The former Australia captain reached three figures before lunch by dancing down the pitch to spinner Samit Patel and hitting his 14th four.
The 38-year-old batted sensibly in the afternoon, but hit 10 off a Graeme White to reach 142 not out at tea.
Ponting's innings came as his former Australian team-mates were fighting back against England in the first Test.
It was the second century in his short spell at Surrey after he hit 192 on his debut against Derbyshire and the 82nd first-class ton of his career.Although he will not make any more Championship appearances, with South Africa's JP Duminy set to replace him as overseas player, he will be playing one-day cricket for the county until the end of July.
Resuming on 41 not out, he lost partner Arun Harinath in the first over of the day, bowled behind his legs by Harry Gurney for 69, and two overs later Zander de Bruyn was run out.
When Steven Davies was bowled by Andre Adams, Surrey were 218-5 and just six runs ahead, but Ponting and Zafar Ansari shared an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 64 up to the lunch interval to give their side hope of avoiding defeat.
His efforts during the afternoon took Surrey to 356-8 - a lead of 144 with one session remaining.
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