OR/17/003 Publication methods and outputs
| Terrington, R, Thorpe, S and Jirner, E. 2017. Enköping Esker pilot study - workflow for data integration and publishing of 3D geological outputs. British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/17/003. |
The following published outputs were developed by BGS and delivered to SGU as part of the study.
Web viewer
A web viewer was developed for the Enköping geological model, so that the user can interrogate the model by producing synthetic boreholes (Figure 24), cross-sections (Figure 25) and horizontal slices (Figure 27) which can be relative to sea-level or ground level, using the tools in the bottom left of the map interface. Each of these items can be published as a PDF file with a legend attached. The map interface also includes the surface geological map (including a legend) as provided by SGU (see Geological map linework) and the locations and names of boreholes considered and used in the construction of the geological model. The geological map and boreholes can be turned on and off using the slider bar to change their transparency (Figures 23 and 26). The red hatched box indicates the location of the model from which the above synthetic outputs can be generated.
Currently, the data is hosted by BGS and the map viewer can be accessed using the following URL: https://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/sweden_esker_pilot/
To remove the section and begin a new section, close the points that have been generated for the previous section:
Horizontal sections are pre-set to 75 pixels and can lowered to improve performance. Elevation is in metres relative to sea-level or the depth in metres below ground level. The horizontal slice will be generated for the whole of the model area.
Web map viewer — future
If further models were to be hosted by BGS for SGU (e.g. Uppsala), then new arrangements would be needed to cover costs and resources. The actual method in which grids are loaded into the Web Viewer will be changed in the future so that the same mechanism that is used within the Web Viewer will be the same that is implemented in Groundhog Desktop system.
The BGS are developing new methods for visualising 3D data within the Web Viewer such DTM’s, cross-sections and boreholes. The 3D Geology of Britain Viewer will be implemented in 2017 and could potentially host and deliver the synthetic model data for borehole, cross-section and horizontal slice generation.
Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox video game originally created by Swedish game designer Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, and later developed and published by Mojang. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft enable players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, resource gathering, crafting, and combat. Multiple gameplay modes are available, including survival mode where the player must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health, a creative mode where players have unlimited resources to build with and the ability to fly, an adventure mode where players can play custom maps created by other players. The spectator mode where players can fly around and clip through blocks, but cannot place or destroy any. The PC version of the game is noted for its modding scene, where a dedicated community creates new gameplay mechanics, items, and assets for the game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecraft
BGS has developed a methodology for converting 3d models into a Minecraft world, and have released 4 Worlds available for free to download. The methodology takes each geological surface from a 3d model and converts it to a point-cloud, and using a software called FME, writes out this point-cloud to a Minecraft world. The world is made of glass blocks and each block is given the standard BGS colour found in our maps and models. The glass blocks allow the user/player to see through the model slightly to the units above or below as they explore.
The Enköping Esker model allows the player to explore the Esker, and its shape and size under the ground. The Minecraft world contains the eight geological units found in the model, and to finish the world scene, the surface has been covered with a grass block (Figure 28). This could be improved further by including the topography within the FME process to apply roads, railways, water, trees and buildings. This has been applied in the BGS released worlds.
For those new to Minecraft there are numerous resources our there to help the beginner, but a good place to start is the Minecraft Gamepedia — minecraft.gamepedia.com/Tutorials/Beginners_guide
Geovisionary
The Enköping model was compiled into GeoVisionary v3.0.17 (Figure 29). The following datasets were included:
6.3.1 CAD model of city (Collada (.dae) file)
6.3.2 Quaternary Geological Map
6.3.3 Boreholes (both as 3D shapefiles and CSV)
6.3.4 Cross-sections (3D shapefiles)
6.3.5 Shells (GOCAD tsurfs)
6.3.6 Grids (ASCII files)
Further training is required by SGU to use the latest version of GeoVisionary (Version 3) as the interface and the number tools, data loaders and interactivity has changed and increased markedly from version 2.5. The newer version includes GPS, WMS/WFS, sensor feed data, SEGY and geophysical data.
3D PDF
The 3D PDF of the Enköping geological model (Figure 30) was produced in Feature Manipulation Engine (FME) where the model objects (boreholes and cross-sections as 3D shapefiles, and geological unit shells as OBJ CAD objects) were integrated together with the Enköping topographical map. The 3D PDF has been pre-set to a vertical exaggeration to x5. The model tree list is in alphabetical order.
BGS groundhog desktop
BGS Groundhog Desktop GSIS (desktop geoscientific information system) is a graphical software tool developed by the GeoAnalytics and Modelling directorate of BGS for the display of geological and geospatial information such as interpreted (correlated) geological cross sections, maps and boreholes.
Groundhog Desktop is intended as a basic geoscientific information system (GSIS) — a software tool that facilitates the collation, display, filtering and editing of a range of data relevant to subsurface interpretation and modelling. Groundhog Desktop is able to load and display certain types of borehole data, geological map linework, interpreted (correlated) cross sections and faults. It also supports reference data such as elevation models and images and has basic editing capabilities. https://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/environmentalModelling/groundhogDesktop.html
As part of the pilot study, the boundary polygon has been replaced with a boundary for Sweden. Groundhog offers superior snapping capability, therefore the cross-sections were cross checked and snapped in Groundhog desktop by BGS to ensure the cross-section geometries matched and were consistent with the surface and subcrop of the units within the model (Figure 31). The snapping capability and ease in which cross-sections can be drawn in Groundhog Desktop may influence future workflow options for both collaborative and in-house model construction.
Groundhog desktop GSIS — future developments
The BGS objective is to make Groundhog Desktop the most useful general-purpose interpretation tool for the practising geologist. To this end, the development team are committed to ongoing extensions and improvements within the software, with investments in key areas such as:
- Support for labelling, scaling, printing, PDF and vector graphics output,
- Support for common formats such as MS Office, CSV, XML, LAS, AGS,
- Basic 3D visualization and a link to GeoVisionary for advanced work,
- Support for upscaling and exporting structural models into common numerical models such as MODFLOW and FEFLOW,
- Tools for working with contours and structural measurements (dip/azimuth),
- Tools for consuming and displaying data from sensor arrays,
- Interpolation of surfaces and properties and improved support for grid layers and voxel models,
- Development of a plugin framework to enable 3rd-party customization of the software.
ASCII grid output
Each geological unit was exported as an ASCII grid using the parameters stated in Grid export parameters. The top, base and thickness of each geological unit was exported. The ASCII grids that showed thickness were particularly useful for checking the model for anomalies that may have occurred during the calculation, and forms part of the post calculation checks for geological models. Below is an example of the Isälvssediment (main esker unit), showing a thickness of up to 65 m in some areas which is almost 20 m thicker than was measured from the national superficial deposits thickness model provided by SGU (Figure 33).
