Golden Software Releases Surfer® 2D and 3D

GOLDEN, COLORADO, November 14, 2017 - Golden Software, the leading developer of affordable scientific graphics software, today announces the release of Surfer version 15, a powerful 2D and 3D mapping, modeling and analysis program designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of geospatial data.

Used by thousands of scientists, engineers, and educators across the globe, Surfer is a leading competitor in data modeling software. Surfer offers thirteen different gridding methods, including Kriging with variograms, to convert regularly or irregularly spaced XYZ data into uniform raster grids. Display a raster grid or digital elevation model (DEM) as one of ten fully customizable 2D and 3D grid-based map types: contour, watershed, viewshed, shaded relief, color relief, 1-grid and 2-grid vector, grid value, 3D wireframe, and 3D surface maps. Enhance the display by adding post maps, base maps and LiDAR point cloud maps, and visualize the map in three- dimensional space. Maps generated with Surfer are renowned for their accuracy, clarity, and vibrancy. The latest version of Surfer contains over 70 user-requested new features and enhancements.

Surfer’s most popular new feature is the 3D view window to display maps in three-dimensional space. Any grid-based map can be displayed in the 3D view and draped with any of Surfer’s other map types. Achieve a 360â° perspective of your map by rotating it, walking along the surface, displaying and adjusting water levels, adjusting the vertical exaggeration, or by creating and recording fly-through videos to share with others.

Another popular new feature is Surfer’s point cloud to process and visualize LiDAR data. Create point clouds from one or more LAS/LAZ files, and use the numerous filtering options including classification, return number, source ID, spatial filters, and more to import only the required data. Once the point cloud layer is created, modify, classify, remove, or export the points. Alternatively, create a raster grid from the points to visualize the point cloud data as other map types, such as contours. Finally, visualize the point cloud in three dimensional space with the 3D view window.

Additional features include base map symbology to assign colors and symbols to objects based on attribute values; multithreading and algorithm optimizations for gridding data; optimized and multithreaded color relief rendering; Thiessen polygons; Delaunay triangulations; new coordinate systems; and 8 new import options including PDF as vector, MapInfo TAB/MAP vector format, and GeoJSON.

“3D visualizations help achieve a better understanding of the underlying data,” said Golden Software CEO Blakelee Mills. “The latest release of Surfer provides even more tools for users to explore, analyze, and understand their data.”

Surfer v15 operates in a Microsoft® Windows environment with Windows 7, 8 (excluding RT), or 10. Surfer pricing information is available online. Surfer users with active maintenance receive the latest version for free. Surfer includes free updates and free technical support. Full online documentation is included.