| An integrated system is developed to “capture” (digitally map) geology accurately, geometrically, geographically and photorealistically. New off-the-shelf technologies have evolved which, when integrated, provide a revolutionary means for a geologist to quickly and digitally “capture” observations in the field. This system has four technological components: (1) Global Positioning System (GPS), which ties all of the data together globally as accurately as a centimeter; (2) reflectorless laser rangefinders, which can remotely trace geology (“laser sketch”) in three dimensions in a “trigger on” or continuous mode, essentially acquiring continuous stratigraphic sections and high accuracy and resolution terrain data (up to centimeter to decimeter); (3) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based software that has been written, CyberMapping, which provides data management for data capture and real time analysis and visualization on a portable field computer; and (4) oblique digital photography on the ground, which provides a way to realistically capture the surface of an outcrop.; This system has been applied to various geological problems, from basic structural orientation in the Austin Chalk in Texas, to mapping stratigraphic sections in the Ferron Sandstone in Muddy Creek, Utah, to a detailed reservoir characterization of channel deposits in the Ferron Sandstone at Corbula Gulch, Utah, where subsurface information was also integrated, to mapping subtle small amplitude, long wavelength structures in the Frontier Sandstone, Wyoming.; A methodology of applying this system to capture the entire geological outcrop photorealistically in three-dimensional space with even a single oblique photograph without conventional stereo analysis is developed, tested and applied to the Austin Chalk, Texas. The virtual outcrop was brought back to the office to continue to map and extract geologic information quantitatively (such as strikes and dips and thicknesses), as well as qualitatively by three-dimensional visualization. A three-dimensional photorealistic model can be an effective tool for teaching and research, and can be utilized on the relatively basic to most sophisticated analysis and visualization environments. It also has non-geoscientific applications. |
