SEG LA RAC Newsletter
December 2021 • Vol. 2, Nº. 3
2
SEG LA RAC Newsletter
December 2021 • Vol. 2, Nº. 3 SEG Latin America Regional Advisory Committee https://seg.org/About-SEG/Governance/Committees/ Latin-America-Regional-Affairs-Advisory-Comittee
In this Issue: LARAC Activities: Past Chair Letter
3
Letter from LARAC Representatives
4
News
5
Interview with Sven Treitel
6
2nd SEG Virtual Student Conference
8
Latin American RAC Activities Calendar
11
Connect with us through our social networks :
instagram.com/seg_la_rac/ facebook.com/SEGLARAC/
linkedin.com/company/seg/
LARAC Technical Corner: SEG LARAC 1st Virtual Student Conference 2020: Top 3 Abstracts Winners Generating canopy height maps with Convolutional Neural Networks for Wind Energy Ap-
Affiliated Societies Activities
facebook.com/SEGeophysicists/
12
twitter.com/seg_org 15
instagram.com/segeophysicists/ youtube.com/channel/ UCoiDplSjsNwWoB2Mu24AcOA
17
Newsletter organization
Student Chapters Activities
20
Editorial Team Itzamná González Juárez
Editor
Isabela Dantas de Albuquerque
Editor
Rocio Bernal Olaya
Co-editor
Karla Paola Bugarin Velazquez
Co-editor
Newsletter support Ana Curcio Terrell Dhanpaul Sergio Chávez Pérez Cover Image: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/ ocean_age/data/2008/ngdc-generated_images/ whole_world/2008_age_of_oceans_plates.png
2
Past Chair Letter Two years as SEG LARAC Chair: Thank you! Ana Curcio, LARAC Past Chair (2019 – 2021), SEG Director-at-Large (2021 – 2024) It was an honor to serve as SEG LARAC Chair during the period November 2019 – November 2021. In this committee, I learned about issues, interests, and
minorities as well. Along with this term, the SEG Board has established the SEG Strategic Pillars to accelerate the Geophysical Innova-
vision in other countries in Latin America; I met great
tion, which are Innovation, Digitalization, Preservation,
colleagues and I appreciated and appreciate the
Collaboration, Representation, and Contribution https://
proactivity and fresh energy from both students and
library.seg.org/doi/pdf/10.1190/tle40020086.1, 2021), so,
senior professionals. I had the opportunity of learning
the LARAC continuously worked along these pillars
about other Regional Advisory Committees (RACs)
through the creation of 4 subcommittees: Institutional,
providing their vision and understanding of the world
Technical, Students, and Volunteers hat achieved the
of applied geophysics from other cultures and
following:
Addition of 28 New Members. Organization of 14 Webinars and 3 Web panels. Organization of 2 Latin American Virtual Students Conference. Translation to Spanish of the book ‘ Digital Imaging and Deconvolution: The ABCs of Seismic Explo-
ration and Processing’ by Sven Treitel and Enders Robinson (ongoing).
Stablished the Vice-Chair election procedures. Restructuration of the Newsletter and published a total 5 editions. This Newsletter contains a special
section called ‘The Technical Corner’.
Creation of a LARAC Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn social media. Creation of a Task Force to analyze how to increase the SEG presence in Latin America.
The committee will continue to add valuable content
to the new chairs Sergio Chavez and Rocio Bernal-
for our regional members and others around the globe
Olaya. Also, I would like to thank Laurie Whitesell,
through
Annabella Betancourt, and Mayra Gonzalez, SEG staff
multiple
activities
that
are
aimed
to
highlight the career challenges and excitement of some of the regionals leading professionals. We will continue to expand our impact throughout the region by working more closely with professionals of regional societies, and by developing meaningful activities. The activities of the committee continue to grow and we are looking forward with enthusiasm to working together with you to achieve our goals. I would like to give a special thanks to Gustavo Carstens, Paul Cunningham, and Sergio Chávez-Pérez, for their advisory, time, and efforts and wish the best
liaisons. If you would like to help us grow, develop programs throughout the region, and if you feel there are specific partnerships we should be undertaking, please send an email to mgonzalez@seg org. Keep pushing! Yours Respectfully, Ana Curcio
4
Letter from LARAC Representatives A few words about the interim chair Sergio Chávez-Pérez, LARAC Interim Chair
As
described
previously
in
our
monthly
and professional service transitions. We both need
meetings, I will be the interim chair of LARAC
your feedback, suggestions, and guidance to come up
during one year, starting November 2021. The plan is
with a much better, much more productive, and much
to support and help Rocío Bernal-Olaya, current vice
more dynamic LARAC. Please bug us as much as
chair for one year (2021-2022), and elected, future
needed.
