Ditch Assist Owner Access
Request your Ditch Assist IDM portal access
Ditch Assist owners receive complimentary access to a custom Ideal Drainage Mapping portal, provisioned by the Ditch Assist team. It sits between the free Geo-Surface Viewer and the full Geo-Surface Pro design suite: analyze terrain, generate flow lines, depressions and ponding layers, then export those results as georeferenced overlays for use in Ditch Assist. If you need access, request it directly from Ditch Assist.
Complimentary for Ditch Assist owners · account access is provisioned by Ditch Assist.
Ditch Assist IDM portal
Get access or open your existing account
The custom Ideal Drainage Mapping portal is a complimentary benefit for Ditch Assist owners and is separate from a Geo-Surface Pro membership. Ditch Assist provisions machine-owner accounts directly, so new access requests go to their team.
Need portal access?
Request your complimentary IDM portal account from Ditch Assist. There is nothing to buy or activate for this owner benefit on the Geo-Surface website.
Request access from Ditch AssistAlready set up?
Open the IDM portal and log in with the account details supplied by the Ditch Assist team.
Open the IDM portalHow IDM portal access works
- Request it from Ditch Assist Send the access request directly to the team responsible for your machine-owner account.
- Ditch Assist provisions the account Their team confirms eligibility, creates the account, and sends your login details.
- Map and export Generate drainage-analysis layers, export the georeferenced overlays, and load them into Ditch Assist.
Machine ownership, eligibility, and account provisioning are handled by Ditch Assist. Geo-Surface Pro is a separate paid GIS4AG membership for users who want to move beyond terrain analysis and overlay export into full drainage and landforming design.
Viewer, IDM portal, or Pro?
The IDM portal fills the gap between viewing terrain and fully designing the job
Start with the level that matches the work you need to do. Ditch Assist owners already have a powerful middle step available at no additional charge.
Free Geo-Surface Viewer
Fetch available public elevation, inspect terrain in 2D and 3D, measure, and open shared plans. It is the quick, public way to look at a field.
Complimentary Ditch Assist IDM portal
For Ditch Assist owners: generate flow lines, depressions, ponding and other ideal-drainage analysis layers, then export georeferenced overlays for use as field references in Ditch Assist.
Geo-Surface Pro membership
Upgrade when you want full design capabilities: surface drainage, complete tile networks, 3D landforming, quantities, reports, and the broader machine, CAD and GIS export workflow.
Join Geo-Surface ProConnected by practical experience
Built to fit the Ditch Assist workflow
Simon Knutson created Geo-Surface Pro and leads the GIS4AG team developing it. He is also a co-owner and the creator/developer of Ditch Assist, a separate venture. That shared product experience is why the workflows fit together so directly: Geo-Surface Pro can export a landforming AGD containing the existing and proposed surfaces, field boundary, and calibration benchmarks that Ditch Assist uses in the field. Geo-Surface Pro and TerraZoner are Simon's GIS4AG ventures; GIS4AG operates under his Canadian corporation, 17449275 Canada Inc.
Design it yourself
Design the work, export the file, take it to the field
Draw surface drains, lay out tile, or solve a full 3D landforming plan — all three live in the same browser tab, all on built-in LiDAR or your own survey. For landforming, export the AGD file your Ditch Assist grades from. For surface drains and tile, take the plan and its design reference to the cab and build it run by run.
3D landforming (Beta) that grades a field to drain to the edges
For a field that fits a drainage-first, drain-to-edge workflow, Geo-Surface Pro gives you a practical self-service path: fill low spots and grade the field so the surface sheds to the outside boundary edges you allow. Select those edges, set the maximum cut, run the solve, and inspect the finished surface before moving dirt.
- Three design models to try — whole-field blade pass + nearby borrow, least-disturbance, or balanced — plus shallow planing (skim) and topsoil strip & return.
- Moves as little dirt as possible — fill is borrowed from nearby high ground, so most of the field stays untouched.
- Genuinely advanced haul optimization — haul-distance analysis in banded distances with volume per band, plus a borrow/supply-zone plan that says where the dirt comes from and where it goes.
- Honest, audited volumes in yd³ and m³ — if your cut limit can't get there, the app says so and tells you what to change.
Straight talk: Geo-Surface Pro is self-service drainage-first design software, not a replacement for experienced design specialists on every field. It is worth trying first when the field fits the workflow. For genuinely complex or high-stakes landforming, a full-service specialist design may be good value.
AGD landforming files Ditch Assist
The full landforming design — existing and proposed surfaces, field boundary, and the calibration benchmarks you place right on the map. Always metric, straight into the machine.
XYZP design files Ditch Assist
Point-by-point existing and design elevation for surface-drain work — a design reference you pull up in the cab; stake and set final grade with RTK when the job goes ahead.
Georeferenced design images
Your design positioned on real coordinates, so the picture on the display lines up with the ground you're standing on.
Ditch Assist TXT
Plain design-point text when that's the format the job calls for — no converting, no rework.
