Creating Detailed T-Data Volume Reports and Diagrams

RockWorks | Borehole Manager | T-Data | Volumetrics

This program is designed to perform a variety of "what-if" filtering operations and volume computing operations on an existing time-data solid model. The input model would typically represent contaminant concentrations, or any measurable component for which you wish to compute volume. Throughout this section, we will refer to the modeled component generically as "material." 

This volume calculator specializes in models that are not stratified or homogeneous. You can filter the solid model for interbed thickness, material zone thickness, polygon areas, and distance from a borehole. 

When the computations are complete, you have the options of: 

• Storing the final computations as a Boolean solid model file that represents the distribution of favorable materials and/or
• Storing the final computations as a 2D grid file that represents either total thickness or mass, and/or
• Displaying the volume computations in a detailed or summarized text report, and/or
• Displaying the final solid Boolean model as a 3D diagram, and/or
• Displaying the final thickness or mass grid model as a 2-dimensional line or color-filled contour map or labeled cell map, or as a 3-dimensional surface map. 

See also: 

• RockPlot3D for display of solid model or stratigraphy volume right in the 3D window. 
• The Solid / Statistics / Report tool for a quick report of dimensions and volume of any solid model. 

Feature Level: RockWorks Standard and higher

Menu Options
Step-by-Step Summary
 

Menu Options

• Input:
  • T-Data Track: Click to the right to select the column in the T-data tables that is represented in the solid model to be evaluated, below.  The program will use this information when computing the distances between the control points and the solid model nodes.  Expand this option to establish the source data filtering which was used in the solid model being analyzed.
    • Spatial (XYZ) Filtering: Insert a check in this box to activate a data filter based on spatial coordinates. Expand this heading to establish the filter settings. 
    • Filter based on Date/Time: Insert a check in this box to process measurements for a specific date or range of dates.  If you leave this un-checked the program will process all of the measurements, for all listed dates.  Expand this heading to access the Filter Options.
      • Exact: Click in this button if you wish to enter a specific date (and time, if applicable) for the measurements to be processed.  Click on the date displayed after the Date/Time Target to type or pick from the calendar the specific date.  During processing RockWorks will read the T-Data measurements for the selected track that fall on this date.
      • Range: Click in this button if you prefer to enter a beginning and ending date to define the range of dates to be included in the processing. Click on the dates displayed after the Starting and Ending prompts to type in or pick dates from the calendar.  During processing RockWorks will read the T-Data measurements for the selected track that fall within this date range.
    • Filter Based on G-Values: Activate this option to establish a data filter based on the measured values (geochemisty, etc.), and expand the heading to establish the filter parameters.  (More.)
    • Resample at Regularly-Spaced Intervals: Check this box to resample the data.  (More.)
    • Create Filter / Sampling Report: If you've selected any filter/resampling options, this tool will create a summary report of the results. (More.)
  • Solid Model: Click to the right to browse for the existing solid model (.RwMod file) to be read and processed for the volume computation.
  • Surface Grid: Click  here to browse for an existing grid model (.RwGrd file) that represents the ground surface.  Be sure this grid model has the same extents (X and Y min and max) and node densities as the solid model above.  This model will be used to identify above-ground nodes.
     
• Output: 
  • Boolean Model: Click to the right to enter the name to assign to the final solid model that will contain the results of the volume filters, such as "PCB_volume.RwMod". This is a Boolean or "yes/no" model that contains node values of only 0 and 1; 0’s for areas where material is not present and 1’s where material is present. 
    ! Don’t use the same name as the input solid model, above. 
  • Grid Model: Click on this prompt to enter the name to be assigned to the 2-dimensional grid file that the program will create, containing the final thickness (or mass) values for material represented in the solid model, above.  
     
• Grade Range: Use this to tell the program what range of data is to be included in the first Boolean solid model from which the volume calculations are to be made. This grade (or "G") value range could represent unfavorable pollutant concentrations (G = parts per million, for example).
  • Minimum: Click on this item to enter the minimum G value stored in the input solid model that is to be included in the volume computations. If you want all low values to be included, enter a large negative number, such as "-99999."
  • Maximum: Click on this item to enter the maximum G value stored in the input solid model that is to be included in the volume computations. If you want all high values to be included, enter a large positive number such as "99999999."
  • At processing time, the program will use this information to create the initial Boolean (yes/no) solid model that will serve as the basis of the computations. Any voxels in the input solid model whose G values fall outside the indicated range will be assigned a 0 and any voxel nodes with G value inside the range will be assigned a 1.
     
