Colorado summer is in full swing! Both locals and visitors to Colorado enjoy taking full advantage of the sunny days hiking, biking, fishing, tubing, paddleboarding, and participating in countless other outdoor activities. Many also take advantage of the cool summer evenings attending festivals and enjoying live music. One of the most popular venues for summer shows is the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater, in Morrison, CO.

The Denver Post reported that Red Rocks Amphitheatre hosted a record 195 concerts and even more ticketed events in 2023, bringing 1.4 million visitors to this world-famous outdoor venue.(1) 

Drew Dudley, our colleague and a regular concert goer, decided to try to answer these questions.  He said “Within the park, there are six different locations where you can get dropped off or park your car. I thought it would be interesting to compare the distances from each of these parking lots to the center seating area of the amphitheater.”

This information should be a resource to help anyone who visits this beautiful landmark save their breath and take the shortest path in.

When it’s time to share your findings with others, Surfer’s enhanced 3D PDF and VRML export options help you effectively communicate and collaborate. In the latest release, every aspect of the 3D view is exported, including axes and grid lines. When exporting to a 3D PDF file, all objects in your 3D model are logically grouped together. Now clients and stakeholders can rotate, pan, and zoom into the 3D model directly, toggle layers on and off to foster a deeper understanding and have a more immersive experience with your work.

Water is one of the most precious resources on this planet, and the responsibility to keep that resource usable for future generations can feel hefty. A scientist’s job involves more than just monitoring and recognizing the warning signs that water quality may be degrading. You also need to communicate that information effectively to decision makers.

The Durov diagram is quite similar to the Piper diagram as it is used to chart the chemistry of water samples and reveal relationships among sample groups. A Durov diagram demonstrates the relative concentration of 6 ion groups with two ternary plots. The ternary plot on the left represents the cations. The ternary plot on the top represents the anions. The square plot is a projection of the cation and anion ternary plots.

The Durov diagram is used to compare multiple water samples instead of just classifying one. By examining which samples are grouped closely together in the projection square you can infer which samples have similar chemical compositions and strengthen the classification of samples into facies.

This diagram is powerful when looking at multiple aquifers in a region to identify shared characteristics. By identifying those shared characteristics you can predict environmental factors such as the path of water flow, the source of contamination, or if contaminants are spreading.

An Extended Durov diagram incorporates a pH and TDS (Total dissolved solids) plot onto the original Durov plot. The pH plot is extended below the projection square and the TDS plot to the right. The Extended Durov serves the same purpose as the original, to group similar samples. With the additional parameters you can perform further geochemical analysis related to the acidity, type, and concentration of solids within a group.

A Stiff diagram is a unique way to visually represent the ionic composition of a single water sample. The values of the cations and anions for a water sample are recorded and plotted in milliequivalents per liter. The left side of the diagram shows the cation concentrations and the right side shows the anion concentrations.

The farther a point is from the center, along the X axis, the larger the ionic concentration. To create the polygonal shape the Stiff diagram is known for the individual ionic points are connected. The relative size of the plot is an indication of the total dissolved solids concentration.

It is common practice to create a stiff diagram for several samples of interest and view them all at once to make a quick visual comparison of the group. Combining a Stiff diagram with aerial imagery can be an effective presentation method if your samples are close geographically. Clearly demonstrating to decision holders where wells with higher ionic concentrations are located and why this may be a warning sign of a larger problem.

Are you tired of juggling complex environmental projects? As a scientist or engineer in the environmental industry, you have a lot on your plate – from managing field teams to creating accurate figures based on collected data. With so many software options out there, it’s hard to know what features will simplify your day and get you one step closer to landing that big contract.

That’s where this blog comes in – we’ve compiled a list of the top features you should look for in mapping and modeling software for the environmental industry. With our help, you’ll be able to leverage your expertise and inform stakeholders of exactly what’s happening at their site. 

What features do environmental professionals need from mapping software?

Gridding is the process of transforming randomly spaced data into an evenly spaced grid, also known as a raster. By feeding raw data into a gridding algorithm, you can transform field data of any kind. Pressure readings from monitor wells, chemical concentrations, subsurface contamination, temperature, electrical resistivity, or elevation. Any variable you can associate to location data in a XYZ or XYZC format can be gridded.

