Integrating Remote Sesing and Non-Seismic Geophysics: Case Historues of Where it Does and Does Not Reduce Exploration Risk

Since the advent of Landsat in 1973, geoscientists have sought to integrate space and air borne electro optical remote sensing imagery with other types of earth observation remote sensing geophysical technologies. For explorationists seeking hydrocarbon or mineral deposits, correlated anomalies in multiple independent datasets have long been used to construct constrained earth models which serve to improve the ability to identify economic deposits and reduce the risk of drilling dry holes. Ultimately, this approach leads to lower finding costs and shorter time-lines for bringing resources to market.

Integration of optical remote sensing data with geophysical data is not a panacea, however. The surface expression of reflectance may be decoupled from the more deeply-sourced geologic features which generate geophysical anomalies. The geology at depth may be spatially offset from the surface reflectance anomaly. In some cases, the deep-seated geologic target may have no correlation with surface features. As with many exploration tools, electro optical imagery as well as potential fields remote sensing data should be tightly constrained with sound geological and geophysical insight.

In our 30 years of integrating electro optical remote sensing imagery with gravity, magnetics, and topographic information, we have compiled examples where disparate data are combined for improved confidence in exploration earth modeling. Our presentation will show some of the ‘success stories’ as well as some of the duds, providing attendees with a realistic view of what may or may not become clear when integrating different data.
 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90142 © 2012 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, 2012, Long Beach, California