• Interbed Filter:  Insert a check here if you want to remove small pockets of interbedded "waste" from surrounding "material" zones, translating them to "material" classification and including them in the reserves calculations. (Put another way, small pockets of Boolean model 0 values can be re-assigned a 1 for simplicity.)  Example  
  • Maximum Interbed Thickness: Click on this item to type in the maximum thickness, in your depth or elevation units, to be considered as interbeds. Any contiguous "waste" voxels with a height less than this entry will be reassigned an "material" classification and set to a value of 1.  How does it work?
     
• Thickness Filter, single zone: Insert a check here to specify a minimum thickness for any individual material zone to be included in the volume computations. This is a means of discarding unimportant areas from the totals. 
  ! There is also a Total Thickness filter (next setting) that looks at multiple material zones. 
  • Minimum Acceptable Thickness: Click on this item to type in the minimum thickness for a single, contiguous zone in a solid model column to be included in the volume calculations.  How does it work? 
     
• Total thickness filter, multiple zones:  Insert a check here to specify a minimum thickness for the combined, total material zones to be included in the reserves computations. This is a means of discarding unimportant areas from the totals.
  ! There is also a single zone thickness filter (previous topic) that filters individual material zones. 
  • Minimum Total Ore Thickness: Here, type in the minimum combined thickness of all material zones found in each solid model column to be included in the volume calculations.  How does it work?  
     
• Stripping Ratio Filter: Insert a check here to turn on and off a filter based on the ratio between the thickness of the overburden ("waste") and the thickness of the zone of interest ("material"). Several methods of computing the stripping ratio are offered, based on individual material zones or total material zones. 
  • Maximum Stripping Ratio: Type here the maximum acceptable value for the overburden:thickness ratio. Enter here just the real number overburden portion of the ratio (a ratio of 16:1 would be entered as "16").  The lower the stripping ratio, the thinner the overburden is in relation to the zone of interest. The higher the ratio, the thicker the overburden is in relation to the zone of interest. An example: A stripping ratio of 20:1 signifies that for every 1 foot of material thickness, 20 feet of overburden must be removed.
  • Method: Expand this heading to select how the program computes the stripping ratio. Choose one of the methods by clicking in its button.
    • Total waste: Total ore - The first option computes a single stripping ratio for each vertical column of nodes in the solid model, using total non-material thickness to total material thickness. If, for the column, the ratio exceeds your maximum, then all of the "material" for that column will be reclassified as "waste."
    • Contiguous waste: Ore - The second option computes the ratio for each zone of material in each column of nodes in the solid model. For each zone it determines the total contiguous thickness of waste above it, up to the next material zone if any, and computes the stripping ratio for that zone. If, for that zone, the ratio exceeds your maximum, then that zone of material only is reclassified as "waste." 
    • Total overlying waste : Ore - The third option also computes the ratio for each zone of material in each column of nodes in the solid model. Unlike the previous method, this considers overburden for each material zone to be all of the overlying "waste" material, even the waste that lies above other material zones. If the stripping ratio exceeds your maximum, then that zone of material only is reclassified as "waste."  How does it work?
       
• Polygon Clipping Filter: Insert a check here to turn on a spatial filter for the solid model. This spatial filter is based on a "polygon table," containing the X, Y coordinates for the perimeter of a polygonal area. All areas of your model that lie outside the polygon are excluded from the volume calculations. 
  • Polygon Table: Click to the right to select the Polygon Table to be used.  
    How does it work?
     
• Distance Filter: This option is used to exclude from volume calculations those areas that exceed a user-declared distance from a control point (drill hole). 
  • Maximum Distance: Enter the distance measurement, in your X and Y and Z coordinate units, that you wish to declare as the maximum acceptable distance between a solid model voxel node and the nearest drill hole. Those nodes in your model that lie at a greater distance from a drill hole will not be included in the volume calculations.
    How does it work? 
     
• Density Conversion (volume to mass): Insert a check here if you want the program to perform mass as well as volume computations. (See the important distinctions below.) 
  • Density Conversion Factor: Click here to enter the value by which the volume units are to be multiplied to compute mass. The appropriate value to enter would depend on the density of the unit.  Example: Let’s say your X, Y, and elevation units are in feet, so that the volume units will be in cubic feet. Then, let’s say you know your formation density is 0.014 tons per cubic foot. You would enter "0.014" in the Density Conversion Factor prompt. 
  • ! Be sure that the conversion factor you enter matches the volume units that the program is using!  If the program will be computing volume in cubic feet but your conversion constant represents weight per cubic inch, you would need to convert the constant to weight per cubic foot before entering it here.  These unit labels (such as "tons" in the above example) can be entered in the Create Report settings so that your units are correctly represented. 
  • ! This is Important:  If you activate the Density Conversion utility, the following changes will be made to the program output: 
    • The output report (if activated) will list computations in both volume units (such as "cubic feet") as well as mass units (such as "tons"). 
    • The output grid model will represent mass rather than thickness. 
    • The output 2D or 3D surface map (if requested) will represent mass units (such as "tons") rather than thickness units (such as "feet"). 
  • See also: How to Measure Your Rock Density. 
     
