Go from selling drainage maps to drainage plans your clients can build.
You already sell elevation and drainage mapping. Now turn that same data into the deliverable that pays better: lay out surface drainage, size the tile, and design 3D landforming — all in your browser, all in one flat membership. Work from built-in public LiDAR or drop in your clients' RTK survey points (CSV, XYZ, or shapefile). Unlimited client fields, no per-acre fees, nothing to install.
Plan and quote from LiDAR. Survey and grade with RTK when the job goes ahead. Geo-Surface gets your client to a defensible plan before any survey dollars are spent.
The opportunity
You already sell the mapping. The buildable plan is the higher-value service sitting right beside it.
Showing a grower where water sits is useful — but it ends the conversation at "you have a problem." The same elevation lets you take the next step and hand them a buildable drainage plan, a billable deliverable they can take to a contractor and put in the ground.
Elevation & drainage mapping
A one-time map, charged per acre or per field
- Shows where the field sits low and holds water
- Tells the grower they have a wet-spot problem
- Leaves the fix to someone else
Buildable drainage plans
A higher-value billable service on data you already have
- Surface drainage and tile laid out and pipe-sized
- 3D landforming that sheds every acre to the outlets you pick
- A branded client PDF, plus machine-ready landforming files (Ditch Assist AGD) and CAD/GIS exports for the rest
The economics work in your favor. Per-acre design tools charge again on every field — one 160-acre landforming design at around $9.90/ac runs about $1,584, more than three years of Geo-Surface Pro. Your membership is flat: design as many client fields as you want, charge for the plan, and keep the margin instead of handing it to a per-acre tool.
See how fast a mapping job turns into a billable, buildable plan. Try the live demo — no signup See pricing — US$499/yr
What you deliver to a client, right in the browser
Everything below runs in Geo-Surface Pro, right in your browser. No install, no CAD, no GIS — pull elevation for the client's field and get a deliverable that looks like your work, not a screenshot.
Buildable surface & tile plans
Lay out ditches, waterways, and flow-path routing for surface drainage, then pattern the tile with automatic and stepped pipe sizing — right-sized by contributing area at each connection, so the recommendation holds up when a contractor prices it.
- Surface and tile as co-equal options on the same field
- Best-fit grade and profile, no guesswork on fall
- A plan a contractor can quote and put in the ground
Client-ready PDF reports
One click turns the design into a clean report that shows the grower the problem, the plan, and the numbers behind your recommendation — a document you can put your name on and hand over as the deliverable they paid for.
- The field, the design, and the supporting figures in one PDF
- Defensible enough to justify the spend to the grower
- Trade-ready exports too — dual-surface DXF, shapefile, KML/KMZ, OptiSurface AGS
Your client opens the whole design free — you keep the only paid seat
Hit Backup Project when the design's done and you get one project file. Send it to the grower however you like — they open it in the free Geo-Surface Viewer with no account and no licence, and they get the whole job: your drain runs with grades and pipe sizes, the elevation you designed on, and the ponding, wetness and flow maps that back up your recommendation. They can spin the ground in 3D and read the fall themselves. You keep the relationship warm and the only paid seat — and they never see the design tool, just your work.
- Client opens it free — no account, no licence, nothing to buy
- They get the analysis too, not just the drawing — your reasoning travels with the plan
- Works for a whole farm office: partners, landlords, the agronomist, the banker
- Interactive and in 3D, not a flat image in a PDF
Ponding & wetness diagnostics
Read the water before you design the fix. Ponding, depressions, wetness (TWI), and flow paths show exactly where the field holds water and why — so your recommendation targets the real problem and you can defend it line by line.
- Ponding and depression mapping on real elevation
- Wetness (TWI) and flow paths to explain the "why"
- Evidence the grower can see, not just trust
All of this is included in Geo-Surface Pro Included — and it doesn't stop at surface and tile. The next section covers 3D landforming, cited soil recommendations, culvert sizing, custom contours, and the machine-file handoff, on the same flat membership.
Turn today's mapping job into a billable plan you hand the grower. Get Pro — US$499/yr Try the live demo — no signup
When a client's field needs grading, not just tile — it's already included
There's no upgrade to buy and nothing to install. These tools are part of Geo-Surface Pro too — reach for them the moment a project calls for 3D grading, cited soil numbers, culvert sizing, or a design file the grading crew can run.
3D landforming, with no ponding left behind
Drainage-first grading, not a per-acre optimizer. Fill the low spots and grade the field so every acre sheds to the boundary edges you allow. Pick the outlets, set a max cut, hit Solve — the result is audited on the final surface instead of assumed.