Not everything has to go to the machine as an AGD. The same design also exports as OptiSurface/AGPS AGS points, CSV grid, TXT, and dual-surface DXF (design grade plus existing ground) — so if your grade-control system reads AGS, CSV, TXT, or DXF, you can use these designs too. And the plan, quantities, and client-ready PDF report stand on their own, so the work is useful with or without a machine file. You don't need a Ditch Assist to get value from Geo-Surface Pro; if you own one, the AGD path is just the most direct.
The honest workflow
From LiDAR to graded ground
No survey crew just to see whether a field is worth doing. Plan and design from built-in elevation, then verify on site before you cut.
Four steps, boundary to blade
- Pull the terrain Draw a boundary and Geo-Surface Pro fetches US 3DEP or Canada HRDEM LiDAR automatically — or bring your own RTK/XYZ survey points, a GeoTIFF, or a shapefile.
- Design and solve Surface drains, tile, or a full landforming solve, with live cut/fill and no ponding left behind.
- Export what the job needs For a landforming plan, write the AGD — existing and proposed surfaces, boundary, and the calibration benchmarks you placed on the map. For surface drains and tile, take the plan and its in-cab design reference (XYZP, TXT, design image).
- Tie in and grade Landforming: set the machine on your benchmarks with RTK when the job goes ahead, then grade with your Ditch Assist. Surface drains and tile: your crew surveys each run with their own RTK and grades it in, referring back to the plan for target depths, sizes, and grades.
Plan and design from LiDAR. Survey and grade with RTK when the job goes ahead.
The math
How much does landforming design cost per acre? Here, nothing per acre.
Geo-Surface Pro is US$499 a year, flat, covering unlimited fields and acres you design yourself. That is a different service model from commissioning an experienced design team by the acre.
Try the self-service workflow first when the field is a good fit. If the project is unusually complex or you want specialists to prepare and revise the design for you, a full-service package may justify its additional cost.
Geo-Surface Pro
Everything included
Launch price. It's $499/yr for a limited time before the price for new signups moves to $799/yr on September 1, 2026. Sign up now and your renewal stays locked at $499/yr for as long as your membership stays active — every new feature we ship included, forever, at that price. Start for $499/yr30-day money-back guarantee
Straight answers
Making your own Ditch Assist designs — the common questions
How do I make my own design files for Ditch Assist?
Draw your field boundary in Geo-Surface Pro and pull built-in LiDAR (or import your own survey points). Design a surface drain, tile layout, or a full 3D landforming plan. For a landforming plan, export the AGD file — existing and proposed surfaces, boundary, and calibration benchmarks — then tie into those benchmarks on site with RTK and grade. For surface-drain and tile work, the XYZP design file, Ditch Assist TXT, and georeferenced design image ride along in the cab as a reference while the crew surveys each run with their own RTK and grades from that survey.
What is an AGD file, and what's in it?
The AGD is the landforming design file Ditch Assist grades from. Geo-Surface Pro writes it with the existing surface, the proposed (design) surface, the field boundary, and the on-map calibration benchmarks you place yourself — always in metric. Those benchmarks are how the machine ties the design to real ground before it moves dirt.
Do I need a Ditch Assist to use Geo-Surface Pro?
No. Geo-Surface Pro is a full drainage and landforming design suite on its own, and the design also exports as OptiSurface/AGPS AGS points, CSV grid, and dual-surface DXF for other workflows. If you own a Ditch Assist, the AGD path is especially direct because Simon's work creating and developing both products shaped how they fit together. Ditch Assist remains a separate co-owned venture from GIS4AG.
How much does landforming design cost per acre with Geo-Surface Pro?
Nothing per acre. Geo-Surface Pro is self-service software with a flat $499/yr membership covering unlimited fields and acres. A specialist design service is different: its per-acre charge can include experienced designers, preliminary design, customer review, revisions, and a final machine-control file.
Is this an OptiSurface alternative?
Geo-Surface Pro is worth trying first for drainage-first, drain-to-edge landforming you want to design yourself. It includes three design models, shallow planing, topsoil strip & return, audited volumes, and direct AGD export. OptiSurface is a different proposition: its public offer is a full-service workflow with experienced designers, review, and revisions. For a genuinely complex field or when you want expert design input, that service may be the better fit.
Can I use my own survey instead of built-in LiDAR?
Yes. Bring RTK/XYZ or CSV survey points, a point shapefile, an OptiSurface AGS file, or a GeoTIFF DEM — your points become a design-ready elevation surface. Built-in US 3DEP and Canada HRDEM LiDAR is there when you'd rather not survey just to plan.
Is the IDM portal the same thing as Geo-Surface Pro?
No. The custom IDM portal is complimentary for Ditch Assist owners and sits between the free Viewer and Geo-Surface Pro. It adds ideal-drainage analysis such as flow lines, depressions and ponding, with georeferenced overlay exports for Ditch Assist. Geo-Surface Pro is the optional paid membership for full surface-drainage, tile and 3D landforming design, quantities, reports, and broader export capabilities.
You own the machine. Own the design side too.
Design your own drainage and 3D landforming. Export the landforming AGD with benchmarks and grade with your Ditch Assist — on one flat membership, no per-acre design fees.
30-day money-back guarantee · unlimited acres · US + Canada coverage