Issue 64

Importing Contours from Surfer into Google EarthTM

Working in Google EarthTM is becoming an increasingly popular method for sharing and displaying maps among colleagues and between consultants and clients. It is a simple and easy way to import maps and display information over an aerial image, and best of all, Google Earth is used ubiquitously. For these reasons, Golden Software has added the ability to export from Surfer 10 to KML and KMZ formats, so users can export their maps and open them directly in Google Earth.

This article will create a colored contour map, export it to a KML file and open it in Google Earth to see the results.

1. Open Surfer 10.
2. Go to Map | New | Contour Map, select Conifer.grd and click Open. The contour map is created.
3. The coordinate system information is automatically entered for the Contours layer and the map as UTM coordinates. However, KML files require that the coordinates of the map be in Lat/Long units. To convert the map so that it is in Lat/Long coordinates, select Map in the Object Manager.
4. In the Property Manager, go to the Coordinate System tab and click the Change button.
5. In the Assign Coordinate System dialog, select Predefined | Geographic (lat/lon) | World Geodetic System 1984 and clickOK. The map will be converted to Lat/Long coordinates.
6. Now we can add some color and customizations to the map. Select Contours in the Object Manager.
   1. In the Property Manager, on the General tab, check the Fill contours check box.
   2. Go to the Levels tab and change the Level method to Advanced.
   3. Click the Edit Levels button.
   4. In the Properties dialog, click the Line button.
      1. In the Line dialog, select Gradational in the Properties section.
      2. Click the Color button, and in the Colormap dialog select the Rainbow preset.
      3. Click OK and OK.
   5. In the Properties dialog, click the Fill button.
      1. In the Fill dialog, click the Foreground Color button.
      2. In the Colormap dialog, select the Rainbow preset and move the Opacity slider to 50%.
      3. Click OK and OK.
   6. In the Properties dialog, click the Label button.
   7. Change the Set value to 0 and click OK.
   8. Click OK in the Properties dialog.
7. In the Object Manager, uncheck the check boxes next to Right Axis, Left Axis, Top Axis and Bottom Axis. We do not need the axes in Google Earth, since Google Earth provides its own axes.


Create your map in Surfer in Lat/Long coordinates with color and transparency, ready to export to Google Earth.

8. Go to File | Export.
9. Give the file a name, choose to save it in Google Earth KML format, and click Save.
10. Click OK in the Export Options dialog and the KML file is created.
11. Open Google Earth.
12. In Google Earth, go to File | Open, select the KML file and click Open. The contour map is loaded and displayed over the aerial photo. The color and transparency properties are transferred.

Open the KML file in Google Earth and the map is automatically placed in the correct location over the aerial image.