How to Work with Raster Maps

Disclaimer! While taking this training tutorial, it is worth remembering that the techniques and
approaches presented here should not be considered the only right way. All the techniques shown
further in this course should be considered recommendations. The main goal is to describe all the main
functionalities available in tNavigator. The approaches applied in real projects can differ from the ones
shown in this course. None of the entry data used in this tutorial is real.

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 Contents:

• Workflow
• Types of source raster materials distortions
• Initial preparation of a raster image
• Georeferencing methods upon import

Theoretical Background
Workflow

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5 4

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Types of distortions of source raster materials
1. Geology Designer's adjustment tool is focused on working with high-quality map scans, which allows correcting linear distortions
in them (shift, rotation, stretching) using affine transformation. To do this, it is enough to perform georeferencing for three points
2. For low-quality scans/photos containing non-linear distortions or presented in different coordinate systems, affine transformation
is not enough, since non-linear distortions must also be eliminated. This procedure can be performed in a third-party
geoinformation system using snapping over all raster control points. As a result, a raster with corrected geometry and a World file
for its georeferencing will be obtained.

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Initial preparation of a raster image (1)
First of all, you need to make sure that the quality of the loaded map allows digitization of its contours.
When importing a raster map into tNavigator, it is necessary to georeference it to a specific coordinate system. If you need to
accurately map the map by coordinates, you should determine the location of the points by which the georeferencing should be
performed, as well as their exact coordinates.

If the raster is georeferenced using the

coordinates of red dots, it will be loaded in
a distorted form, and additional
georeferencing will be required. To perform
georeferencing in one step, you should use
coordinates that correspond to the position
of the first pixel of the bitmap (any of the
green dots); for this you need to crop the
original bitmap.

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Initial preparation of a raster image (2)
As a solution to the described problem, several options can be proposed:
Calculating the coordinates of the green dots from the previous slide (by performing georeferencing in the geoinformation system
and then creating a World file)
Cropping the map to the displayed coordinate grid so that the coordinates of the start/end (first/last pixel) of the bitmap are known
Importing a raster map without exact reference by coordinates and “pulling” it onto the wells (provided that the wells are loaded into
the project and their wellheads are indicated in the raster image, or there are other objects by which the image and the model can be
compared)

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Georeferencing methods upon import
When importing a bitmap into tNavigator, the following binding methods are available:
Within the Project Boundaries (the raster map will fit into the project boundaries)
By a Single Point (the coordinates of one point, the length and width of the raster will be set)
By Three Points (the coordinates of three points will be set)
Using a World-File
Using a GeoTiff File

This course will cover the following image

referencing methods: By a Single Point
(subsequent well relocation is required,
which is also true for the Within the Project
Boundary method) and World File
(subsequent referencing is not required,
just like for the By Three Point method)

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 Contents:

• Data import via Workflow

• Raster map import (By a Single Point)
• Imported map adjustment
• Raster map import (Using a World-File)
• Digitizing a raster map
• Assigning depth to digitized contour lines
Practice • Polygon component adjustments
• Creating a horizon via digitized contour lines
• Creating vertical faults along digitized lines
• 3D-Grid calculation with a layer pinchout zone
Data Import
As part of this course, an automated way of loading data into a project will be used (namely, Workflow); to do this:
1. Download the raster_map_dataset source data folder and put it in any convenient place on your computer
2. Open tNavigator and create a new Geology Designer project in the source folder
3. Go to the main project window and open the Calculations and Workflows window
4. Click the Workflow import button and select the Data_import_workflow file
5. Click the Run Workflow button

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4

Attention! The project must be created inside

the folder containing the input data since the
imported Workflow deals with relative paths
only.

