly not a 'gamer,' and this is my first experience with Pokemon. I'm no Pokemaster, but I have fun catching new Pokemon while walking around downtown Golden on my lunch breaks, around the park, or around Denver. I haven't tried my luck battling at any Gyms yet, so I guess you could call me a casual player.

I took a couple of lunchbreaks this week to map out PokeStops, places where Pokemon hang out, in Golden in order to create a heat map of likeliness to catch Pokemon.  It turns out Golden is a Pokemon hotspot! I didn't stop by them all, but I managed to map 34 stops in walking distance from the Golden Software office! I used the method from this newsletter article to create a map of density of PokeStops. I searched a distance of 330 feet, which is the distance of the length of a football field, including the endzones. I wanted to create a map for a leisurely walk around Golden, rather than an all-out Pokehunt. The results are below. I included a buffer of 1/8 of a mile (660 feet) from the Golden Software office to show just how close the PokeStops are. The highest likelihood of me finding Pokemon is less than 200 feet away from Golden Software, on the Colorado School of Mines campus, between several PokeStops!

Heat (or density) map showing the likelihood of catching Pokemon near the Golden Software office, created in Surfer 13.

When you catch a Pokemon, you can see stats on the Pokemon's weight, height, HP (hit power), and CP. CP, or combat power, is what is used when battling other Pokemon in gyms. Higher CP means a higher likelihood of winning the battle. I was curious if height, weight, or HP had any noticeable relationship with CP, so I created some graphs in Grapher 12 of my 50 Pokemon with the highest CP values. The bubble plots below show weight, height, and HP, with the bubbles sized according to CP.

2D and 3D bubbleplots created in Grapher 12 showing the relationship between weight, height, HP, and CP.

Weight does not seem to have any correlation with CP. However, it seems that Pokemon with higher heights and HP values tend to have higher CP values. So, there you have it, folks! Go for the taller Pokemon and those who naturally have higher HP values.

Additionally, PokeStops are usually near points of interest, including art installments and monuments. A scuplture by Golden Software founder, Pat Madison, is a PokeStop here in Golden! You can see it below!

Cutthroat sculpture by Golden Software founder, Pat Madison; a Pokestop in Golden, Colorado.

Are you a Pokemaster? We'd love to see plots of your Pokestats! Send them to blog@goldensoftware.com, or leave them in the comments!

A topic in which we receive many customer inquiries is coordinate systems. I recently reviewed the individual questions as they pertain to Surfer, and many users are confused about where to change the coordinate system information, what to set it to, or what order to perform the steps. To shed some light on this very important component of map making, this blog will address these questions.

I recently had a question where a user needed to convert the XY coordinates of the map from lat/lon (degrees) into meters, so that they could add a profile to the map showing meters as the Distance units instead of degrees. 

Before the map can be converted into a new coordinate system, each layer in the map needs a coordinate system assigned (or “set”) to it. That way, Surfer knows how to convert each layer from its source coordinate system to the target system specified for the map.

The coordinate system assigned to the layer is the source coordinate system for that layer (the coordinate system of the file used to create that layer). The coordinate system for the map is the target coordinate system and can be anything you want. Each layer will be individually transformed on-the-fly from their respective source coordinate systems to the target coordinate system of the map and displayed in the plot window in the target coordinate system.

For example, the map above has multiple layers in it (a contour layer and an image layer). The steps to follow to convert the coordinate system of the map from lat/lon to another coordinate system (e.g. UTM) are:

1. Click File | Open and open Unprojected.srf .  This is a Surfer 13 project file. The coordinates for the map are lat/lon (you can see this on the axis labels); however, the layers in the file do not have any coordinate system specified. The units may be lat/lon, but Surfer doesn’t know they are lat/lon.
2. The first step is to set the source coordinate systems for each layer. Let’s start with the Contours layer.
   1. Select the Contours layer in the Object Manager.
   2. In the Property Manager, click the Coordinate System tab.
   3. Click the Set button.
   4. Select Predefined | Geographic (lat/lon) | World Geodetic System 1984. 
   5. Click the Add to Favorites button (so you don’t have to navigate to this system again)
   6. Click OK.
3. Set the source coordinate system for the other layer in the map.
   1. Select the Image layer in the Object Manager.
   2. In the Property Manager, click the Coordinate System tab.
   3. Click the Set button.
   4. Select World Geodetic System 1984 under Favorites.
   5. Click OK. Now both layers should have a source coordinate system assigned to them. Again, this is the coordinate system for the grid or data file used to create the layer (not what you eventually want it to be displayed in).
4. Now let's change the target coordinate system for the map.
   1. Select the Map in the Object Manager.
   2. In the Property Manager, click the Coordinate System tab.
   3. Click the Change button.
   4. Since we want the XY units to be in meters (to match the elevation units), we can use one of the UTM coordinate systems. Select Predefined | Projected Systems | UTM | North America | North America NAD83 UTM zone 10N.
   5. Click OK.
5. Once you click OK, each of the layers have been projected from geographic lat/lon to UTM, and the UTM units are displayed on the X and Y axes.
6. Now that the map has been converted and is in meters, you can add the profile by clicking Map | Add | Profile, and clicking on the map where you want the section line placed. The distance units now are measurable and you can set the scaling and vertical exaggeration.
7. If you would like to add the lat/lon values back next to your axes for display purposes, you can do so by adding a graticule (Map | Add | Graticule).

In some cases, e.g. calculating volumes or blanking a grid, you may need to actually convert the coordinate system of the grid file or boundary file itself and not just the map display.  For information on converting the coordinate systems of source data or grid files, please see our newsletter article Converting the Coordinate System of Data, Image, Vector, and Grid Files in Surfer. If you still have any questions about coordinate system or how to manage them in Surfer, please contact us at surfersupport@goldensoftware.com.

Other resources that might be of use:

1. Videos:
   1. Webinar: Frequently Asked Questions of Surfer 12 (part 2 at 12:00, Do I need to set the coordinate system for my map?)
   2. Training Video: Setting and Changing Coordinate Systems for Maps - Surfer 12
2. Newsletter: Converting the Coordinate System of Data, Image, Vector, and Grid Files in Surfer
3. KB articles:
   1. Why would I want to set the coordinate system for a map or layer?
   2. How can I use different coordinate systems in the same map?
   3. Do I need to specify a coordinate system for every map layer in Surfer?
   4. How can I convert the coordinate system of a grid file (e.g. from Lat/Long into feet or meters)?
   5. How can I convert the coordinate system of raw data, such as from UTM to Lat/Long?
   6. How do I know if Surfer supports my coordinate system?
   7. How can I convert the coordinate system of a BLN file?
4. Help. Click Help | Contents from within Surfer, and on the Contents page, expand the Surfer 14 | Coordinate Systems book. Under this book are many references to help understand projections and datums. A list of references is given on the Projection References page and provides many good resources that are available either online or in printed documentation.