APPLICATIONS OF 2D & 3D IMAGES

Applications of 2D & 3D Images to Monitor the Engineering Projects In Seabed

Applications of 2D & 3D Images to Monitor the Engineering Projects In Seabed

Exploration and Production (E&P) companies spend millions of dollars every year undertaking seabed surveys to acquire data to help in many exploration and production activities such as: determining potential well locations, identifying geophysical hazards (geohazards), the selection of potential pipeline routes and offshore facility locations, and asset maintenance. E&P companies utilise hydrographic survey companies to collect, process and deliver seabed survey data to improve project planning and manage risk. However, to extract the true value from the acquired data there is a need to ensure consistency in how the data is structured and delivered so that it is more efficiently integrated and managed throughout the E&P lifecycle.

Gareth Wright, Spatial Data Management, Woodside Energy Ltd., Australia

In 2006, Shell and Woodside Energy Ltd (WEL) recognised that the true value of the seabed survey data it was acquiring was not being realised. The lack of a defined data model and technical specification for the delivery of survey deliverables were the key reason behind the issues and highlighted the fact that seabed survey data was:

Difficult, timely and costly to manage internally

Difficult to integrate with adjoining and/or surrounding survey data

Problematic when sharing with joint venture partners

Lacking integration with business workflows.

With this in mind, Shell and WEL embarked on developing a data model that could standardise how survey contractors would deliver future survey data. Like most E&P companies, Shell and WEL utilise GIS technology to manage, map and analyse geo-information via the ESRI technology stack. As a result, the idea was to develop a GIS data model using the ESRI geodatabase. The data model was to model the main geographic entities acquired and interpreted from seabed surveys including seabed features, sediments, shallow geohazards, bathymetry, geotechnical samples and survey project details (extents, zones of equipment use, navigation etc.). The data model was to be commonly referred to as the Seabed Survey Data Model (SSDM).

Improved Workflows

After the development and release of the SSDM, Shell and WEL immediately witnessed improvement in the consistency of seabed survey data deliverables from its survey contractors. While the SSDM required staff from the companies to liaise and work closely with its survey contractors in the initial stages of implementation, the time spent was well worth it. This process also allowed the survey companies to see the real benefit of having a consistent data model for delivering seabed survey data to its clients.

Suddenly, survey deliverables were consistently structured; meaning the QC of the data could focus on the data itself rather than the formatting of the deliverables. It also allowed the SSDM geodatabase to be easily loaded into the corporate spatial database (ESRI ArcSDE geodatabase), leading to a reduction in data being mismanaged and misplaced. This improved survey planning (illustrated in Figure 1, above) also ensured that survey deliverables were stored and accessible to the required groups via corporate GIS layers and web GIS applications sourcing the ...