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Raster map import (By a Single Point)
1. Go to Geometry Objects  User Map Images  Calculations  Import  enter User Image Name
2. In the Georeferencing Methods section, choose By a Single Point
3. Set the following point coordinates: Bottom Left X to 450000 m, Bottom Left Y to 7856000 m, Width to 45000 m, Height to 45000 m
4. Click Apply

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Imported map adjustment (1)
It can be seen that the position of the
loaded raster map is shifted to the left in
relation to the wells. This means that you Attention! For more
need to drag the loaded map to the accurate referencing, it is
positions of the wellheads. For this:
recommended to choose
1. Go to 2D  Right Tool Bar  Raster wells so that they are as far
Positioning by Three Points from each other as possible.
2. Determine the positions of the three
wells that form the largest triangle in
area (for example: 16, 2, 25)
3. Draw a line from wellhead 16 on the
map to its wellhead position in the
project using LMB

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Imported map adjustment (2)
4. Switch to the second point by activating icon 2
5. Draw a line from wellhead 2 on the map to its wellhead position in the project
6. Switch to the third point by activating icon 3
7. Draw a line from wellhead 25 on the map to its wellhead position in the project
8. Click Apply

2 3

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Imported map adjustment (3)
Perform visual quality control: all the wellheads on the map and in the project must match

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Raster map import (Using a World-File) (1)
1. Go to Geometry Objects  User Map Images  Import  enter User Image Name
2. In the Georeferencing Methods section, choose Using a World-File
3. Click Apply

Attention! When using the World-File georeferencing

method, the World file with the .pgw extension (for a
raster in .png format) must be located in the same
directory as the imported raster map. The name of
the georeferencing file is always the same as the
name of the bitmap.

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Raster map import (Using a World-File) (2)
A is the raster scale along the X-axis (the pixel size along the X-axis, for example, in 1 raster unit is 10 meters)
B and C are the rotation parameters (usually zero)
D is the raster scale along the Y-axis (a negative pixel size along the Y-axis)
E, F are the Shift options (the X- and Y-coordinates of the center of the top left pixel)

The negative value of the Y-axis pixel size is due to the difference between the origin of the image and the project's
rectangular coordinate system. In the image, the origin is in the upper left corner; and in the project coordinate system, in
the lower left.

The extension is made up of three letters: the first corresponds to the first letter of the corresponding bitmap file
extension; the second, to the third letter of the extension; and the third, to the letter W (for world):

Examples:
the file test.jpg will correspond to the binding file test.jgw
the file test.tif will correspond to the binding file test.tfw
the file test.png will correspond to the binding file test.pgw

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Raster map import (Using a World-File) (3)

Attention! When creating a binding file yourself, you must take

into account the offset by half a pixel.

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Digitizing a raster map (1)
Select any of the imported maps and display it in the 2D window
1. Now, right-click Polygons  Create  start digitizing from any contour line (for example, 1770)
2. For convenience, name the polygon 1770
3. In the Right Tool Panel, click Edit Polygons  Create New Polygon
 select 1770 and enable the Add new component option
1 4. Digitize the first component with the help of left-clicking; double-
3 clicking ends digitizing
5. Click the Create New Polygon button again and proceed to
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digitize the second component

Attention! Note that the Add new

component option must be active
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Digitizing a raster map (2)
6. Now, right-click Polygons  Create  create a new empty Polygon object whose name corresponds to the name of the next
contour to be digitized (for example, 1760)
7. Right Tool Panel  Edit Polygon  Create New Polygon  select 1760 and enable the Add new component option

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Digitization of fault lines and pinchout zones
1. Now, right-click Polygons  Create  name the polygon Faults
3. Select the Faults polygon and digitize 3 fault lines
4. Before this, enable Snap mode
5. Perform digitization
6. Then right-click Polygons  Create  name the polygon
Pinchout_polygon
7. Perform digitization

Using the Snap mode option will allow placing

new origin points of fault lines exactly on the
lines of others, which will eliminate the need
to cut off intersecting parts of faults
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Digitizing a raster map (3)
8. Digitize all contour lines up to 1720 in the same way yourself
9. Let's move on to digitizing contour line 1710
Attention! When digitizing raster maps with
faults, remember that in this situation each
contour line should break near the fault line
and continue on its opposite side as a new
component, but should not cross the fault line
itself