chair for two years (2022-2024), during her personal
Sergio Chávez-Pérez Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP), Mexico City, Mexico Email: sergio.chavezp@gmail.com
Click here
4
News Special Thanks to Gustavo Carstens Along his career, Gustavo was and is deeply committed with young professionals, local societies, and cultural, ethnical, and gender minorities. The contact with diversity led Gustavo to have a global vision and an understanding of both the industry and academia necessities.
He was and is successful in
finding talented and proactive people and he is successful in engaging them with the SEG. His advisory was, is and will be very important for the Latin American Committee. The Latin American Regional Advisory Committee wants to thank Mr. Gustavo Carstens, who served in
Thank you Gustavo!
several SEG key roles since 1981, in particular as a Member of the Board and Chair of the SEG Council. Gustavo has an excellent understanding of the SEG
LARAC Committee
history, mission, vision, and structure, and is very engaged and proactive with the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
Welcome to new SEG LARAC members August to December 2021
The
Latin
American
Regional
Advisory
Mrs. Fabiola Williams (Guyana, lives in
Committee is very pleasure to inform about 4 new
Houston) Digital and Integration division in
members, period August – December 2021:
Schlumberger and supporting Houston and
Dr.
Lucia
Torrado,
SEG
Translations
Stavanger with seismic processing.
committee Chair (Colombia)
Marco Ceio, D6 Representative elected (Brazil)
Luis Donoso. D6 Representative elected (Chile)
5
We hope the best in this new experience and we hope to work very hard together to Connect the world of Applied Geophysics!!
6
Webinar & Interview Interview with Sven Treitel By Sofia Pannunzio The webinar The MIT Geophysical Analysis Group and Its Influence on Seismic Processing was held the 21 of October, and falls perfectly within the realm of what we can call “The Dawn of Digitalization.” It was presented by Enders Robinson and Sven Treitel, both pioneers of the digitalization of signal processing. This webinar covered the fundamental contributions that can be considered the foundation of what has evolved to today’s hot topics of Big Data, Machine Learning, and AI. Enders and Sven talked about the early development of Digital Signal Processing in the Geophysical Analysis Group at MIT, which is considered one of the highlights of 20th-century science and technology. Furthermore, they shared with us part of the difficulties they had to face when boosting this kind of innovative technology. Check out the interview with Sven Treitel: What do you consider were the biggest challenges you had to face when implementing something totally innovative in a context where digital tools were still underdeveloped? Probably there were many people against your ideas, how did you deal with those moments? There were a lot of geophysicists who were against my ideas at those times, one of them ensure me that what we were doing could be done just theoretically but there was no way that we could assimilate analog filter in a digital computer. That was one of the resistances that we had to contain, and this is one of the reasons why the MIT Geophysical Analysis Group ended in 1957. Apart from that, at first, most of the oil company representatives could not understand what we were trying to accomplish. It was only after I was able to join an oil company, talked to the management and convinced people there that these methods were worth investigating, that this technology took off. Do you think that the existence of a connection between research and industry is essential to ensure a good industrial development in the
future? And in addition to this, do you think that companies and society are aware of the importance of geosciences for industrial development? Many oil companies have stopped investing in research development. Nowadays, geophysical exploration research is mainly carried out by universities. Although they do some research, this is not enough. The connection between academia and industry is certainly essential. However, there are currently major problems and the industry is facing a difficult moment, which somehow requires attention. What career advice would you give to aspiring young geophysicists today? Always consider alternative employment possibilities. You should prepare yourself and get skills. One that comes to mind, and which is taken by a number of colleagues, is image processing. There are no limits for developing this. It is a crucial discipline in exploration geophysics, but it is not limited only to seismic processing, you can use the same techniques to process geographic images, medical images, and more. The computer and imaging skills should be considered by anybody entering in our profession. How do you look at artificial intelligence (AI) in Geophysics, especially in seismic imaging? First of all, I take issue with the term “Artificial Intelligence”, because, how can we talk about artificial intelligence when we do not understand the human intelligence? So, to me, that term is very misfiring. I look at these techniques as very sophisticated. We do not understand what we are doing but we do understand that the systems under the name of “artificial intelligence” or “machine learning” are actually working. I do not understand that fact. I think that those techniques are interesting and promising, but I consider more promising those techniques which use the physics base than the ones which do not use the physics guidance.
