Bruce Napier

Developing digital fieldwork technologies at the British Geological Survey

Abstract Geological Surveys are faced with budget constraints and calls for efficiency gains; the effective application of digital techniques is often seen as a route to meeting these demands while increasing the value of outcrop studies and reducing the inherent subsurface uncertainty. The British Geological Survey may be the oldest national Survey in the world (established in 1835); however, developing and implementing new, innovative and efficient technologies for fieldwork is a high priority. Efficient tools for capturing, integrating, manipulating and disseminating outcrop data and information are imperative to enable geoscientists to increase their understanding of geological processes and therefore to reduce subsurface uncertainty and risk. Systems for capturing structured digital field data and for visualizing and interacting with large datasets are increasingly being utilized by geoscientists in the UK and internationally. Augmented reality and unmanned aerial vehicles are amongst the developing technologies being explored for future operational implementation. This paper describes the digital field mapping (BGS·SIGMAmobile) and visualization (GeoVisionary) systems and refers to a case study outlining their contribution to reducing uncertainty and risk in hydrocarbon exploration.

Why 3D? The Need for Solution Based Modeling in a National Geoscience Organization.

In recent years national geoscience organizations have increasingly utilized 3D model data as an output to the stakeholder community. Advances in both software and hardware have led to an increasing use of 3D depictions of geoscience data alongside the standard 2D data formats such as maps and GIS data. By characterizing geoscience data in 3D, knowledge transfer between geoscientists and stakeholders is improved as the mindset and thought processes are communicated more effectively in a 3D model than in a 2D flat file format. 3D models allow the user to understand the conceptual basis of the 2D data and aids the decision making process at local, regional and national scales. Some of these issues include foundation and engineering conditions, ground water vulnerability, aquifer recharge and flow, and resource extraction and storage. The British Geological Survey has established a mechanism and infrastructure through the Digital Geoscience Spatial Model Programme (DGSM) to produce these types of 3D geoscien...

Dataset Acquisition to Support Geoscience

Abstract Environmental scientists are both producers and consumers of data. Numerous studies have shown that significant amounts of scientists’ time can be consumed in acquiring, managing and transforming data prior to their use. To facilitate the work of its scientists, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has identified a series of national datasets that are required by scientists across the organization. The BGS then seeks to acquire and manage these centrally, and to supply them to the scientists in formats that they normally use. Making these datasets readily available helps to: enhance the quality of the science; promote interdisciplinary working; reduce costs.