The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) recently released EPSG Area Polygons as a freely available spatial dataset that accurately defines the applicable extent of the CRSs and transformations in the EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset (EPSG Dataset). However, use of the Area Polygons dataset is not as straightforward as it could be, as…
Read detailsTool parameters are used to set values for elements within a script, allowing you to pick from a drop-down list or navigate to a location without having to edit any script code. Embellishing from my previous blog on listing files in a folder using Python, this blog shows you how to create a script that…
Read detailsThis year two teams from Exprodat decided to enter the Oxfam Trailwalker 2012 event. We thought it would be fun to develop a map-based application to track the positions of our teams and devised a system whereby the walkers would carry smartphones containing built-in GPS receivers for gathering position information. This information would then be…
Read detailsMost geologists like a nice geological block diagram and it is relatively easy to create one for presentations using a combination of GIS and a graphics application. I last created one way back in college (16 years ago!) using a combination of PCI satellite image processing software and CorelDRAW (a popular graphics application). So I…
Read detailsRaster data like digital elevation models (e.g. SRTM), bathymetry (e.g. GEBCO), and gravity (e.g. Sandwell and Smith) can provide valuable context to an area. Since only so much subsurface analysis and interpretation can be done in GIS, getting these rasters into other applications, like GeoFrame, Petrel and Petromod, is important to give wider context to seismic, well and…
Read detailsSeabed survey datasets are assets of enormous value for offshore operators. Environmental, site, geo-hazard, debris and pipeline planning surveys catalogue features on and below the seafloor to support well planning, drilling and production operations – all expensive and potentially risky activities. Identifying hazards on the seafloor that can jeopardise these operations is of particular importance…
Read detailsPart of many data management projects is keeping a record of what files are where. Often this can involve creating a list in Excel of all files within a folder area. Doing this manually is impractical as, typing out the information takes a long time and of course can also be a demoralising task. A…
Read detailsWhy should we use GIS? This is probably the question we hear most often in our discussions with our petroleum clients. And it’s not just from those oil and gas companies who have yet to embrace GIS – we sometimes hear this from companies that have already invested considerably in supporting technology and projects, but…
Read detailsThe annual Esri Petroleum User Group Conference (or PUG for short) is now called the Esri Petroleum GIS Conference and is being held again in Houston, Texas, April 30–May 2, 2012. I’ve been travelling to the conference from the UK on and off for around ten years now, and it’s worth the trip because the…
Read detailsGeoreferencing images such as scanned maps are a common way of importing legacy or paper map data. However, sometimes vector based illustrations are required to be imported into GIS; often these vector drawings have no reference data. When these unreferenced data are added into ArcMap using the ArcGIS Data Interoperability extension they will, by default locate…
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