- Three design models to try — whole-field blade pass, least-disturbance borrow, or balanced borrow
- Fill borrowed from nearby high ground — most of the field stays untouched; honest audited volumes in yd³ and m³
- Plus shallow planing and topsoil strip & return; a real shortfall gets flagged, not hidden
Design files the grading crew can run
When the plan goes to grading, it leaves as machine-ready design files — not just a picture. Export the whole family, so the crew works with whatever they run.
- Ditch Assist AGD, AGS (OptiSurface/AGPS), CSV grid, TXT, and dual-surface DXF for any CAD package
- AGD carries existing + proposed surfaces and on-map calibration benchmarks, always metric
- A dedicated landforming PDF report with the borrow plan — the deliverable you actually hand the client
Size culverts and check the fix before it's built
Back the recommendation with numbers. Size farm culverts and screen every crossing from LiDAR, then burn your designed drains into the terrain and re-run the water analysis to show the field after the fix.
- Peak flows (Q2–Q100) with Rational and TR-55; culvert sizing via FHWA HDS-5
- Every crossing flagged adequate, marginal, or undersized — export the register to CSV
- Before/after: re-run ponding and flow on the corrected surface, not just the raw field
Soil data with cited spacing & depth
Recommendations you can put your name behind. Pull soil data for the client's field and get suggested tile spacing, depth, and drainage coefficient — each one citing the standard it came from.
- USDA SSURGO (US) and SoilGrids soil data for the field
- Spacing, depth & coefficient citing NRCS EFH Ch. 14, ASAE EP260.5, Iowa Drainage Guide, OMAFRA Pub. 29
- Defensible numbers behind the plan, not a gut call
Public LiDAR in — or your client's survey
Not every field has good public elevation. Auto-fetch built-in LiDAR from a drawn boundary with a resolution picker, or bring your own: RTK survey points, a point shapefile, a GeoTIFF DEM, or OptiSurface AGS.
- Built-in US 3DEP and Canada HRDEM, with a resolution picker per area
- Import RTK/XYZ/CSV points, a point shapefile, or a GeoTIFF DEM
- Survey points become a design-ready elevation surface
Contours, 3D viewer & CAD annotations
Make the surface legible and the deliverable look like your work. Generate contours on demand, walk the design in 3D, and mark it up like a drawing before it goes to the client.
- Contours at your interval, clipped to the boundary from the active surface
- 3D terrain viewer with the tile shown underground at grade, plus STL export
- Annotation suite: dimensions, callouts, legends, north arrow, scale bar
Project-aware AI support, on demand
Get help without breaking your train of thought. Ask about a setting, warning, failed step, or next action while the project is open. With permission, the assistant receives privacy-filtered, coordinate-free workflow context and can guide you to a known control or the relevant manual section.
- Available 24/7 inside Geo-Surface
- Optional one-message map preview when visual context is useful
- Raw geometry, elevation rasters, uploads, file names, branding, and cost values stay out of the automatic context
It's all one membership. Surface, tile, and 3D landforming design; cited soil recommendations; culvert sizing; contours; branded reports; and the machine-file handoff — every tool on this page is included in Geo-Surface Pro. Nothing to install, nothing to add on. See everything in your toolkit below.
Landforming, culvert sizing, soil data — all in the same membership, ready the moment a job needs them. Get Pro — US$499/yr Try the live demo — no signup
Everything in your toolkit
Every tool to turn a client's field into a plan they'll pay you for.
No tiers, no add-ons, nothing to install. Geo-Surface Pro includes every tool below — design, analysis, deliverables, and the machine-file handoff — for unlimited client fields across the US and Canada.
Turn elevation into a buildable plan
Draw it on the client's field and let the app do the sizing, grading, and grunt work.
- Surface drainage — mains & laterals with auto naming, best-fit grade, live cut/fill profile
- Tile drainage — automatic & stepped pipe sizing by contributing area, 3–48″ ladder
- 3D landforming — pick outlets, set max cut, Solve; no ponding left, honest audited volumes
- Cited soil recommendations — SSURGO/SoilGrids spacing, depth & coefficient citing NRCS, ASAE, Iowa & OMAFRA
- Elevation in — built-in US 3DEP + Canada HRDEM, or import RTK/XYZ/CSV, shapefile, GeoTIFF, AGS
- Read the water — ponding, wetness (TWI), flow paths, plus before/after burn-in
- Culvert sizing — peak flows, HDS-5 sizing, crossings screened adequate/marginal/undersized
A deliverable that looks like your work
Package the plan for the grower and the grading crew — and let the client explore it for free.
