Iterative refinement of implicit boundary models for improved geological feature reproduction

Geological domains contain non-stationary features that cannot be described by a single direction of continuity. Non-stationary estimation frameworks generate more realistic curvilinear interpretations of subsurface geometries. A radial basis function (RBF) based implicit modeling framework using domain decomposition is developed that permits introduction of locally varying orientations and magnitudes of anisotropy for boundary models to better account for the local variability of complex geological deposits. The interpolation framework is paired with a method to automatically infer the locally predominant orientations, which results in a rapid and robust iterative non-stationary boundary modeling technique that can refine locally anisotropic geological shapes automatically from the sample data. The method also permits quantification of the volumetric uncertainty associated with the boundary modeling. The methodology is demonstrated on a porphyry dataset and shows improved local geological features.