6
Webinar & Interview Do you see any current technique in geophysical analysis that might revolutionize the field again? Well, machine learning is promising and it is just in the beginning stages, but something impossible to predict, is what would happen tomorrow. I can see that there are efforts to combine machine learning methods with inversion methods, and I think that those are in the right direction. You are the co-author of an important book, as well as the co-author of four SEG best papers awards. Which of them do you like the most? And which one do you think represents your contribution to the field of exploration geophysics the most?
The first one is my favorite, which was written in collaboration with Enders Robinson, because science is a collaborative activity. This is my favorite because this contains more about the early efforts that we made, at first, in the GAG group. What do you recommend to the students of geophysics? I recommend that they take courses in related fields because in today environments you need to be prepared to jump into any sector. And specializing too narrowly in one field can be dangerous. Take in mind other fields, related ones, such as electrical engineering subjects. Just generalize and do not particularize.
Sven Treitel is a graduate of MIT, where he received his PhD in geophysics in 1958. From 1958 to 1960 he worked for Chevron in Cuba and then joined Amoco’s Research Center in Tulsa, OK. While at Amoco, he carried out investigations in seismic signal processing and in the numerical simulation of seismic wave propagation. For some twenty years he was a co-editor of Elsevier's Handbook of Geophysical Exploration series. With Enders Robinson, he wrote the book Geophysical Signal Analysis, published by Prentice Hall in 1980, and reissued by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) in 2000. A more recent book, also co-authored with Enders Robinson, Digital Imaging and Deconvolution was issued by the SEG Press in 2008. Treitel has authored and co-authored more than 80 technical papers. In 1991 and again in 1993 he was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT. He retired from Amoco in 1993. In 1994 Treitel was awarded the German government’s Alexander von Humboldt Prize, which allowed him to spend a year in Germany as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Karlsruhe. He served as editor of GEOPHYSICS from 1995 to 1997. He is an Honorary Member of the SEG, of the EAGE, and of the Geophysical Societies of Houston and of Tulsa. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, and of the AGU, and a member of AAAS and Sigma Xi. He is the recipient of the SEG Fessenden Medal (1969), of four SEG Best Paper Awards (1964, 1969, 1988, and 1995), of the EAGE's Conrad Schlumberger Award (1969), of the SEG’s Maurice Ewing Medal (1989), of the EAGE’s Erasmus Medal (2007), and of the American Geosciences Institute Marcus Milling Legendary Geoscientist Medal (2012. He has served as Distinguished Lecturer for the SEG (1982) and for the AAPG (1994). In 1997 he formed TriDekon, Inc., a geophysical consulting firm.
7
8
2nd SEG Virtual Student Conference 2nd SEG Latin America Virtual Student Conference By Isabela Albuquerque, SEG LARAC member
On November 9 and 10, 2021, took place the 2nd
results of their research, which were evaluated by
SEG Latin America Virtual Student Conference,
professionals
organized by the SEG Latin America Regional
geophysics, and the best abstracts were selected.
Advisory Committee (LARAC) and sponsored by SEG Foundation.
from
different
areas
of
applied
During the conference, the public gave scores to the presentations, which were used, together with the
Following the first edition, the event aimed to
abstracts scores, to define the Top 3 of the best
provide Latin American students with a free and
presentations and the selected students will receive
international conference to publicize their academic
cash prizes provided by the SEG Foundation in the
research and highlight the talented and hard-working
total of USD $250, USD $150 and USD $100 for the
students that we have in the region.
1st, 2nd and 3rd placed respectively.
The conference featured 11 presentations by
We congratulate the selected students and thank the
undergraduate, master, and doctoral students from
audience that attended the conference days and the
Argentina,
event organizers and supporters.
Brazil,
Colombia,
Venezuela,
and
Suriname on topics related to applied geophysics. The event also featured Ana Curcio at the opening ceremony presenting the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) to the attendants.
The presentations recordings will be made available on the SEG website. Check the event website: https://seg.org/Events/2ndSEG-Latin-America-Virtual-Student-Conference.
