Golden Software Blog

Golden Software customers possess a broad assortment of backgrounds, from earth science and engineering to education and politics. This vast background results in a variety of uses for Golden Software’s products. Each customer uses our software in their own unique way, and we are pleased to share these stories. This blog features Willem Havermans, a senior engineering consultant for MWH Global, who uses a combination of Voxler and Surfer's mapping software to visualize groundwater contamination levels and generate conceptual remediation models for their areas of interest.

Willem Havermans has been a faithful user of Golden Software applications dating back to early 2000. He has purchased multiple versions of Surfer's mapping software. He also uses Voxler's 3D data visualization capabilities on a daily basis and has held a Strater license for the past few versions. Havermans, working with MWH Global, uses a combination of Voxler and Surfer to perform 3D data processing of surface and subsurface soil contamination and surface creation. He uses Goolden Software's mapping software to create a strong basis for generating conceptual models of groundwater contamination and in planning of remedial designs.

The dreaded dead spot. Tormenting professional and recreational players alike, the dead spot can quickly wreak havoc on any indoor gymnasium event whether it is basketball, red rover, or a track event. When dribbled on a smooth surface, a ball typically bounces back quite easily; however, when the ball happens upon a dead spot, the bounce back is either greatly reduced or even changes direction. Dead spots are also noticeable when running across the floor, and the supposedly solid surface is not so solid underfoot. Injuries have been caused by these flooring distortions. Thankfully, the individuals at Mathusek Incorporated, a sports and commercial flooring contractor, have found a way to eliminate these dead spots in their floor installations by utilizing Surfer.

A sports floor is only as good as the concrete slab it rests on. One of the leading causes of a dead spot is the flatness, or lack thereof, of the slab. Prior to installing a gym floor, Mathusek offers a concrete slab assessment. Specifications require the slab tolerance to be no more and no less than 1/8 of an inch in a 10-foot radius. To verify the level, Mathusek establishes a benchmark in the middle of the floor. Readings are then taken every five feet and recorded. Each point is compared to the center benchmark to verify it is within the 1/8” requirement.

As many of you know, the craft beer explosion has been hitting Colorado for years, becoming one of the main staples of the Colorado economy with hundreds of breweries littered across our colorful state.  Sampling craft beer at local breweries, a very popular activity among many adults, has become a mainstay of the Colorado culture. This phenomenon is not limited to beer; the craft beverage industry seems to keep growing and growing. Craft distilleries are also popping up all over the place. Colorado is now home to over 70 craft distilleries, providing a home for locals to sip some of the best tasting and finest quality spirits in the country. This artisan drink trend is creating a new sub-culture of bar-goers, where the distillery tasting rooms are their new target destinations.

As this trend increases in popularity, my curiousity rises, and I ask myself, “Where are these 71 distilleries located across the state? Are there any near my neighborhood in Denver? ” I put together an easy solution by using a combination of the internet, Surfer, MapViewer, Google Earth, and beginner-level GIS experience. I started the project by doing a little internet research to find the addresses of the distilleries in Colorado. Once I had done so, I used our mapping software Surfer to generate a data table of the addresses that were then geo-coded. With data that is geo-coded, it was fairly simple to create a post map in Surfer of all of the distillery locations across Colorado. Finally, I exported the post map from Surfer in KML format and imported it into Google Earth for seamless display of the distillery locations on that platform. I used the following approach to answer my questions :

There many methods for displaying contour lines in visualization and GIS software programs. In most cases, representing terrain data with standard contours or hillshading techniques are sufficient. In other cases, you may want a more artistic technique to help emphasize specific features in the data or to make the map more pleasing to the eye. One of these techniques is using the Tanaka method for creating illuminated contours. I recently read an article about how to create illuminated contours in ArcGIS and couldn’t resist trying to replicate the results in Surfer's mapping software.

The Tanaka method applies a northwest light source to a contour map. The contour lines then change in color and width based on their relationship to the light source. Contour lines facing the light source are drawn in white while those in the shadow are drawn in black. The contour lines facing the light source (or facing away from it) are thicker, and the contour lines in the orthogonal direction are thinner. A more detailed explanation of the method can be found online at: http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/pdf/gis_illum.pdf

Golden Software customers possess a broad assortment of backgrounds from earth sciences and engineering to education and politics. This vast background results in a variety of uses for Golden Software’s products. Each customer uses the software in a unique way, and we are pleased to share these stories. This blog features Dr. John Hall of the Geological Survey of Israel and his use of Surfer.

Dr. Hall is a marine geophysicist and doctoral graduate from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Geological (now Earth) Observatory. Upon the completion of his doctorate, he worked for the Geological Survey of Israel until his retirement at the end of 2005. His research includes global tectonics, offshore geophysical surveys, and compilations of detailed gridded topography for Israel and neighboring areas. Although Dr. Hall is retired, he continues to utilize Golden Software’s own contouring, gridding, and 3D surface mapping program, Surfer.