Set the display settings for faults and pinchout

lines in the Settings panel  Polygons
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Digitizing a raster map (4)
10. Digitize contour lines 1700 and 1690

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Digitizing a raster map (5)
11. Digitize contour lines 1680 and 1670

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Digitizing a raster map (6)
12. Digitize contour lines 1660 and 1650

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Digitizing a raster map (7)
13. Digitize contour lines 1640 and 1630

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Assigning depth to digitized contour lines
1. After all the contour lines are digitized, it is necessary to assign an appropriate depth to each of them. For this:
2. Go to Geometry Objects  Polygons  Calculations  Transformations  Set Polygon Z-Coordinates by Depth. Specify the depth
value opposite each polygon
3. Click Apply

Additionally, all the contour lines can be

combined into one object for convenience You can also assign a depth value to each polygon manually
using the Merge into a multi-component using the Table window, and for all components, set a numeric
polygon calculation after setting all depth value in the Median Depth column
elevations
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Polygon component adjustments
1. A situation may arise in which one of the
components of the polygon corresponds to a
different depth and is mistakenly assigned to
another polygon. Here is an example of how we
can solve this problem:
2. In the Table window for the first polygon, copy the
lines with the coordinates of the desired
component points
3. In the same window, turn on the polygon to which
the component needs to be moved, then select an
empty line in the section Coords  Paste
4. Remove the moved component from the first
polygon

This slide is for informational

purposes and is not part of
the course

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Creating a horizon via digitized contour lines (1)
1. For Horizon creation use following calculation:
Horizons  Create  Universal Interpolation
2. Enter the following name for the resulting
horizon: Hor_min_curv
3. In the Polygons section, set all 15 contour lines
4. In the Vertical Faults section, select the Faults
object (see slide 21) and enable the Simplify
Fault Geometry option
5. For Grid 2D Settings, copy the settings from
the slide
6. Disable the Use Intermediary Calculation Grid
option
7. In Interpolation Type select Minimum
Curvature. Add this calculation to the project
Workflow
8. Create another Hor_conver horizon yourself
by choosing Convergent as the interpolation
type

These interpolation methods are given as an example;

in practice, good results can also be obtained using
Local B-spline, Global B-spline, and ABOS

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Creating a horizon via digitized contour lines (2)
8. Go to the 2D tab
9. Enable the Hor_min_curv horizon Regardless of which interpolation method you use,
10. In the Settings panel go to Horizon  Show Contour Lines  in most cases the reconstructed surface does not
set the step of the contour lines to 10 m fully correspond to the contour lines of the original
11. Display all digitized contours over the horizon map. However, the situation can be improved by
12. Repeat the same steps for the Hor_conver horizon adding auxiliary contour lines.

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Creating a horizon via digitized contour lines (3)
13. We see that the horizon built using the Convergent
interpolation method better reflects the behavior of the
surface in the dome zone. Thus, for further work, we
will use the Hor_conver horizon
14. Let's add some auxiliary isolines to those places where
the greatest discrepancies are observed.
15. Draw additional isolines 1705, 1685, 1620 as shown on
the slide
16. Go to Geometry Object  Polygons  Calculations 
Transformations  Set Polygon Z-Coordinates by
Depth. Specify the depth value opposite each polygon
17. Click Apply

All polygons corresponding to the

digitized isolines are attached to
the archive with the original data.
They can be loaded into the
project in Lines ASCII format.
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Creating a horizon via digitized contour lines (4)
18. Go back to Horizons  Create  Universal Interpolation  the Hor_conver horizon
19. In the Polygons section add auxiliary contour lines 1705, 1685, 1620
20. Run the calculation
21. We can see that the addition of auxiliary contour lines made removal of large discrepancies possible

In most real projects, the

resulting surface should
be corrected by markers.
This step is skipped in
this course