To participate, students sent abstracts about the
8
2nd SEG Virtual Student Conference Presentations
9
Title
Presenter
Opening Ceremony
Ana Curcio
MISSING SEISMIC DATA RECONSTRUCTION USING COORDINATE-BASED NEURAL NETWORK WITH FOURIER FEATURE MAPPING: AN APPROACH OF DEEP DATA PRIOR MULTI-PROXIES ANALYSIS FOR PALEODEPOSITIONAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CODÓ FORMATION - PARNAÍBA BASIN, DURING THE APTIAN-ALBIAN TRANSITION
10
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAJOR HYDROCARBON TRAPS IN THE GUIANA BASIN RE-LOCATION OF THE SEISMIC EVENTS FROM A SEQUENCE OCCURRED IN 2019 IN VALENCIA, CARABOBO STATE, VENEZUELA Interval
Nov EARTHQUAKE DISTRIBUTION AND LITHOSPHERIC RHEOLOGY BENEATH THE NORTHWESTERN ANDES, COLOMBIA
SEISMIC FACIES CLASSIFICATION IN PRESALT CARBONATE RESERVOIRS OF THE BARRA VELHA FORMATION IN THE BÚZIOS FIELD, SANTOS BASIN CONSTRUCTION OF A TECTONO-STRATIGRAPHIC MODEL OF THE WILDCAT (GATO DO MATO) PROSPECT, SANTOS BASIN
Abstract
SEG Director at Large
María Alejandra Hernández Rojas
UIS (Colombia)
Link
Carlos Saraiva
UFF (Brazil)
Link
UNLP (Argentina)
Link
UIS (Colombia)
Link
UNT (Argentina)
Link
Alejandro Joaquín Acedo
UNS (Argentina)
Link
Jona Schubert
AdeKUS (Suriname)
Link
David Marval
USB (Venezuela)
Link
Carla Lagardère
UNC (Colombia)
Link
Débora Ribeiro Barretto
UFF (Brazil)
Link
Raisa Carvalho Silva
UFF (Brazil)
Link
Interval Nov 2D SEISMOELECTRIC MODELING OF COUPLED ELASTIC AND POROELASTIC MEDIA - AN APPLICATION TO GLACIAL Federico Bucher SYSTEMS PROSPECTING 2D FINITE DIFFERENCES NUMERICAL MODELING OF Holger Giovanni SEISMIC WAVE SCATTERED BY NEAR-SURFACE Quintero Santander HETEROGENEITIES Florencia A. Santillan LAVA TUBE IDENTIFICATION THROUGH AMBIENT & Juan Manuel VIBRATION MEASUREMENT Losarcos ASSISTED ANOMALIES DETECTION IN POTENTIAL FIELD DATA USING SALIENCY MAPS
University
Topics Electric and Electromagnetic Methods
9
Gravity and Geomagnetic Methods
Seismic Acquisition and Processing
Seismic Interpretation
Borehole Geophysics
Reservoir Characterization
10
2nd SEG Virtual Student Conference Our acknowledgments Organization Terrell Dhanpaul -Advisor Member Lucas G. P. Monteiro - Student Chair Sofia Pannuzzio - Student Marketing
Students Assistants Mario Rivera Maria Fernanda Rueda Karla P. Bugarini
Alessandro Traverssa - Student Marketing Maria Claudia Vera - Student Abstracts and Reviewers
LARAC Advisors
Joaquin Ácedo - Student Abstracts and Reviewers
Ana Curcio Jonas de Basabe Juan Soldo
Support
Paul Cunningham
Isabela Dantas - Past Chair - Student advisor
Rocio Bernal-Olaya
Mayra Gonzalez - SEG Staff
Sergio Chávez-Pérez
Reviewers Alejandra Ixchel Sanchez Martinez Ana Lucia Ramos Barreto André Campos Guaragna Kowalski Arthur Ayres Neto Beatriz Valdés Moreno Bruno Menchio Faria Christy Dymatee Nandlal Cristobal Condori Quispe Danusa Mayara Souza Disnahir Pinto Gilsijane Vieira Ramos Idney Cavalcanti Da Silva Juan Gerardo Peña Dominguez Keyla Ramirez Luis Angel Vega Ramirez Nelson Ribeiro-Filho Nely Palermo Pamela Denisse López Mata Paul Goyes Sergio Andrés García Arias
Sponsor
10
Latin American RAC Activities Calendar Activities 5
SEG Latin America RAC January Meeting
Jan
LARAC Survey 2 Feb
21-25
SEG Latin America RAC February Meeting Webinars "A seismic attribute based case study on Penobscot, Nova Scotia", in English / Spanish / Portuguese
2
SEG Latin America RAC March Meeting
9 – 10
3rd Virtual Student Conference
23
Webinar Exploracion en Peru, Federico Seminario
30
4th Newsletter 2021
6
SEG Latin America RAC April Meeting
13
Webpanel 'Urban geophysics'
25-29
Webinar "Introduction to seismic attributes" - spanish
Mar
Apr
SEG Scholarships Applications accepted up to 01 March 2022 for the 2022-2023 academic year!
