The story behind Geo-Surface
A 15-year idea, finally built the way I imagined it.
I'm Simon Knutson. I created the first Geo-Surface as a Windows tool roughly 15 years ago. Today, I lead the GIS4AG team that has rebuilt that original vision for the browser: one complete place to read the water, design surface and tile drainage, and solve land forming (Beta).
- 15 years in the making
- Built for farm fields in North America, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia
- Browser based
Plan and design from LiDAR. Survey and grade with RTK when the job goes ahead.
- Founder-led and independently developed by GIS4AG
- Evolved from a Windows tool first built 15 years ago
- Rebuilt for the browser — nothing to install
The Geo-Surface story
The tool I wanted to build was always ahead of the technology
About 15 years ago, I built the first Geo-Surface as a Windows application. It proved the central idea: field elevation could become a practical drainage plan without forcing every farmer, contractor, or consultant through a conventional CAD and GIS workflow. But the vision was larger — elevation available when you need it, serious design tools without a complicated installation, and one place to understand the water, design the drainage, reshape the land, and produce something useful in the field. Geo-Surface Pro is that vision fulfilled. I rebuilt it as an independent browser-based venture under the GIS4AG name. GIS4AG operates under my Canadian corporation, 17449275 Canada Inc., and Geo-Surface Pro brings surface drainage, tile drainage, and land forming (Beta) together in the tool I had wanted Geo-Surface to become from the beginning.
Simon Knutson created Geo-Surface from the ground up and leads the GIS4AG team developing it today. Under GIS4AG, Simon also created and owns TerraZoner, his precision landforming technology. He is a co-owner and the creator/developer of Ditch Assist, the separate in-cab RTK grade-control venture. That work provides years of direct experience with how designs are actually surveyed, checked, and built. Geo-Surface Pro remains Simon's independent vision, strengthened by a focused GIS4AG team helping develop, test, support, and advance it.
The original Windows foundation
- A practical tool created specifically around agricultural fields
- Early terrain and drainage workflows on the desktop
- Proof that elevation could become an understandable field plan
- The foundation for a much larger long-term vision
Geo-Surface Pro in the browser
- Surface drainage, tile, and land forming (Beta) together in one workflow
- Runs in the browser with no desktop installation
- Elevation built in for farm fields in North America, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia — no survey just to plan
- Reports, quantities, project sharing, and exports for the field and the office
Three jobs, one tool — each treated as a core part of the vision, not an extra bolted on later.
Surface drainage
Read where water sits and where it runs — ponding, flow paths, and wetness from public elevation — then lay out the surface fix and grade it to drain.
Tile drainage
Lay out mains and laterals, auto-size pipe to contributing area, and check depth and grade against a best-fit profile before you quote.
Land forming (Beta)
Pick the edges water may leave by, set your max cut, and solve a design surface that drains to the edges you choose. Export the AGD design file with benchmarks, supported by Ditch Assist and other popular machine control systems, or use AGS, CSV, TXT, or Trimble WM-Form .gps (Beta) for other workflows; the PDF report also stands on its own. Installable files (Beta) are for use only after each run or area is driven or surveyed with RTK and its final grades are reviewed and approved on the display; every other file is reference only.
Come see what 15 years of field-software experience became — the demo needs no signup. Try the live demo See pricing
Experience from design through construction
Built by someone who understands both sides of the job
Geo-Surface Pro and TerraZoner are Simon Knutson's GIS4AG ventures, developed with the GIS4AG team. Simon is also a co-owner and the creator/developer of Ditch Assist, a separate venture. The experience carries across: Geo-Surface is led by someone who has spent years building the technology used to design, survey, control, and complete field work. The connection is practical experience and compatible files — not a requirement to own another product.
Stage 1 · Plan & quote
Geo-Surface Pro
An independent browser-based design suite for surface drainage, tile, and land forming (Beta), so you can establish feasibility, prepare a plan, and estimate the job before committing a survey or machine to the field.
- Read the field from built-in elevation — ponding, flow paths, wetness
- Lay out, auto-size, and grade tile mains and laterals
- Solve and check land forming designs (Beta)
- Produce a PDF plan and a cost estimate built from the materials in your design
- Leave with the files the job uses: for land forming (Beta), an AGD design file with calibration benchmarks (plus AGS, CSV, TXT, Trimble WM-Form .gps in Beta); for drainage, the plan, quantities, and in-cab reference files (XYZP points, DXF) for the crew. Installable files (Beta) are for use only after each run or area is driven or surveyed with RTK and its final grades are reviewed and approved on the display; every other file is reference only.
Stage 2 · Build it
Ditch Assist
In-cab RTK system for the install stage — installs the drainage layouts and grades the land forming designs (Beta) from Geo-Surface in the field, once the job is committed.
- RTK-guided grade control in the machine
- Grades land forming (Beta) designs from the AGD file once tied in to your benchmarks — existing and proposed surfaces, boundary, and the calibration benchmarks you placed on the map
- Tie into those benchmarks on site so the machine matches the landforming design before grading starts
- For tile and surface drainage, the crew RTK-surveys each planned run on site and sets the final grade in their own machine control — with the Geo-Surface plan as the reference for depth, size, and grade
- Created by Simon Knutson, whose field-software experience also guides the GIS4AG team behind Geo-Surface Pro
The plan and quote come from LiDAR; the field gets surveyed and graded with RTK once the job's a go. Geo-Surface Pro is the design and quoting stage for both drainage and land forming (Beta); Ditch Assist is the install stage that follows an RTK survey and installs either output in the field. We never pretend a LiDAR plan goes straight to the machine — and you don't need to own Ditch Assist to use Geo-Surface Pro: the land forming (Beta) AGD is supported by other popular machine control systems too, and land forming designs also export as AGS, CSV and TXT, and drainage designs as DXF, shapefile and KML, for whatever workflow you already run.
Ready to see the design workflow on a real field? See pricing Try the live demo — no signup
What I stand for
Tools built to be straight with you
A plan and a quote carry a name and a reputation. Geo-Surface carries mine. These are the principles that keep it honest in the field — not just convincing in a demo.
We tell you when you still need a survey
Public elevation is the right tool to plan and design — and we're upfront about where it ends. Earthwork volumes are worked out and cross-checked by the app, in yards and metres; if your cut limit can't reach grade, the app says so instead of inventing a paper-thin skim. Feasibility reads are grounded in real terrain, never dressed up as field-ready grade.
The plan starts from LiDAR; the field gets surveyed with RTK before anything is built. We never pretend a screen plan goes straight to the machine.
Support from people who know the work
Our team builds for working drainage and landforming professionals, with the practical context to understand grade, contributing area, pipe sizing, survey control, and what happens after a design leaves the screen.
Geo-Surface is independently developed under GIS4AG, so questions stay close to Simon and the team building, testing, and supporting the software.
Built for farm fields
Geo-Surface brings surface drainage, tile, and land forming (Beta) together around the realities of agricultural fields, not a generic civil-design workflow.
Built for farm fields in North America, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia: each country’s public LiDAR loads by itself where it is published, whether the field is in Iowa, Ontario, Norfolk or New South Wales.
Who's behind it
Who makes Geo-Surface Pro?
What is GIS4AG?
How is Geo-Surface connected to Ditch Assist and TerraZoner?
See it on a real field
Draw a boundary and design the fix in an afternoon
Open Geo-Surface Pro and start with a real field: see where water sits, then explore surface drainage, tile, and land forming (Beta) — all right in your browser.
Just want to look around? Launch the Viewer — no account needed.