Esri ArcInfo Binary Grid .ADF File Description

Surfer can import and export Esri Arc/Info binary grid files .ADF.

The Arc/Info Binary Grid format is the internal working format of the Arc/Info Grid product. This format should not be confused with the Arc/Info ASCII Grid format which is the interchange format for grids.

A grid coverage (or data set) actually consists of a number of files. A grid normally lives in its own directory named after the grid. For example, the grid nwgrd1 lives in the directory nwgrd1, and has the following component files:

  • nwgrd1/dblbnd.adf - file containing the bounds of the grid.

  • nwgrd1/hdr.adf - header file containing grid cell resolution, type, compression, and tile information.

  • nwgrd1/prj.adf - optional projection file containing the known map projection information of the grid.

  • nwgrd1/sta.adf - statistics file containing minimum, maximum, mean, and standard deviation of the cell values.

  • nwgrd1/vat.adf - value attributes file containing the attribute data associated with the zones of the zones of the grid.

  • nwgrd1/w001001.adf - the actual raster data file containing the value of each cell in the first (base) tile.

  • nwgrd1/w001001x.adf - index file containing file offset and size of each block in the raster data file.

Note: If the grid has more than one tile, the value and index .adf file names will increment correspondingly. For example, the data files for tile 2 could be w001002.adf and w001002x.adf, tile 3 could be w001003.adf and w001003x.adf, and so on. The actual numbering of additional tiles is automatic and is based on their spatial relationship to the first tile. Surfer automatically reads all tiles and locates each appropriately.

Loading Files

Esri ArcInfo Binary Grid .ADF files are similar to grid files and can be loaded to create a grid based map (i.e. Home | New Map | Contour), or when using the functions in the Grid menu.

Import Options Dialog

No import options dialog is displayed.

Import Automation Options

No import options are available.

Saving Files

Use the Grids | Edit | Convert command in the plot document, or the File | Save | Save As command in the grid node editor to export an Esri ArcInfo binary grid .ADF file.

Note: Esri ArcMap or ArcCatalog requires that .ADF files do not have spaces in the file names. If you want to include a space, it is recommended that you replace all spaces with an underscore (_).

Export Options Dialog

See ArcInfo ADF Export Options.

Export Automation Options

See ADF Esri ArcInfo Binary Grid Export Options

See Also

Esri Binary Float Grid File Description

File Format Chart