McCOLLOCH, GAYLE H., Jr., West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV

ABSTRACT: Adding Flexibility to Statistical Analysis of Energy Minerals Data with Geographical Information Software

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey has been collecting coal quality Data since the Survey began in 1897. Much of it is geographically referenced so the data can be manipulated by a Geographic Information System (GIS). Sample collection and analysis continue but a major part of our effort is involved with storing, editing and analyzing existing data.

The master copy of our database resides on the Survey's VAX minicomputer allowing easy data entry and editing by various staff members, but most data analysis is performed on PCs or Workstations.

Traditional statistical analysis facilitated by the SAS and SPSS systems combined with proper database design have, previously, allowed us to incorporate some limited geographical analyses, but the addition of PC-based GIS software has allowed many analyses that were not possible without GIS.

Examples of analyses that this technique allows are numerous, but two simple ones include summary statistics of coal quality, by seam, within a user-defined area and summary statistics of coal quality, by seam, for coals within a given distance of features such as railroads.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.