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Creation of underlying horizons (1)
1. The underlying horizons will be created by adding a
thickness map to the overlying horizon. The initial data
imported using Workflow included well attributes, which
contain total thickness values for two zones. First, it is
required to interpolate by the values of the well
attributes
2. To create thickness maps, we use the calculation 2D-
Maps  Create  Universal Interpolation
3. Set the name of the resulting map to
Thickness_map_zone1
4. In the Well Attributes section select the following
attribute: Thickness_attribute_zone1
5. In the Polygons section set the pinchout boundary:
Pinchout_polygon
6. In the Grid 2D Settings section set all the settings as
shown on this slide
7. Disable the Use Intermediary Calculation Grid option
8. In the Interpolation Types list select Convergent, and in
the Limit Values field  Min Value = 0
9. Click Apply and add this calculation to the project
Workflow

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Creation of underlying horizons (2)
10. Set the name of the resulting map for zone 2 to Thickness_map_zone2
11. In the Well Attributes section select Thickness_attribute_zone2
12. In Grid 2D Settings use the settings from this slide
13. Disable the Use Intermediary Calculation Grid option
14. In the Interpolation Types list select Convergent
15. Click Apply and add this calculation to the project Workflow

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Creation of underlying horizons (3)
Let’s create the horizons: 21. Set the name of the third horizon (for example,
16. Go to Geometry Objects  Horizons  Calculator Hor_bottom)
17. Set the name of the second horizon (for example, Hor_middle) 22. In Grid 2D Settings use the settings from this slide
18. In Grid 2D Settings use the settings from this slide 23. In the conditions input field, type : Hor_middle +
19. In the conditions input field, type: Hor_conver + map_2d map_2d ("Thickness_map_zone2")
("Thickness_map_zone1") 24. Click Apply
20. Click Apply

It can be seen that the second horizon

pinched out into the first one; in the
future, this pinching zone will also be
displayed on the 3D-Grid

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Creating vertical faults along digitized lines
1. In the future, when creating a grid we need to take into account the existing faults; for this, we will create them based on the
digitized fault lines:
2. Go to Geometry Objects  Faults  Create Vertical Faults from Polygons
3. Set the depth value to 1600 m for Top and to 1800 m for Bottom
4. Select the Faults polygon
5. Click Apply

Attention! This calculation allows working with

multicomponent polygons. In this case, each
component will be considered a separate fault
and will be given the fault name specified in the
Fault field and a postfix with a serial number

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3D-Grid calculation with a layer pinchout zone (1)
1. Go to Geometry Objects  3D-Grids  Create Grid  Create Grid by Horizons & Faults
2. Leave the Use Top Layering Horizon as Base One for Previous Zone option enabled by default
3. Select horizons (Hor_conver, Hor_middle, Hor_bottom) and set Partition Type to Proportional with Layer Counts equaling 20 for
Zone1 and 30 for Zone2
4. For the second horizon, set Pinchout_polygon as the pinchout line with the Upward pinch out
5. In the Faults section, add all the faults and assign the Structural type to them
6. In the Left Distance and Right Distance columns, set 150 m for all faults

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3D-Grid calculation with a layer pinchout zone (2)
7. In the General Settings section enable the Polygon – Boundary option to cut the borders of the grid along the given polygon; set 2D
Grid Border Using to Do Not Use
8. Go to the Grid 2D Settings section. In Sample Object select Polygon – Boundary, then close the padlocks in the Box and Angle
sections. After this, click the Autodetect button
9. Set the Step by X and Step by Y values to 250 m
10. Click Apply

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3D-Grid calculation with a layer pinchout zone (3)
11. Let's evaluate the results by displaying the resulting grid in the 3D and Cross-Sections tabs

In this case, the easiest way to create cross-sections is by two polygons drawn
perpendicular to each other through the pinchout zone of the formation.
Go to: Geometry Objects  Cross-Sections  Create Cross-Section by Polygon 38
Would you like to Do you have any
learn more? questions?

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