- Branded PDF reports — a full drainage design report and a dedicated landforming report, your logo on top
- Contours on demand at the interval you choose, clipped to the boundary
- 3D terrain viewer with the tile shown underground at grade, plus STL export
- CAD-style annotation suite — dimensions, callouts, legends, north arrow, scale bar
- Share free with clients — they open the interactive plan in the free Viewer, no login, no cost
- Machine-ready design files — a whole family including Ditch Assist AGD (with benchmarks), AGS, CSV grid, TXT
- CAD & GIS exports — dual-surface DXF, shapefile, KML/KMZ, plus project folders & 20-deep undo
The consultant's edge: hand the grower an interactive version of the plan they open in the free Geo-Surface Viewer — they see your drain runs on their own field and can spin the ground in 3D, so they get exactly what you're proposing — without paying for anything or installing a thing. You keep the design tool; they get the picture.
One flat membership · unlimited client fields · 30-day money-back guarantee
Walk the field with confidence
Walk the field knowing your plan will actually drain — not just look right on paper.
Adding a service is only worth it if you can stand behind it. Geo-Surface Pro shows you the water before you design the fix, so you stand next to the grower confident the surface, tile, and landforming plan will function and drain.
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See the water firstPonding, depressions, wetness, and flow paths show where the field actually holds water — you design to the real problem.
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Sized, not guessedAutomatic and stepped pipe sizing right-sizes tile by contributing area, best-fit grade keeps the fall honest, and landforming volumes are audited on the finished surface.
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Defensible to the growerSoil-based spacing and depth cite the standard they came from — NRCS, ASAE, Iowa, OMAFRA — and the branded report lays out the problem, the plan, and the figures.
The honest version: Geo-Surface gets you to a credible plan and a confident recommendation. RTK survey and grading happen when the job is committed — Geo-Surface is the feasibility and planning stage that comes first.
See the ponding, wetness, and flow-path diagnostics on your own field before you put your name on a plan. Try the live demo — no signup See pricing — US$499/yr
Flow paths confirm the plan moves water to the outlet you intended.
When the plan gets the green light
Your plan goes from the client meeting into the ground
You design the plan and hand the grower the recommendation. When they commit, the contractor RTK-surveys each run and grades with their own setup — your drainage plan rides along as on-screen guidance and target grades. For landforming, the design leaves as a machine-ready file (Ditch Assist AGD with calibration benchmarks, or AGS/CSV/DXF) the crew grades straight from. Either way, the plan you billed for is the plan that gets built.
LiDAR is good enough to design and quote from; RTK is what you install from. For surface and tile, the crew surveys each run and grades to your target depths, sizes, and grades; a landforming design exports as a machine-ready file they grade straight from — with Ditch Assist the in-house GIS4AG option.
Explore the GIS4AG ecosystemStart billing for plans that make it from your screen into the ground. Get Pro — US$499/yr Try the live demo — no signup
Geo-Surface and Ditch Assist are both built by Simon Knutson at GIS4AG — one workflow, plan to install.
Not advising clients?
You might be on the wrong page
Geo-Surface does the same job differently depending on who's holding it. Here's where to go if a consultant isn't who you are.
Farming your own ground?
For Farmers
Plan surface drainage and targeted tile on your own fields, compare options, and understand the scope before hiring work out.
Go to the Farmers pageInstalling it yourself?
For Contractors
Create a first-pass drainage or landforming plan with quantities before committing survey time.
Go to the Contractors pageJust running the numbers?
Free calculators
Tile spacing, drainage ROI, flow capacity, and grade — free, no login, to size up a field before you design it.
Try the free calculatorsPricing
One flat membership. Every client field you advise.
No per-acre fees and no metering by client. Bill one client job and the year is paid for — then design as many fields as you want at no extra cost.
Geo-Surface Pro
The full design suite, in your browser
Surface, tile, and 3D landforming — everything included.
Billed annually · launch price until September 1, 2026
- Built-in LiDAR (US 3DEP + Canada HRDEM), or import RTK/XYZ/CSV, shapefile, GeoTIFF, AGS
- Surface, tile & 3D landforming design — all included
- Automatic & stepped pipe sizing; no-ponding landforming with audited volumes
- Cited soil recommendations (SSURGO/SoilGrids; NRCS, ASAE, Iowa, OMAFRA)
- Ponding/wetness/flow diagnostics, before/after burn-in, culvert sizing
- Branded PDF reports, contours, 3D viewer, CAD-style annotations
- Share interactive plans free via the Viewer — clients pay nothing
- Machine-ready design files (incl. Ditch Assist AGD), plus DXF, shapefile, KML/KMZ
- Unlimited client fields & acres, US + Canada, no per-acre fees
Lock in US$499/yr before the new-signup price goes to US$799/yr on September 1, 2026. Sign up now and your annual renewal stays at $499/yr for as long as your membership stays active — and you still get every new feature we ship, forever, at that price.
Just want to look first? Open the free Viewer — or try the live demo, no card needed.
30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime. From September 1, 2026 new signups pay US$799/yr — join now and $499/yr stays your renewal price.
