Surfer: Displaying an Area of Interest

Displaying a field area or an Area of Interest (AOI) that you are working with on your Surfer map can be done easily and accurately. You can create the AOI from exact coordinates that you already have or you can digitize the points to create a Golden Software Blanking file [.BLN] file. The [.BLN] file can then be used to create a base map of the AOI. The AOI base map can be overlaid with your other Surfer map to display the AOI accurately. The AOI display properties can then be adjusted to fit your needs.

PART I: Creating an Area of Interest Boundary

  1. To create a contour map displaying the entire geographic area:
    1. Choose Map | Contour Map | New Contour Map or click the button. An Open Grid dialog box will open.
    2. Select your grid file and click Open. The contour map is created.
  2. To digitize an AOI:
    1. Click once on the contour map to select it.
    2. Choose Map | Digitize or right-click on the contour map and select Digitize. The cursor becomes a cross hair, indicating digitize mode. As you move the cross hair cursor within the plot window, the map coordinates for the position are displayed in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.
    3. Click the left mouse button in the plot window to select the points on the map to outline the perimeter of the AOI. A digit.bln dialog box will appear with the X, Y coordinates of each digitized point. A red crosshair symbol will appear on the map for each digitized point. Continue adding points in this manner.

      4. Digitize points on the Contour Map and digit.bln dialog box records each point.

    4. When you are finished digitizing all of the points, click in the digit.bln window and highlight the first X, Y value. To highlight the first X, Y value, click the left mouse button before the first number and drag the cursor to the end of the line.
    5. Right click and select Copy.
    6. Go to the last line in the digit.bln window, right click and select Paste. This makes the first and last point identical, creating a closed polygon.

      7. The digit.bln window displays a closed polygon.

    7. Select File | Save As in the digit.bln window and type a File name to save the digitized information as a [.BLN] file.
    8. Close the coordinate window and press the ESC key to end digitizing mode. Your cursor will return to the normal arrow.

 

PART II: Creating an AOI Base Map and Displaying on a Contour Map

  1. To create an AOI Base Map from the already digitized [.BLN] file:
    1. Choose Map | Base Map or click the  button.   An Import File dialog box opens.
    2. Select your area of interest [.BLN] file and click Open. A GS Blanking Import Options dialog box appears.
    3. Select OK, making sure that the Areas to Curves option is unchecked. A base map of the [.BLN] file will appear.

      4. Contour Map and AOI Base Map displayed before Map | Overlay Maps command.

    4. The base map is also added to the Object Manager menu.  If your Object Manager is not open, choose View | Object Manager to view the Object Manager and see the new Base Map object.
  2. To Overlay the AOI Base Map with other Surfer Maps:
    1. If the only maps displayed are to be overlaid together, select Edit | Select All to highlight all of the maps.
    2. If there are more maps displayed that you do not wish to overlay, you can select the map of interest in the object manager, hold the CTRL key, and select any additional maps of interest.
    3. When the maps are selected, choose Map | Overlay Maps. This will overlay the maps and align the axes of the AOI Base Map and other map(s) automatically.

      4. The contour map and AOI base map share axes after the Map | Overlay Maps command.

  3. To customize the properties of the AOI base map:
    1. Double-click on the Base Map in the Object Manager. A Map: Base Properties dialog box appears.

      2. The Object Manager is used to
      open the Base Map properties.

    2. Alternatively, you can right-click on the base map and select Properties to bring up the Map: Base Properties dialog box.
    3. On the Base Map tab, press the Line… button to bring up the Line Properties dialog box. Here you can adjust the Color and Width of the AOI line. Click the OK button when you are done.

      4. The Base Properties dialog box and Line Properties
      box show how to change the AOI line styles.

    4. On the Base Map tab, press the Fill...  button to bring up the Fill Properties dialog box, where you can adjust the Fill Pattern, Foreground color, and Background color.
    5. If you choose a Fill Pattern, and would like it to be transparent, uncheck the box next to Background.
    6. When you are satisfied with the customizations, click the OK button to return to the Map: Base Properties dialog box.
    7. Click OK in the Map | Base Properties dialog box to make the changes to the map and return to the map window. The changes made to the line and fill properties are now shown on the map in the AOI.

      8. The final Area of Interest (AOI) displayed on a contour map.

 

PART III: Creating an AOI Base Map and displaying on a 3D Surface Map

  1. To create a 3D surface map:
    1. Choose Map | Surface, or click the  button. An Open Grid dialog box will be displayed.
    2. Select your grid file and click Open. Make sure that you use the same file that was used in Part I to create the contour map. The 3D surface map will appear on top of the previously created contour and AOI base map overlay.
    3. To not display the contour and AOI base map, uncheck the box next to that Map in the Object Properties. The 3D surface map will now be the only map visible on the screen.

      4. The Object Manager area is used to turn off the display of the map.

    4. To create an AOI base map from the already created [.BLN] file, follow the steps outlined in Part II, step #1 to create a new base map from the .BLN file. A base map of the .BLN file appears. A new Base Map will also appear in the Object Manager.

      5. The 3D surface map and AOI base map are displayed
      separately before the Map | Overlay Maps command is used.

  2. To overlay the AOI base map with the 3D surface map:
    1. Since there are multiple maps open (if not visible), select the 3D Surface Map in the object manager, hold the CTRL key, and select the new Base Map. Both maps are now selected.

      2. The Object Manager is displayed with two maps selected.
      The blue highlight indicates which maps are selected.

    2. When both maps are selected, choose Map | Overlay Maps. This command overlays both maps and aligns the axes of the base map and the 3D surface map. Since the AOI is on the backside of the Mountain, we will need to rotate the map to see it properly.

      3. The 3D surface map is displayed with the AOI base map.

    3. To rotate, click on the 3D Surface Map and choose Map | Trackball or click on the button. The cursor changes to the trackball cursor .
    4. To rotate the map to the desired position, click on the map, hold the left mouse button, and drag the mouse left or right to rotate the image.
    5. When the map is rotated to the desired location, press the ESC key to end the trackball mode. The cursor will return to an arrow.

      6. The 3D surface map and AOI base map displayed after rotation.

  3. To customize the properties of the AOI:
    1. Double-click on the Base Map associated with the surface map in the Object Manager or right-click on the base map and select Properties to bring up the Map: Base Properties dialog box.

      2. The Object Manager is used to select
      the base map to edit its properties.

    2. Follow the steps outlined in Part II, step #3.

The final Area of Interest displayed on the 3D Surface Map.

 

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