Access https://seg.org/ Scholarships
11
12
LARAC Technical Corner SEG LARAC 1st Virtual Student Conference 2020: Top 3 Abstracts Winners By Terrell Dhanpaul Hello folks and welcome again to the SEG LARAC Technical Corner in this edition. In this article, we apologize for belatedly highlighting the three best abstracts of the 1st SEG LARAC Virtual Student Conference (VSC) that was held back in November 2020. As you may recall, the 1st VSC was a very successful event that was coordinated entirely by a very hardworking committee of students. Student presenters from across the LARAC region also took advantage of the opportunity to showcase ongoing and completed projects to a wide audience. Thanks to all
the winners as well as all who submitted abstracts and all the members of the organizing committee which was very capably led by Isabela Dantas de Albuquerque for a truly fantastic job. The 2nd VSC held last month in November 2021 was also an equal success. The top three abstracts selected were Raquel Macedo Dias (1st), Thiago Rebeque Carvalho dos Santos (2nd) and Lidia Waltz Calonio (3rd). All three awardees were from the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil.
1st Place: PRE-CONDITIONING OF PRE-SALT SEISMIC DATA by Raquel Macedo Dias, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil Carbonate reservoirs in the Brazilian pre-salt are responsible for more than 70% of all the country's hydrocarbons production. These reservoirs are complex due to their great heterogeneity. The fact also that they do not have modern analogues make them more interesting with respect to uncertainties regard-
ing their lacustrine sedimentation dynamics. In addition, these reservoirs are located at depths greater than 5,000 m usually below a thick evaporitic layer that has complex geometries, such as, salt domes and mini -basins with stratifications of different types of salts.
Figure 1. a) Original seismic section and frequency spectrum in the pre-salt area. b) Pre-conditioned seismic section and frequency spectrum in the pre-salt area showing reduction of migration smiles and increase in resolution.
12
LARAC Technical Corner These characteristics are challenging for seismic imaging due to several factors related to the propagation of seismic waves, such as diffraction and seismic attenuation effects, that directly impact signal-tonoise ratio. This work aims to propose a preconditioning workflow for poststack seismic data to remove noise known as “migration smiles” and increase the seismic resolution within an interval of the pre-salt reservoirs. The data used are from the Buzios Field, which is considered the largest oil field in Brazil.
To achieve these objectives, our method consisted in the application of a structural-oriented filter followed by an inverse Q filter in the wavelet transform domain. The results show that the structural smoothing filter was able to reduce migration noise with a negligible loss of frequency content. With the inverse Q filtering, the peak frequency increased from 16.8 Hz to 30.0 Hz. The seismic resolution was therefore substantially enhanced making it possible to better define thin layers and address the heterogeneity of the
2nd Place: ANALYSIS OF TUNING THICKNESS FROM ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE USING A WEDGE MODEL by Thiago R. C. dos Santos, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil Seismic inversion has been the subject of many studies and is an important step in reservoir characterization as it provides information on layer properties from seismic data. The vertical resolution of seismic data refers to the minimum thickness capable of defining a layer, ideally identifying the interval between the top and base of the layer. Depending on the acoustic seismic inversion method, it can increase the seismic resolution from the addition of low and high frequencies, thus managing to solve thinner layers. Knowing the minimum layer thickness is important in
the feasibility study for the exploration, characterization and monitoring of reservoirs from seismic attributes. This type of understanding becomes even more necessary and challenging in complex reservoirs in knowing whether the reservoir is thick enough to assist with exploitation opportunities. This work describes how the thickness of a layer computed from acoustic impedance using a transition window of the smoothed model varies with the cutoff frequency.
