Interactive Data Processing and 3D Visualization of the Solid Earth

This book presents works detailing the application of processing and visualization techniques for analyzing the Earth's subsurface. The topic of the book is interactive data processing and interactive 3D visualization techniques used on subsurface data. Interactive processing of data together with interactive visualization is a powerful combination which has in the recent years become possible due to hardware and algorithm advances in. The combination enables the user to perform interactive exploration and filtering of datasets while simultaneously visualizing the results so that insights can be made immediately. This makes it possible to quickly form hypotheses and draw conclusions.

Case studies from the geosciences are not as often presented in the scientific visualization and computer graphics community as e.g., studies on medical, biological or chemical data. This book will give researchers in the field of visualization and computer graphics valuable insight into the open visualization challenges in the geosciences, and how certain problems are currently solved using domain specific processing and visualization techniques. Conversely, readers from the geosciences will gain valuable insight into relevant visualization and interactive processing techniques.

Subsurface data has interesting characteristics such as its solid nature, large range of scales and high degree of uncertainty, which makes it challenging to visualize with standard methods. It is also noteworthy that parallel fields of research have taken place in geosciences and in computer graphics, with different terminology when it comes to representing geometry, describing terrains, interpolating data and (example-based) synthesis of data.

The domains covered in this book are geology, digital terrains, seismic data, reservoir visualization and CO₂ storage. The technologies covered are 3D visualization, visualization of large datasets, 3D modelling, machine learning, virtual reality, seismic interpretation and multidisciplinary collaboration. People within any of these domains and technologies are potential readers of the book.

Daniel Patel received his PhD in interactive visualization and analysis of volumetric data in 2009. The PhD was taken jointly at Vienna University of Technology, Austria and at the University of Bergen, Norway.

He has published several works dealing with visualization, interpretation and modelling of geological data.

He has worked at Christian Michelsen Research (now NORCE Norwegian Research Centre) for almost 20 years and is now working as CEO of Rapid Geology AS and Associate Professor II at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. Earlier, as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the visualization group at the University of Bergen, he was involved in the Geoillustrator research project, which focused on illustrative and sketch-based geological modelling.