Uncertainty assessment in 3-D geological models of increasing complexity
The quality of a 3-D geological model strongly depends on the type of integrated geological data, their interpretation and associated uncertainties. In order to improve an existing geological model and effectively plan further site investigation, it is of paramount importance to identify existing un...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-04-01
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| Series: | Solid Earth |
| Online Access: | http://www.solid-earth.net/8/515/2017/se-8-515-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | The quality of a 3-D geological model strongly depends on the type
of integrated geological data, their interpretation and associated
uncertainties. In order to improve an existing geological model and
effectively plan further site investigation, it is of paramount importance to
identify existing uncertainties within the model space. Information entropy,
a voxel-based measure, provides a method for assessing structural
uncertainties, comparing multiple model interpretations and tracking changes
across consecutively built models. The aim of this study is to evaluate the
effect of data integration (i.e., update of an existing model through
successive addition of different types of geological data) on model
uncertainty, model geometry and overall structural understanding. Several
geological 3-D models of increasing complexity, incorporating different input
data categories, were built for the study site Staufen (Germany). We applied
the concept of information entropy in order to visualize and quantify changes
in uncertainty between these models. Furthermore, we propose two measures,
the Jaccard and the city-block distance, to directly compare dissimilarities
between the models. The study shows that different types of geological data
have disparate effects on model uncertainty and model geometry. The presented
approach using both information entropy and distance measures can be a major
help in the optimization of 3-D geological models. |
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| ISSN: | 1869-9510 1869-9529 |