Drew started by creating a color-relief layer of the ground surface. From there, he added aerial imagery using Surfer’s Download Online Maps feature, vector building footprints from an online source, and a 3D DWG CAD file representing the buildings.

Together, these layers established the context for the geographic and built-environment surrounding the project. Rather than jumping immediately into the subsurface data, Drew first created a recognizable picture of the site that could help orient viewers before introducing additional information.

With the landscape established, Drew shifted focus to what’s underground. He added lithology drillhole data and used it to create contacts and surfaces representing various subsurface layers, then applied a color scale to make the different lithologies easier to distinguish.

Next came the contamination data. Drew added a second drillhole dataset containing PFAS measurements and gridded the information to visualize the contamination plume in 3D. He also adjusted the color mapping to emphasize areas with higher PFAS concentrations.

By this point, Drew’s model contained terrain, buildings, lithology, drillholes, and a 3D PFAS plume. It was a comprehensive view of the project. However, having everything visible was only the starting point. The next step was figuring out how to move through all that information and focus on the parts of the model that mattered most.

Sometimes, getting more from a 3D model starts with showing less of it. Drew first turned off layers that weren’t relevant to his immediate investigation and applied a clipping plane to the 3D PFAS volume. He specifically positioned a YZ clipping plane around the higher-concentration portion of the plume to take a closer look at the contamination directly below certain features above ground. 

He then added another clipping plane along the XZ plane, peeling back the model even further to isolate the area he wanted to investigate. Using multiple clipping planes this way empowered Drew to progressively remove portions of a complex 3D volume from view until the feature he was interested in became easier to examine.

Clipping planes help remove portions of a model from view, but what if you want to investigate what’s happening inside the 3D volume itself? That’s where slices can provide another perspective.

Drew walked through two approaches using the PFAS contamination plume. First, he created image slices, which could be repositioned along a plane to investigate internal patterns at different locations. He also showed how multiple slices could be added on different planes to give several focused views through the same volume.

From there, Drew created contour slices to represent the values along a particular section of the subsurface dataset. Like image slices, these could be repositioned to investigate different portions of the model.

One of the broader lessons from Drew’s demonstration was that 2D and 3D visualization don’t have to compete. Each can play a different role as you move from exploring your data to focusing on a particular finding.

Drew showed how a target slice from the 3D model could be saved as a grid and brought into Surfer’s 2D Plot window as a cross section. He then explained that he could create separate map frames for individual cross sections and add additional grid-based layers, such as contours, to further refine the visualization.

That created a useful progression: Drew used the 3D model to understand the broader subsurface environment, a 3D slice to focus on a particular portion, and a 2D cross section to examine or communicate that area in a more focused view.

Visualizing with purpose isn’t only about deciding what appears on screen. It’s also important to preserve information about how and why the project and its outputs were created, especially when files move between colleagues, clients, or other stakeholders.

Drew demonstrated Surfer’s Document Comments feature, which equips you to store internal notes, reminders, and explanations directly within an SRF project document. He explained that you can use comments to leave suggestions, request changes, walk through a map-making process, record details such as gridding information, or provide helpful notes to keep in mind if you plan to revisit the project later.

Because those comments stay in the Surfer file when someone else opens it—and you can show, hide, edit, or delete them as needed—they can preserve project history and make collaboration easier.

After exploring, isolating, and refining the data, there’s still one more audience to consider: the person looking at your final map. Drew wrapped up his webinar by demonstrating how legends can provide additional context for base layers that don’t use traditional symbology. He showed how to add a legend, choose which layers appear, display their layer names, refine the legend’s appearance, and add formatting such as a frame.

Compared with clipping a 3D contamination plume or extracting a cross section, adding a legend may seem like a small final step. But Drew made it clear that those finishing touches can make a meaningful difference in how quickly stakeholders understand your data visualization.