Open Source Geographic Information System and Petrel Software

Adaptation and Integration

B. Sadoun, O. Al-Bayari and Samih Al Rawashdeh

AL-Balqa’ Applied University Department of Surveying and Geomatics Engineering, Al-Salt, Jordan

Key Words: GIS, Open Source, Mapwindow, Maps, Petrel Software, Reservoir Exploitation.

Abstract: We present here the development of an Open Source Geographic Information System (OSGIS) tool using

MapWindow GIS and petrel software to prove its efficiency for different applications. Geographic Infor-

mation System (GIS) is a computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geo-

graphically all types of data. MapWindow is free of charge, extensible geographic information system (GIS)

that can be used as an open-source alternative to desktop GIS to develop and distribute custom spatial data

analysis tools. It is a "Programmable Geographic Information System" that supports manipulation, analysis,

and viewing of geospatial data and associated attribute data in several standard GIS data formats. It is a

mapping tool, a GIS modeling system, and a GIS application programming interface (API) all in one con-

venient redistributable package. It was developed by MapWindow Open Source Team to address the need

for a GIS programming tool that could be used in engineering research, without requiring the purchase of a

commercial GIS system, or become a GIS expert.

In the following, we use Petrel software for subsurface interpretation and modeling to build and update reli-

able subsurface models for a study area. It allows the user to interpret seismic data, perform well correla-

tion, build reservoir models suitable for simulation, submit and visualize simulation results, calculate vol-

umes, produce maps and design development strategies to maximize reservoir exploitation. A new kind of

application is tested for the sake of scientific satisfaction.

We had used MapWindow in many applications and always proved efficient. We found Open Source

MapWindow GIS is as efficient as the commercial GIS for essential applications such as Mapping, Naviga-

tion, and Tracking. Moreover, it is a free of charge tool. We have been using it in our applications and re-

search such as OSGIS for BAU and in the design of a web site for navigation and tracking to be used by in-

terested users on the web.

1 INTRODUCTION

The objective of this work is to develop an Open

Source Geographic Information System (OSGIS)

tool using MapWindow and Petrel software.

MapWindow is a mapping tool, a GIS modeling

system, and a GIS application programming

interface (API), which was developed by Dr. Daniel

P. Ames and a team of exceptional student

programmers at Utah State University (Appleman,

1998). It was developed to address the need for a

GIS programming tool that could be used in

engineering research and related software projects,

without requiring the purchase of a complete GIS

system, or become a GIS expert. It is a GIS system

that is free of charge to distribute and be used to

develop custom spatial data analysis tools

(http://www.mapwindow.org/). Developers can

write Plug-ins to add additional functionality

(models, special viewers, hot-link, Handlers, data

editors… etc.) and pass these to users. It includes

standard GIS data visualization features as well as,

database functions such as attribute table editing,

shape file editing and data converters. Dozens of

Standard GIS formats are supported, including

Shape files, GeoTIFF, ESRI format, ASCII and

binary grids. It includes a complete ActiveX

component to instantly add GIS capabilities to the

user’s existing software products (Ames, 2007;

FOSS4G, 2008). Additional geo-processing

components are available for .NET-compatible

Languages and environments (Deitel and Deitel,

2013). Components of MapWindow are:

Sadoun B., Al-Bayari O. and Al Rawashdeh S..

Open Source Geographic Information System and Petrel Software - Adaptation and Integration.

DOI: 10.5220/0005162000220027

In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on e-Business (ICE-B-2014), pages 22-27

ISBN: 978-989-758-043-7

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

-Main Application: This is the central interface

where, the user may view data elements such as

Shape files and Grids and the Core Components

-The components which operate underneath. The

three main components are:

1. MapWin GIS, which is an ActiveX control

which may be placed into any project in any

programming language that supports ActiveX.

This is the main map component - if the user

wants to write a program that displayed shape

data, for example, the user could use this control

for the display portion of the user’s program.

2. MapWin Interfaces, which is also called the

"Plug-in Interface". It is a dll file which will

allow the user to write the user’s own plug-ins to

the main application. This may be done from any

programming Language which supports the

creation and use of Microsoft .NET 2.0 Dynamic

Link Libraries (dlls).

3. MapWin GeoProc, which is a .NET library of

geoprocessing functions, including tools for

managing projections, clipping and buffering.

This Library is under very active development

with new capabilities appearing Often.

Petrel Software (2009.1): Petrel is a subsurface

interpretation and modeling that allows building and

updating reliable subsurface models. Geophysicists,

geologists, and reservoir engineers can move across

domains, rather than applications, through the Petrel

integrated toolkit. The software objectives are to: (a)

import and edit input data, (b) perform seismic

visualization and interpretation, (c) perform well

correlation, (d) use the pillar gridding process to

create 3D grids, (e) generate horizons, (f) perform

geometrical modeling, (g) calculate volumes and (h)

plot results.