You should strive for software with simple to use, but mathematically sound gridding functions like Surfer. Surfer can import the field data you worked hard to collect, and transform it into a grid you can generate maps from in seconds.

A grid or raster on its own doesn’t mean much. You need an arsenal of map layer options to convert your gridded data into a map that tells the story of your site. Including, but not limited to, contours, color relief, 3D surface, watershed, post, and base map layers.

Surfer is not only world renowned for its legendary contouring algorithms, but offers the layer types listed above, and more! Providing you the options you need to paint a full picture of your site.

Its not always enough to create a basic map and show clients the facts. To land the job, your presentation figures need to look their best. Software that offers customization options that help you finetune your final output will ensure you leave that lasting impression.

All of Surfer’s map layers can be customized in one place with the Property Manager. Set color schemes, line styles, symbols, levels, labels, legends, and more. With Surfer’s property customization options you can create a final output you are proud to stamp your name on.

Context is key. Stakeholders don’t always have the same level of expertise that you do. Most of the time they need more than just a contour map to grasp the situation. You need a mapping software that can easily add layers to facilitate their understanding such as aerial imagery, or site plans. DXF, SHP, KML, and TIFF files are just a few of the file types you should confirm your software can import and combine with your original map. Providing you with the tools to combine all your hard work into a powerful figure.

No project is complete until the final report figures are in a shareable format. Whether your client prefers an image file, PDF, data sheet, or even more industry specific formats; Surfer most likely has an option to meet your needs. Even more than just offering an expansive list of export options, Surfer has file specific export features to help customize the deliverable to your specifications. Making sure that your mapping software can export, save, and print in the formats you need is vital for future environmental remediation success. 

Voxler had the gridder module and Surfer improves upon it by adding XYZC gridding options to the already existing, legendary Surfer gridding algorithms. Transform your soil or groundwater contamination data into 3D grids that can be used to generate interactive 2D and 3D maps.

A volume render represents the C value of your XYZC dataset in a 3D space. Voxler accomplished this with the Volrender module and Surfer now supports Volume Renders in the 3D view.

Take a step back and view the extent of contamination at a site, or map out mineralization zones. Surfer’s customization options include color schemes, opacity, and the ability to modify the limits of your render based on real coordinate data.

Clip away unwanted data using any plane! Cutaway areas at custom angles, or above/below certain X, Y or Z values. Helping you finetune your model to the most important areas for your client. This functionality is improved from Voxler as Surfer supports real world coordinate systems and the clipping plane is associated to the actual X,Y, and Z values in your model.

Slice your 3D grids at any angle and visualize the slice as an image. Cutting through a plume or mineralization zone and highlighting important areas of the model for your clients, such as a leak origin.

With Surfer you can specify any color scheme for your image slices and utilize a simple slider to move the image through the grid and see how it changes live

There are several new features in the latest release of Grapher! From the new Graph Gallery and Plot Previews features, to connect existing worksheets to new data sources; the latest Grapher release provides new, easier ways to work with your plots and data.

If you’re curious about how these new features can improve your workflow, download the Grapher Free Trial and test them out today! To learn more about the features, continue reading.

Grapher is first and foremost a visual communication tool. Which is why we wanted to provide users with data selection options that remove the need to navigate a long list of file names. The new Graph Gallery allows users to search and filter compact views of plots without opening the full projects files.

You can even use the Graph Gallery to build custom sample galleries from your own projects! Those galleries can act as templates for future projects, or a new way to share your work with colleagues.

Plot previews are now available for Grapher in Windows Explorer. Turn on the Preview pane in Windows Explorer to see previews of your GRF, GPJ and GRT files.

Print previews are also now available. See exactly what you’ll print, before you print it! A new “View” print method also lets you print only what is displayed on the screen; handy for printing specific, zoomed-in portions of a plot.

Customizing the design of a plot can take a lot of time when working with large datasets. The new Thinned Plot command lets you reduce, or “thin” the data shown in a plot; dramatically reducing the amount of time spent editing, formatting, moving and resizing the plot. Once you’ve added the customizations that help you tell the story of your data, turn off Thinned Plot and the plot will be re-drawn with the full set of data.

We know you will often work with different datasets that are in the same format. The new “Remap Worksheets” command allows users to navigate to new/update data sources and assign them to an existing worksheet. When a new file is linked all associated objects (plots, axis, text, etc.) are automatically updated using the new data.