Figure 2. Smoothed models with main frequencies and below the minimum inversion thickness for different cut-off frequencies showing an inverse proportional pattern. Black triangles highlight the cut-off frequencies for each model above at 30 Hz, 60 Hz and 100 Hz respectively .
13
14
LARAC Technical Corner We adopted high values of acoustic impedance corresponding to pre-salt carbonate reservoirs for the wedge model. Then, we smooth it out to evaluate different scenarios. Using the convolutional model and a Ricker wavelet of a peak frequency of 17 Hz, the tuning thickness was found to be 58 meters. On the other hand, for acoustic impedance data, this thickness de-
creases considerably, depending on the cutoff frequency. Results show a decrease of approximately 70 % in the minimum thickness varying the cutoff frequency from 30 Hz (30.0 m) to 100 Hz (10.0 m). In addition, there is a rapid increase in tuning thickness with a decrease in the cutoff frequency from 40 Hz.
3rd Place: INFLUENCE OF PYRITE AND CLAY MINERALS IN SATURATION CALCULATIONS AT THE POTI FORMATION, PARNAIBA BASIN: A CASE STUDY IN WELL 3-PGN-5-MA by Lidia Waltz Calonio, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil This work presents a case study of Well 3-PGN-5MA for the petrophysical characterization of the reservoir of the Poti Formation, in the area known as Parque dos Gaviões, Parnaiba Basin. The reservoir in focus presents a problem of low resistivities related to the presence of clay minerals and other conductive minerals which is a common problem in the evaluation of well logs worldwide and directly impacts the water saturation calculations thus leading to underestimations of the hydrocarbon volumes available. In order to mitigate this problem in gas-charged reservoirs, a workflow is proposed to characterize the main issue and correct the resistivity log to generate more realistic results in the reservoir evaluation. Well 3 PGN-5 shows a clear gas-water contact however when interpreted based solely on the resistivity log it underestimates the reservoir by as much as 49 meters. This was evident in the pressure gradient graph and
the sharp separation of the density and neutron curves, suggesting a gas saturate interval, despite low resistivity values. Integrated studies of X-ray fluorescence, gammaspectrometry and profile evaluation, accompanied by a detailed description of cutting samples identified pyritization and the presence of smectite and kaolinite in the interval where the resistivity decreases. The study proposes an alternative work methodology for the evaluation of the Poti reservoir using alternative techniques that try to reduce the influence of these minerals on the resistivity log thus improving the accuracy of water saturation and net pay calculations resulting in a better reliability of gas volumes in place. This workflow can be applied at reservoirs with similar characteristics thereby reducing costs and increasing the possibility of exploratory success.
Figure 3. Well 3 PGN-5: Log Curves and Petrophysical Evaluations and Analysis
14
LARAC Technical Corner Generating canopy height maps with Convolutional Neural Networks for Wind Energy Applications Théotime Cano, Gibran Jalil Gibran Sulvaran Alpuche, Markus S. Gross, Vanesa Magar Universidad del Golfo de México An important input of wind energy computational models is the roughness map, describing the interactions between air flows and earth’s surface at low altitude depending on, among others, the type of vegetation and the height of the canopy. Through the Objective Roughness Approach (ORA, Floors et al, 2018), the roughness map can be computed from a canopy height map.
ized Difference Greenness Index for instance, are computed by combining some of the 11 initial bands of Landsat-8, they are then added as inputs. Next, the features in the computation of the outputs are analysed and the most important ones are selected. The goal of this step is both to enhance the computational efficiency of the algorithm by working on a lighter input dataset, and to prevent overfitting.
The aim of this work is to compute those canopy height maps, using spaceborne LIDAR-based datasets and machine learning techniques, more specifically a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Indeed, these datasets are open source and much more accessible than airborne LIDAR-based datasets – which are often constructed from expensive missions – and Neural Networks have now been proven to be effective at finding the mapping function to compute a given target based on a given input, even in highly non-linear cases.
The chosen target dataset is the 2019 Global Forest Canopy Height from GLAD using the NASA GEDI satellite. All datasets have a spatial resolution of 30m and the area of interest is the state of Puebla in México, containing pine forests in temperate and cold areas, tropical rainforests, grasslands and dry mountainous areas.
