[Users] FAQ OpendTect fault and horizon tracker

[Paul de Groot]

Dear OpendTect users,

The ability to track horizons and faults promises to elevate OpendTect 
from primarily a seismic attribute analysis and pattern recognition 
system to a full-flexed trace interpretation system. Since we demo-ed a 
prototype version in June at the EAGE conference in Paris many questions 
have been asked. Please find herewith a compilation of the most 
frequently asked questions and answers:

Q: When will the tracker be released?
A: We are aiming for a beta release in September and an official release 
at the SEG conference in October.

Q: How does this tracker differ from other (auto-)trackers?
A: The OpendTect tracker tracks multiple horizons and faults 
simultaneously in a geometrically consistent manner. This means faults 
and horizons cut at the correct spatial position without gaps or 
overlaps, thus minimizing post-tracking editing efforts, see 
ftp://ftp.dgb-group.com/pub/tmp/Consistent_faults_horizon.jpg for an 
example.

Q: What user interaction is required?
A: The user generates seed interpretations for each surface, sets 
tracking parameters and specifies which surface is cut by which (e.g. 
horizon X is cut by all faults). The tracking is supervised by the 
interpreter, who has options to grow surfaces in different directions 
and correct where necessary.

Q: Do I need a Fault Cube to track faults?
A: No, a Fault Cube (generated with OpendTect's dip-steering and neural 
networks plugins) will be helpful as it is in our opinion the optimal 
way to image faults but if you don't have one you can track on any data 
cube that highlights faults such as Coherency, or Similarity. You can 
also track faults without the benefit of a fault image cube but then the 
fault surfaces are constructed from manually picked points.

Q: Will the tracker be part of OpendTect base, or will it be a 
commercial plugin?
A: The tracker will be released as part of OpendTect base under the open 
source agreement. It is anticipated that commercial plugins will be 
developed at a later stage.

Q: Can I develop my own tracking algorithms?
A: Yes, the tracking engine is designed along the lines of the attribute 
engine so it will be easy to develop your own advanced tracking algorithms.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. 
Best regards,

Paul de Groot.

-- 
-- Paul de Groot
-- President
-- dGB Earth Sciences B.V.
-- Boulevard 1945 - 24
-- 7511 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
-- paul.degroot at dgb-group.com
-- http://www.dgb-group.com
-- Tel: +31 534315155 , Fax: +31 534315104