Grid Files

Contour maps, color relief maps, grid values maps, peaks and depressions maps, watershed maps, vector maps, viewshed maps, 3D surfaces, and 3D wireframes all require grids for their creation in Surfer. A grid is a regular, rectangular or cuboid array of values. The Home | Grid Data | Grid Data command provides you with several methods for generating a Surfer .GRD grid file from your irregularly spaced XYZ or XYZC data. In addition to the grid files that Surfer creates, it can also read many common grid file formats directly.

Surfer does have a couple restrictions on when a grid file can be created using the Home | Grid Data | Grid Data command:

  • A grid with all NoData nodes cannot be saved.

  • A grid file with no variation in Z values (horizontal planar surface) cannot be saved. This type of grid can be created using the Grids | New Grid | Function command.

See Also

Common Grid Files for Import or Load

Common Grid Files for Export or Save

Gridding Overview

A Gridding Example

Creating a Grid File from an XYZ Data File