The Interactive Gravity and Magnetic Application System IGMAS

Short Introduction
Modern geophysical interpretation requires an interdisciplinary approach, particularly when considering the available amount of 'state of the art' information contained in comprehensive data bases. A combination of different geophysical surveys employing seismics, gravity and geoelectrics, together with geological and petrological studies, can provide new insights into the structures and tectonic evolution of the lithosphere and natural deposits. Interdisciplinary interpretation is essential for any numerical modelling of these structures and the processes acting on them.

Three-dimensional (3D) interactive modelling with the IGMAS software provides the means for integrated processing and interpretation of geoid, gravity and magnetic fields, yielding improved geological interpretation. IGMAS 3D models are constructed using triangulated polyhedra to which constant density and/or induced and remnant susceptibility are assigned. Interactive modifications of model parameters (geometry, density, susceptibility), access to the numerical modelling process, and direct visualization of both calculated and measured fields of gravity and magnetics, enable the interpreter to design the model as realistically as possible. The modelling method is embedded in an Interoperable Geoinformation System (IOGIS) which is built over an object-oriented database management system.

IGMAS allows easy integration of constraining data into interactive modelling processes by means of visualizing and combining geodata with density/susceptibility models. This visual combination of different 2D and 3D datasets enables quantitative comparison and adjustment and results in models that are constrained by as much independently derived information as possible.

Principal Investigators:
H.-J. Götze , S. Schmidt

Partners:
M. Alvers, Th. Bode, G. Goltz, Ch. Klesper, B. Lahmeyer, M. Schaefers, J. Schulte, M. Hoffmann

Funded by:
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Statoil Norway, BEB Erdgas + Erdöl, BGR Hannover and additional partners of industry and public institutions

Contact:
H.-J. Götze, Email: hajo[at]geophysik.uni-kiel.de
S. Schmidt, Email: sabine[at]geophysik.uni-kiel.de
Further information: http://www.gravity.uni-kiel.de/igmas/