Spatial targeting using queries in a 3-D GIS environment with application to mineral exploration

  • Authors:
  • Kevin Sprague;Eric de Kemp;Winston Wong;John McGaughey;Gervais Perron;Tucker Barrie

  • Affiliations:
  • Natural Resources Canada, Earth Sciences Sector, 615 Booth St. Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1A 0E9;Natural Resources Canada, Earth Sciences Sector, 615 Booth St. Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1A 0E9;Natural Resources Canada, Earth Sciences Sector, 615 Booth St. Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1A 0E9;Mira Geoscience Ltd., 310 Victoria Ave, Suite 309, Westmont, Qué., Canada H3Z 2M9;Mira Geoscience Ltd., 310 Victoria Ave, Suite 309, Westmont, Qué., Canada H3Z 2M9;C.T. Barrie and Associates, Inc., 23 Euclid Avenue, Ottawa, Ont., Canada K1S 2W2

  • Venue:
  • Computers & Geosciences
  • Year:
  • 2006

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Abstract

A query framework for spatial targeting within a 3-D geographic information system (GIS) software environment is introduced. Input to a query consists of parameters relevant to the query type together with a set of Common Earth Modelling objects represented as point sets, polygonal lines, surfaces, and grids or a region set (subset) thereof. The result of a 3-D GIS query is a region within each of the input objects that consists of nodes or grid cells where the query criteria was satisfied. We provide example scenarios, drawn from mineral exploration, where 3-D queries are used to guide spatial targeting within a near-mine or regional map scale setting. Query types supported are: proximity query (to a ''probe'' object), property query (numeric attribute), shell query (containment within a closed surface), meta-data query, feature query (dome, depression, curvature), trend query (dip plane, vector) and intersection query (with a ''probe'' object). Queries can be specific for a given object type but in general transcend object types. Standard set theoretical operations for a query results in newly defined regions and are supported within the Gocad^(C) development environment. This development focuses on queries relevant in the 3-D data integration and interpretation stages of mature geological model development as well as early analysis, typically undertaken before a fully partitioned and attributed 3-D topological model is available.