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Methods for Constructing a 3d Geological Model from Scatter Data

Methods of Constructing a 3D Geological Model from Scatter Data

Jennifer Horsman
Earth Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA  94720
jlhorsman@lbl.gov

Wes Bethel
Information and Computing Sciences Division
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
1 Cyclotron Road
Berkeley, CA  94720
ewbethel@lbl.gov

Abstract

Most geoscience applications, such as assessment of an oil reservoir or hazardous waste site, require geological characterization of the site. Geological characterization involves analysis of spatial distributions of lithology, porosity, etc.. Geoscientists often rely on two-dimensional visualizations for analyzing geological data. Because of the complexity of the spatial relationships, however, we find that a three-dimensional model of geology is better suited for integration of many different types of data and provides a better representation of a site than a two-dimensional one. Being able to easily manipulate a large, complex data set provides the geoscientist with the opportunity to detect and visually analyze spatial correlations and correlations between different types of data, thus leading to an increased understanding of the data.

A three-dimensional model of geology is constructed from sample data obtained from field measurements, which are usually scattered. To create a volume model from scattered data, interpolation between points is required. The interpolation can be computed using one of several computational algorithms. Alternatively, a manual method may be employed, in which an interactive graphics device is used to input by hand the information that lies between the data points. For example, a mouse can be used to draw lines connecting data points with equal values. The combination of these two methods presents yet another approach.

In this study, we will compare selected methods of three-dimensional geological modeling. We used a flow-based, modular visualization environmen (AVS) to construct the geologcal models computationally. Within this system, we used three modules, scat_3d, trivar and scatter_to_ucd, as examples of computational methods. We compare these methods to the combined manual and computational approach. Because there are no tools readily available in AVS for this type of construction, we used a geological modeling system to demonstrate this method.

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