Program Petrel deals with the following aspects:

1. Petrel Geology and Geological Modeling

2. Petrel Geophysical Software

3. Petrel Reservoir Engineering

4. Petrel Drilling

The relation between PETREL and GIS is

presented in Importing and Exporting files.

Petrel Software is a Schlumberger owned Windows

PC software application intended to aggregate oil

reservoir data from multiple sources. It permits the

user to understand seismic data, achieve well

correlation, construct reservoir models suitable for

simulation, offer and envisage simulation results,

estimate volumes, generate maps and devise

development strategies to enhance reservoir

exploitation. Moreover, it addresses the need for a

single application able to support the "seismic- to-

simulation" workflow, and minimize the need for a

multitude of highly specialized tools. By carrying

the whole workflow into a single application where

risk and ambiguity can be evaluated during the life

of the reservoir.

Petrel was created specifically for PCs and the

Windows OS; it was commercially available in

1998. It has a familiar Microsoft like interface, to

enable less experienced user to follow. Techno guide

made 3D geologic modeling more accessible to all

subsurface technical staff, even those without

specialist training. It has the following Modules:

Geology and Geological for reservoirs, Geophysics

for seismic 2D & 3D interpretation and Reservoir

Engineering and Utility System.

Relation between Petrel & GIS:

Petrel users can import a range of standard GIS data

for display and use in operations in their 2D and 3D

windows, as well as export Petrel data (Figures 1

and 2) types for use in GIS maps and workflows.

The user is not limited to only local data through

Shapefiles, but can get into common corporate data

from the user’s Intranet via Import and Export GIS

Keys. Petrel-compliant coordinate conversion

during import process assures proper alignment and

display. Moreover, it can use attribute data for

presentation control and computation.

Data integration is not limited to just points, lines

and polygons. Associated attribute data is also

imported and can be employed in various ways such

as for labeling, presentation control, or in Petrel

workflows and computations (see Figure 3).

Share Surfaces and Grids between Petrel and

ArcGIS can be illustrated by Figure 4. Thus the user

can quickly incorporate asset-level data into regional

study maps to provide new levels of understanding

and access to such information for others across the

organization.

Study Area:

The Study Area is Al-Azraq Oasis which is located

in the desert in the east part of Jordan (area of 12

square kilometers). Figure 5 presents a GIS map for

the Study Area.

The objective here is the development of an

OSGIS (using MapWindow) and the integration of

petrel software to import information to include in

the OSGIS about the oasis (water body reservoir).

This presents an application to consider when using

OSGIS.

OpenSourceGeographicInformationSystemandPetrelSoftware-AdaptationandIntegration

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Figure 1: Export shape file from Petrel to GIS.

Figure 2: Export data from GIS to Petrel.

Figure 3: Attribute data for computation.

Development of Mapwindow GIS:

The Development of OS MapWindow GIS to

perform the following tasks: (a) Converting

Shapefile to Grid, (b) have a TIN Creator Viewer to

perform the following tasks: graph analysis,

importing of Google earth images and information,

and Google maps and the spatial converter.

Figure 4: Grids between Petrel and ArcGIS.

Figure 5: GIS map for the Study Area Al-Azraq Oasis.

First Task is Grid:

The Shape file to grid plug-in can be used for the

conversion of vector data (polygons, lines or points)

to raster (grid) data. This conversion is often referred

to as rasterization. In the raster map, the whole area

of interest is represented as a matrix of small squares

or rectangles (also called pixels). The raster

representation is suitable for displaying continuous

quantities (rainfall, temperature, elevation… etc.)

Many hydrological and other simulation models use

square grids as the main input and output data

format. Overlaying raster maps is also a simple

mathematical operation. When we open

MapWindow, we choose Shapefile to Grid from

Plug-in menu, as shown in Figure (6).

Second Task: Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)

TIN is a digital data structure used in geographic

ICE-B2014-InternationalConferenceone-Business

Figure 6: Select Shapefile to Grid.

information systems (GISs) for the representation of

surfaces. It comprises a triangular network of

vertices, which represents the physical land surface

or sea bottom, known as mass points, with

associated coordinates in three dimensions

connected by edges to construct a triangular

tessellation. Three-dimensional visualizations are

readily created by rendering of the triangular facets.

In regions where there is little variation in surface

height, the points may be widely spaced whereas in

areas of more intense variation in height the point

density is increased. Although usually associated

with 3-dimensional data (x, y, and z) and

topography, TINs are also valuable for the

description and analysis of general horizontal (x and

y) distributions and relationships.