Questions from consultants
Drainage design software for ag consultants, answered
The practical questions agronomists and precision-ag advisors ask before they start billing for plans.
Can agronomists and crop consultants design drainage plans?
Yes. You don't need to be a licensed engineer to lay out a buildable surface, tile, or landforming plan at the feasibility and planning stage — which is exactly what Geo-Surface Pro is for. If you already read drainage maps and know your clients' fields, you can outline a field, load elevation, and design directly on it. You design and quote from LiDAR; the field gets surveyed and graded with RTK once the job goes ahead — the RTK survey is still how it gets built to spec.
How do I add drainage design services to my agronomy business?
Build it on data you already collect. Outline the client's field, pull built-in public LiDAR (or import their RTK survey points), and design surface drainage, tile, or 3D landforming right in your browser. Hand the grower a branded PDF report and an interactive plan they can open in the free Viewer. That's a new billable deliverable — you're selling the plan, not just a map — and to offer tile drainage design services you don't need a per-acre tool or a CAD seat.
Is this really a new revenue line, or just a fancier map?
It's a new offering. Mapping tells a grower they have a wet-spot problem. A buildable plan tells them what to build and lets them act — surface drainage and tile laid out and pipe-sized, plus 3D landforming with machine-ready exports, all in a client-ready report. That's a higher-value deliverable you can bill for separately, built on the elevation you already collect.
How accurate is it — can I stand behind the recommendation?
Designs are built on high-resolution public LiDAR (US 3DEP and Canada HRDEM), with pipe sizing driven by contributing area and best-fit grade — so the plan holds up when a contractor prices it. Soil-based spacing, depth, and drainage coefficient each cite their source (NRCS EFH Ch. 14, ASAE EP260.5, Iowa Drainage Guide, OMAFRA Pub. 29), so the numbers are defensible. Treat Geo-Surface Pro as the feasibility and planning stage: it gets you to a credible recommendation, and the RTK survey confirms it before install.
What exactly does my client get as the deliverable?
Usually the plan itself: a client-ready branded PDF report showing the field, the problem, the design, quantities, and profile charts — plus an interactive version they open and explore in the free Viewer, no license or login. When a crew needs it, you can also hand over machine-ready design files (a whole family — Ditch Assist AGD, AGS for OptiSurface/AGPS, CSV, TXT, and dual-surface DXF) and GIS exports (shapefile, KML/KMZ). Most consultants never export a machine file at all — the plan, quantities, and PDF are the product.
Do I need to learn CAD or GIS?
No. Outline the client's field, load public elevation, and design directly on it in the browser. If you already read drainage maps, you're most of the way there. Nothing to install — it runs in Chrome or Edge on any computer.
Where does the elevation come from? Do clients pay per acre?
Public high-resolution elevation is built in (US 3DEP and Canada HRDEM) — no separate survey just to plan — and you can import your own GeoTIFF, RTK/XYZ/CSV points, a point shapefile, or OptiSurface AGS. Your membership is flat: unlimited fields, unlimited acres, no per-acre fees. Tools that bill the grower per acre (around $9.90/ac) charge again on every field — one 160-acre landforming design runs about $1,584, more than three years of Geo-Surface Pro. You pay once.
Does it do 3D landforming too — and is it like OptiSurface?
Yes, 3D landforming is included — no add-on. It's a drainage-first grading designer: it fills the low areas and grades the field so every acre sheds to the boundary edges you allow, with three design models to try (whole-field blade pass, least-disturbance borrow, balanced borrow) plus shallow planing and topsoil strip & return. Honest, audited cut/fill volumes; borrow taken from nearby high ground so most of the field stays untouched.
To be straight about it: this is not a full-featured grading optimizer like OptiSurface — there's no specialist multi-plane optimization suite. If the job is getting water off a field — fill the low spots, drain to the edges you choose, move as little dirt as possible — that's exactly the job it does, for a flat membership instead of per-acre fees. Software like OptiSurface bills by the acre; this doesn't.
How does the plan I design actually get built?
You hand the grower the plan and recommendation. When they commit, the contractor RTK-surveys each run and grades with their own setup — your surface and tile plan rides along as on-screen guidance and target grades for the crew to build to. A landforming design goes further: it exports as a machine-ready file (Ditch Assist AGD with calibration benchmarks, or AGS/CSV/DXF) the crew grades straight from. Either way, the plan you billed for is the plan that gets installed.
What does it cost, and is there a guarantee?
One flat membership: $499/yr (launch price until September 1, 2026 — then $799/yr for new signups), everything included. Sign up now and your annual renewal stays locked at $499/yr for as long as your membership stays active, with every new feature we ship at that price. Every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can try the live demo or the free Viewer first.
Ready to add the offering? See pricing and start — $499/yr.