Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mining Engineering (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences
Advisor 1
Snehamoy Chatterjee
Committee Member 1
Roohollah Askari
Committee Member 2
Nathan Manser
Abstract
Uncertainty is an integral part of modeling Earth's resources and environmental processes. Geostatistical simulation technique is a well-established tool for uncertainty quantification of earth systems modeling. Multiple-point statistical (MPS) algorithms are specifically advantageous when dealing with the complexity and heterogeneity of geological data. MPS algorithms take advantage of using training images to mimic physical reality. This research presents a novel and efficient pixel-based multiple-point geostatistical simulation method for mineral resource modeling. Pixel-based simulation implies the sequential modeling of individual points on the simulation grid by borrowing spatial information from the training image and honoring conditioning data points. The developed method borrows information by integrating multiple machine learning algorithms, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), and Density-based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithms. For automation and to ensure high-quality realizations, multiple optimizations, and parameter tuning strategies were introduced. The proposed methodology proved its applicability by accurate reproduction of complex geological features honoring conditioning data while maintaining reasonable computational time. The model is validated by simulating a variety of categorical and continuous variables for both two and three-dimensional cases and conditional and unconditional simulations. As a three-dimensional case study for categorical stochastic modeling, the proposed method is applied to a gold deposit for orebody modeling. The proposed algorithm can be applied to a variety of contexts, including but not limited to petroleum reservoir characterization, seismic inversion, mineral resources modeling, gap-filling in remote sensing, and climate modeling. The developed model can be extended for spatio-temporal modeling, multivariate simulation, non-stationary modeling, and super-resolution realizations.
Recommended Citation
Asadi, Adel, "A Novel Pixel-based Multiple-Point Geostatistical Simulation Method for Stochastic Modeling of Earth Resources", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2020.