The data used as inputs are from ICESAT-2 and Landsat 8. 19 complex products, such as the Normal-
The CNN, made of 4 blocks of Separable Depthwise 2D Convolution, Batch Normalization and Activation layers (using LeakyReLU and a final Linear function) outputs directly the canopy height maps by bypassing the commonly used final Dense layer from most CNNs architectures. Figure 1 shows an example
Figure 1: (From left to right) (1) RGB image of the chosen area, (2) Tree height from the target dataset, (3) Tree height computed by the CNN, (4) Difference between target and computed values
Thanks to the canopy height model computed like so, we were able to compute roughness maps shown in Fig. 2, using an external land use map from the North American Land Change Monitoring System to deal with water pixels and the ORA equation. Thus, we have proved the feasibility of combining spaceborne LIDAR dataset and CNNs to compute
15
canopy height maps in a small region in the state of Puebla. Finally, we tested the algorithm on data from the state of Tamaulipas, México, giving satisfying results given the rather small training dataset used leading to a change of distribution in the datasets from Puebla to Tamaulipas. We also compared CNNs to another machine learning technique called Random Forest (RF).
16
LARAC Technical Corner Future analyses may include a thorough comparison of the results obtained with CNN and RF, and the addition of a temporal dimension of canopy height
maps, which would evolve through leaf-on and leafoff seasons, using a LSTM-based architecture for example.
Figure 2: Roughness maps for the same area as Figure 1.
REFERENCES Floors R., et al. “From LiDAR scans to roughness maps for wind resource modelling in forested areas”. In: Wind Energy Science Discussions (Feb. 2018), pp. 1–29. DOI:10.5194/wes-2018
My name is Théotime Cano, I am a 21 years old French student and I joined the engineering school Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de SaintEtienne in September 2019 after 2 years of preparation for the exam while I studied Mathematics, Physics and Computer Sciences. Then, I specialized in Fluid Dynamics and Numerical Simulation at school, Machine Learning and Deep Learning by following an online class from Stanford University and Mathematics at the Jean Monnet university, in Saint-Etienne. During the summer of 2021, I did a 3 month-long internship in the Physical Oceanography department of the CICESE in Ensenada, México, under the supervision of Dr. Vanesa Magar, whom I thank most deeply for the unique opportunity. The following abstract presents the results of this internship.
16
Affiliated Societies Activities
17
18
Affiliated Societies Activities
Forum AGEOCOL
- Geothermal, oil and gas: synergies and prospects for the energy future. 2 courses
- ACGGP Technical Course: Seismic Interpretation and Structural Modelling. - Remote sensors applied to oil Exploration. First week of UIS Geophysics
- In person event.
Present your thesis at the ACGGP
- On four ocasions the event “Present your thesis at the ACGGP” was held. Workshop for student chapters
- Meeting of leaders
18
Affiliated Societies Activities AMGE Mexico, some relevant activities
AMGE (Spanish acronym for the Mexican Association of Exploration Geophysicists) organized colloquiums and talks on several topics during this year. Details and recordings can be found at the following YouTube links: Campo de Acción al Egresar de Geofísica; de la Academia a la Industria (Str eamed live on Mar ch 3, 2021; in Spanish). Watch it here. Servicio y Desarrollo Profesional en Geofísica de Exploración (Str eamed live on J une 30, 2021; in Spanish). Watch it here. ¿Hay plutonismo reciente en aguas profundas de las cordilleras mexicanas? (Str eamed live on August 24, 2021; in Spanish). Watch it here.
19
Una visión Realista de la Transición Energética, ¿Qué perspectivas para las Geociencias? (Streamed live on September 23, 2021; in Spanish). Watch it here. Surface-Wave Surveys Building a Community Seismic Velocity Model for Nevada, USA for Physics-Based 3D Earthquake Ground-Motion Prediction (Str eamed live on October 14, 2021; in English). Watch it here. On the other hand, AMGE was one of the organizers of the Mexican Petroleum Congress (https:// congresomexicanodelpetroleo.com/ index_ingles.html) held last November 17-20 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México.
20
Student Chapters Activities First Applied Geophysics Summer School SEGCICESE 2021
geosciences, allowing students to learn geophysical
By Ana Lucía Ramos Barreto The 2020 Student Chapter SEG-CICESE General Committee applied to the SEG Field Camp Program with the project titled “Applied Geophysics Summer School SEG-CICESE 2021”. As a team, our dream started back in the last months of 2020 when we were working on the project proposal beside the Christmas celebrations. After several modifications, the project was finally submitted, which would be evaluated along with other projects around the world. After a short wait, early in April of 2021, we received the results: Our project was selected, and the dream came true!
