STAG: Smart Tools and Applications in Graphics (2021)
P. Frosini, D. Giorgi, S. Melzi, and E. Rodolà (Editors)
3D modeling and integration of heterogeneous geo-data
M. Miola
†1
and D. Cabiddu
1
and S. Pittaluga
1
and M. Mortara
1
and M. Vetuschi Zuccolini
2
and G. Imitazione
3
1
CNR-IMATI, Genova, Italy
2
DISTAV, University of Genova, Italy
3
RINA Consulting, Genova, Italy
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Figure 1: Representation of the developed procedure to generate a 3D model of a submarine deposit, starting from (a) available data
analysis, to (b) the definition of triangular meshes, to (c) the generation of tetrahedral volume, and to (d) the integration of geotechnical
parameters.
Abstract
This paper tackles the volumetric representation of geophysical and geotechnical data, gathered during exploration surveys
of the subsoil. The creation of a 3D model as support to geological interpretation has to take into account the specificity of
the diverse input data, that are heterogeneous. Some data are massive, but cover the domain unevenly, e.g., structured along
dense differently spaced lines, while others are very sparse, e.g., borehole locations with soil sampling and CPTU (Piezocone
Penetration Test) locations. In this work, we focus on the exploration and analysis of underwater deposits.
After a discussion about the data typically acquired in an offshore campaign, we present an automatic process to generate the
subsurfaces and volume defining an underground deposit, starting from the identification of relevant morphological features in
seismic data. In particular, data simplification and refinement based on geostatistics have been applied to generate regular 2D
meshes from strongly anisotropic data, in order to improve the quality of the final 3D tetrahedral mesh. Furthermore, we also
use geostatistics to predict geotechnical parameters from local surveys and estimate their distribution on the whole domain: in
this way the 3D model will include relevant geological features of the deposit and allow extrapolating different geotechnical
information with associated uncertainty. The volume characterization and its 3D inspection will improve the structural and
stratigraphic interpretation of deposits, to support geological analysis and planning of future engineering activities.
Keywords: Representation of subsoil, 3D modeling, Geostatistical analysis
1. Introduction
Thanks to the technological developments of the last decades, there
are new approaches to describe and comprehend environmental
phenomena. Through faithful digital representations reconstructed
from heterogeneous real data, simulations on the digital model
can potentially be considered reliable experiments on the real phe-
nomenon. This is also the concept behind the so-called digital twin,
†
Corresponding Author
applied to various complex systems, from factories to entire cities
[FFDB20].
In the sector of geological investigations, knowledge of the prop-
erties of the subsoil is an essential requirement for the planning and
construction of infrastructure building, for the assessment of seis-
mic and hydrogeological risks and for the identification and inves-
tigation of resources deposits.
In order to characterise a portion of submarine deposit, offshore
surveys are carried out to understand the lithostratigraphy of the
© 2021 The Author(s)
Eurographics Proceedings © 2021 The Eurographics Association.
DOI: 10.2312/stag.20211473
https://diglib.eg.org
https://www.eg.org