• Create report: Insert a check here to request the creation of a textual report that lists all of the beginning, intermediate, and final program volume (and, optionally, mass) computations. If activated, the report will be loaded automatically into a text window upon completion. 
  • Distance Qualifications: Insert a check in this box if you want the program to qualify the final computations as "proven," "probable," or "inferred" based on distances from drill holes. Expand this to enter the distances.
    • "Proven" Cutoff Distance: Enter the node-to-drill hole distances, in your X Y Z coordinate units, that are to be categorized as Proven (high confidence).
    • "Probable" Cutoff Distance: Enter the node-to-drill hole distances, in your X Y Z coordinate units, that are to be categorized as Probable (medium confidence).
    • "Inferred" Cutoff Distance: Enter the node-to-drill hole distances, in your X Y Z coordinate units, that are to be categorized as Inferred or low confidence.
    • ! Lower categories are not inclusive of higher ones, so that Probable reserves do not include Proven reserves.
      How does it work?
  • Length Units: Click on this item to type in the word(s) for the units in which the X, Y, and Z coordinates are reported in. The text you enter will be used in the output report. For example, if your X,Y,Z coordinates are in meters, you would enter "meters" at this prompt. Similarly, if X,Y, and Z are recorded in feet, you would enter "feet." 
  • Mass Units: Click on this item to type in the words(s) for the units in which the mass computations, if activated, will be reported in, such as "tons." The unit name you enter here should match the Density Conversion conversion factor you entered. 
  • Verbose: Insert a check in the Verbose check-box if you want the report to list complete summaries for all intermediate solid model files created during filtering. If this box is left un-checked, the report will list only final summaries of the models created during processing. 
  • Decimal Places: In this prompt, enter the number of decimal places that are to be used in the reported values in the volume report. 
     
• 2D Diagram: Insert a check in this check-box to request the plotting of the final thickness grid model (if no density conversion was requested) or mass grid model (if density conversion was requested) as a 2-dimensional map, and to establish those settings.  Expand this heading to select the map layers.
  
  
• 3D diagram: Insert a check in this check-box if you want the final volume Boolean (material versus not-material) model displayed as a 3D solid diagram. 
  
  • Diagram Type: Choose Isosurface to display the solid model as if enclosed in a "skin". Choose All Voxels to display color-coded voxels. 
  • Iso-Mesh: Use this option to plot a series of polylines that represent three-dimensional contours at a user-defined cutoff. Expand the heading to establish the settings.  (More.)
  • Color Scheme: Click on the Options button to define the display's color scheme - automatic, table-based, etc. (More.)
  • Reference Cage: Insert a check in this box to include a 3-dimensional grid of lines and labels around the solid model diagram. Expand this item to set up the cage options. (More.)
  • Include Legend: Insert a check here to include a legend the lists model’s G value range and the corresponding colors. Expand this item to establish the legend settings. (More.)
  
  

Step-by-Step Summary

1. Access the RockWorks Borehole Manager program tab.
2. Open the project from which the input solid model was created. 
3. Be sure you have an existing T-Data solid model (.RwMod) and a ground surface grid model (.RwGrd) for input.
4. Select the T-Data | Volumetrics menu option. 
5. Enter the requested menu settings, described above. 
6. Click the Process button to continue.

The program will read the source solid model file and create a Boolean model of the requested G value range. It will then perform the requested filtering operations, storing the results of each pass in the Boolean model. 

7. View the Report:  If you have requested the creation of a volume report, the program will display it in a text tab in the Options window.  At this time you can edit the report, save the report as a text file (Save button), or print the report (Print button).  
8. View the Map: If you have requested the plotting of a grid-based map to represent thickness values (or mass if the Density Conversion is activated) the program will display the completed image in a RockPlot2D tab.
9. View the Solid Diagram:   If you have requested the plotting of the final solid model, the program will display the completed image in a RockPlot3D tab. 
10. You can adjust any of the volume or diagram options in the pane to the left and then click the Process button again to recompute the volume statistics. 

    ! Each time you click the Process button, the existing map and report displays will be replaced. 
    

 Back to T-Data Menu Summary

RockWare home page