Dr. Diego Ruiz and students acquiring an AMT sounding.
The Applied Geophysics Summer School SEGCICESE 2021, considered the first Summer School of Geophysics in Mexico, was held in Ensenada, Baja California, between the 23rd of August and 3th of September. The purpose was to obtain an updated subsoil model using different geophysical techniques to assess the current groundwater availability in the Ojos Negros Valley (located at 40 km of Ensenada City), which has been affected in the last decades by over-irrigation of crops and human consumption. The Summer School accepted twelve students, three graduate students from the Earth Science Graduate Program at CICESE. The remaining nine were undergraduate students. They belong to universities from different states of Mexico (Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Mexico City, Tamaulipas, and Tabasco) that do not have the geophysical equipment to complement their degree studies related to
Visualization of 2D seismic data model for the study area.
techniques. During those eleven days, participants received hands-on experience with theoretical background, acquiring, processing, and analyzing the three geophysical methods; electrical, electromagnetic, and seismic. For students, this experience beyond regular indoor class reinforces their scientific knowledge and the sense that science results from a sum of both individual and team efforts. Efforts that must continue to expand in order to satisfy and benefit our society. The success of this Summer School is the result of the effort of an incredible team: the Ph.D. students Beatriz Valdés Moreno, Ana L. Ramos Barreto, and Juan G. Peña Dominguez. Also we thank Dr. Diego Ruiz Aguilar (leader of the project); Lecturers, Dr. Carlos F. Flores Luna, Dr. Jose Manuel Romo Jones, Dr. Mario Gonźalez Escobar, Dr. Marco A. Pérez Flores, Dr. Luis A. Gallardo Delgado, and all staff members to make this project possible.
Participants of Applied Geophysics Summer School SEGCICESE 2021 (The face-mask was only removed for the photo)
20
Student Chapters Activities Finally, for the SEG-CICESE Student Chapter, this experience was enriching and fulfilling. The General Committee is grateful to the SEG Foundation for making this possible and is encouraging other student chapters to apply and live this experience.
The event was mediated by Constanza Santori (Geophysics student at UNSJ) and Ariana Vidal (Geology student at UNC), both of them members of the SEG WN Argentina Student Chapter. Personal Branding
SEG Women’s Network Argentina Community By Sofia Pannuzio The latest activities organized by the SEG WN Argentina Community are: Passport in Geosciences On September 13th, we have held our third activity called Passport in Geosciences in which the invited panelists María Johanna Diácono (UBA) and Agostina Causino (UNS), shared their experiences studying and working abroad. María Johanna Diácono went to Germany to do some Geology courses in Pötsdam and to work in two internships in the meanwhile. In her second experience, she traveled to USA with the Friends of Fulbright scholarship to take geology courses and expand her knowledge and culture. Agostina Caucino had the likelihood to be part of two grants. The first one was in Germany with IAESTE scholarship and the second in Canada with a scholarship awarded by the Canada Government. In both of them, she could be part of geology courses and other external activities, such as sport teams and internships.
On September 22nd, we have held our fourth activity with part of the Pan American Energy´s work team. The activity was called Personal Branding and the invited professionals were Débora Colombino (Talent Analyst) and Ailen Dimitroff, Geologist from UBA, and Junior Development Geologist (PAE). They gave advices related to selection processes and job interviews. Furthermore, Ailen shared her experience in her young professional path, and in her academic career.
During the activity, Débora shared examples to develop an effective CV and what they should know before applying in a selection process. Ailen told assistants about each part of the processes in where she was part, this involved interviews and assesments as well. This event was mediated by the SEG WN Argentina Student Chapter Leaders: Fernanda Graneros (Geophysics and Geodesic Engineering student at UNT) and Sofia Pannunzio (Geology student at UBA). The event recording is available on the SEG Women's Network Students channel. More information about our events can be found on our Instagram profile.
21
22
Student Chapters Activities SEG Women’s Network Brazil Community By Isabela Albuquerque In August and September, the SEG WN Brazilian Student Community organized, in partnership with the National Observatory’s student chapter, the event Artificial Intelligence applied to Geosciences, which featured six weekly lectures on AI and its applications in potential methods, seismic interpretation, Petrophysics, Seismology, and Astronomy. The lectures were given by experienced women professionals in each area. The recording of some lectures from the event is available on the National Observatory Student Chapter YouTube channel.
22
