Spatial Data Analysis: An Integrated Approach

D. F. Merriam

It may be desirable or necessary to compare, contrast, or classify spatial data; the approach will be different depending upon the objective. For comparative purposes, maps may be compared pairwise or they may be combined to produce a resultant map. Contrasting maps may require a different map familiar to geologists, such as an isopachous map. Numerical descriptors may be defined for map configurations and then used as input to classification schemes. Data may be such that they need to be pretreated with techniques such as filtering or smoothing. Inasmuch as most of the techniques are dependent on gridded data, grid nodes may be generated by any one of the many gridding techniques from the raw data or from the interpretation. Data of the same type in the same measurements can be used directly; however, if they are different, then they have to be standardized prior to the analysis. In this fashion, then, geological, geophysical, geochemical, topographical, or any other thematic data can be integrated easily and quickly. Results of this approach can be revealing and beneficial to hydrocarbon prospecting and prospect evaluation in focusing attention on specific areas of interest.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91022©1989 AAPG Annual Convention, April 23-26, 1989, San Antonio, Texas.