For example, if you are a hydrologist analyzing streamflow data you can easily remap your formatting to a new time period; saving yourself time.

Upgrading your software can be an exciting yet nerve-wracking experience. The idea of new features and improvements is thrilling, but the fear of potential challenges and complications from the upgrade process is not ideal.

If you ever found yourself worrying about upgrading software, know that you’re not alone!

Many others express concerns about the process, from broken files to new user interfaces to wasted time. But don’t worry, with a few best practices, you can upgrade your software with ease and confidence.

First, we’ll touch on the Golden Software best practices. Understand, we can’t speak for other software companies, but here at Golden Software, we understand the importance of making your software upgrades as seamless as possible. Your time is valuable and it should be spent on the great work that you do, not fighting with software!

We keep software quality at the forefront of our development efforts, ensuring that your existing project files continue to work as expected. We also minimize changes to the Surfer user interface, making the transition between versions as smooth as possible.

Even with these assurances, it’s natural to have concerns about upgrading. Here are three additional tips for a stress-free upgrade experience.

Looking for a guru to help guide you through your stress free Golden Software upgrade?

Reach out to our support team at support@goldensoftware.com or call us at (303) 279-1021.

A new dimension of Surfer is here! This release contains highly anticipated new 3D gridding and modeling features that our product and development team have been hard at work to bring to you.

If you simply can’t wait to dive into these new features, download the Surfer Free Trial now.

Take a step back and view the entire extent of your 3D data by visualizing a 3D grid as a volume render. The color of the rendered volume represents the C value of your dataset and can be customized to your heart’s desire.

Who is this for? 

Scientists and engineers in the environmental industry, geoscientists, archeologists and anyone with XYZC data that wants to paint a full picture of their site.

Use Cases: Visualize the extent of contamination, map subsurface geology, determine high or low temperature zones

Determine exactly where specific C values are in a 3D grid using isosurfaces. Anyone can delineate specific areas of interest such as plume extents or mineralization cutoffs by adding an isosurface in the 3D view and then utilizing the 3D digitization feature.

Who is this for?

The devil is in the details! Customize your base layer labels so they look exactly how you want. Create base labels with leader lines, which connect the label to the object they are labeling. If the leader line doesn’t connect the label to the ideal spot on the object, simply move the anchor point for that leader line as you see fit.

Who is this for? 

Any Surfer user who needs to label closely grouped together objects

Peter Hatherly is a long-time Surfer user who spent his career as a Geophysicist. Now in retirement he has pursued his passion for geology through a new outlet, writing.

Peter feels a great connection to the Blue Mountains of New South Wales and felt that the geological history of the range could be taught in a more engaging way. By combining his knowledge of geologic processes, partner Ian Brown’s photography, and maps created in Surfer they have self-published the guide book: The Blue Mountains: exploring landscapes shaped by the underlying rocks, uplift and erosion

Reposition or georeference any vector base layer by assigning new coordinates to it. Use a simple math operation (add, subtract, multiply, divide or mirror) or georeference it using three or more known control points.

This allows you to:

• Convert the coordinates from an unknown local system to a referenced system, such as UTM or lat/lon.
• Convert or georeference the coordinates of EMF or WMF files.
• Shift a base layer in any direction to match other layers. For example, shift a layer in the Y direction by 50 and the X direction by 10.
• Assign real world coordinates to base layers if they import in page units.
• Convert raw data points (from data files imported as Base from Data layers) to new coordinates. Once converted, the converted data can be saved and gridded.

Edit a grid from the plot window and when the grid opens in the Grid Editor, any post or base layers in the map are also displayed in the Grid Editor. This allows you to easily edit the grid relative to imagery, control points, polygons or polylines, or other objects in a background map or overlay.

For example, edit a grid and show the coastline and land use data in the Grid Editor. Or show buildings, streams or field boundaries to help you define and identify the edits needed to the grid file.

Reposition labels on post, base and drillhole layers so that they do not overlap. This allows you to:

• Easily and automatically avoid colliding labels for densely spaced points
• Display borehole labels on a drillhole layer and space the labels out so they don’t overlap
• Create post or base maps of wells, labeled with well names or pumping rates, and view the labels clearly.

Base and drillhole layers now have leader lines connecting labels back to their respective objects! Edit label positions so the labels can be read clearly, and then know exactly which object the label belongs to.