A TIN object represents a network which may be

displayed on the map. A TIN may be created from a

grid, or opened from file. To create the TIN, we

select TIN Create Viewer from a Plug-in menu, as

shown in Figure (7).

Third Task: The Graph plots a diagram that exhibits

a relationship, often functional, between two sets of

numbers as a set of points having coordinates

determined by the relationship.

We assume sample data and imported one on

GIS, including ID and depth of the well. Then we

put them on layers representing geophones, drilling

stations, and vibrator truck. After that we perform

the digitizing process, and obtain the maps in

Figures 8 and 9.

Never-ending possibilities and analysis could be

conducted using this integration of software, from

simple ones such as the relation between depth and

ID, to very complex ones such as seismic

visualization in 3D. The GIS presentation of Petrel

subsurface interpretation and modeling, allows

building and updating reliable subsurface models.

Figure 7: Select Tin Create Viewer.

Figure 8: Map representative from Open GIS.

Figure 9: Map layers representative from Open GIS.

OpenSourceGeographicInformationSystemandPetrelSoftware-AdaptationandIntegration

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Geophysicists, geologists, and reservoir engineers

can move across domains, rather than applications,

through the Petrel integrated toolkit and all the

possibilities are imported and managed in the GIS

environment. The objectives are to: (a) import and

edit input data, (b) perform seismic visualization and

interpretation, (c) perform well correlation, (d) use

the pillar gridding process to create 3D grids, (e)

generate horizons, (f) perform geometrical

modeling, (g) calculate volumes and (h) plot results

that are all kept in layers in a GIS.

Google Earth: is a virtual globe, map and

geographical information program that was

originally called Earth Viewer 3D (Bolstad, 2007). It

displays satellite images of varying resolution of the

Earth's surface; allowing users to see things like

cities and houses looking vertically down or at an

oblique angle. It allows searching for addresses,

entering coordinates, or browsing to a location.

The Addition of a New Tool to Open GIS: This can

move the user to Google earth and acquire the

needed data by one click. Select Google earth icon

from tool bar then the next windows appears is

Google Earth window; see Figure 10.

Figure 10: Google Earth window.

Google Maps: This is a free of charge web mapping

service application and technology provided by

Google that powers many map-based services

(wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth). It provides

high-resolution aerial or satellite images for most

urban areas. We added another new tool to OSGIS

which can move the user to Google maps, as shown

in Figure (11). The user needs to select Google maps

icon from tool bar, then he can be in Google Map

window.

Figure 11: Google maps window.

Spatial Converter: This is another tool we added

here. It is a spatial converter, which is good option

to let the user know what is the kind of the file he

can import and export. By selecting spatial converter

from Plug-in, import option, and select import to a

shapefile icon, we can have various file options; see

Figure 12.

Export Option: The same will happen for export

option.

The user needs to select export to a shapefile icon,

and then he will have a window of export files.

Figure (13) presents the type of files which can be

imported and exported in OSGIS.

Figure 12: Types of files which can be imported.

2 CONCLUSION

To conclude, we can state that:

- Map Window Open Source GIS can be

efficiently customized.

ICE-B2014-InternationalConferenceone-Business

Figure 13: Types of files that can be imported and export-

ed in OSGIS.

- Integration and adaptation of Petrel software

within an OSGIS is feasible and significant.

- It is easy to integrate data from Google Earth

and Google Map into OSGIS using the

advantages of visual studio 2008 tools.

- Scientists, engineers, geologists, geophysicists

and concerned groups, can use OSGIS

without being experts in GIS.

Finally, OSGIS is a cost-effective tool that can be

used by city planners and engineers efficiently at

virtually no cost.

REFERENCES

Appleman, D., 1998.“Developing COM/ ActiveX Com-

ponent with visual basic 6,” First edition, SAMS,

United States.

Ames, D. P., 2007. “MapWinGIS Reference Manual: A

function guide for the free MapWindow GIS ActiveX

component,” Lulu.com, Morrisville, North Carolina,

USA.

FOSS4G, 2008. An Extensible, Interface-Based, Open

Source GIS Paradigm: MapWindow 6.0 Developer

Tools for the Microsoft Windows Platform. Free and

Open Source Software for Geoinformatics (FOSS4G),

Cape Town, South Africa.

Deitel, P., Deitel, A., 2013. “Introduction to Computers,

Internet and Visual Basic .NET, in “Visual Basic 2012

How to Program, Sixth Edition, Prentice Hall.

Bolstad, P., 2007. ” GIS Fundamentals: A First Text on

Geographic Information Systems, 3rd edition.

OpenSourceGeographicInformationSystemandPetrelSoftware-AdaptationandIntegration