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Raster Logs in a Digital World – How you can Master the Raster
A raster log, compared to the crisp clean lines of today’s digital logs might feel like judging a donkey against a racehorse. Like donkeys, raster logs should not be underestimated. They often carry the load of geological information. They contain legacy data, fill in the gaps, are more cost-effective in some areas, and play an important role in building a complete understanding of subsurface formations.
Why Raster Logs Still Matter
Access to Legacy Data
Many well logs collected over the last century exist only in paper format. Converting them to digital raster images is usually the easiest way to preserve and provide wider access to these valuable data. As we re-evaluate areas with new eyes, new technologies, and new purpose, these legacy logs are often our only insights into the underlying geology.
Hidden Gems
Unlike digitized LAS files, raster logs provide an exact image of the original document. Raster logs often preserve handwritten notes, observations, or interpretations made by on-site geologists. These notes frequently contain important details about the well’s history and formation characteristics that may not have been digitized. Raster logs also retain all the context of the original documents, from log scales and curve types to specific formatting choices. For seasoned interpreters, this can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the data.
Bringing Raster Logs into a Digital Workflow
Modern software solutions can help geologists integrate raster logs into digital workflows. For example, in SeisWare’s Geoscience Exploration solution, raster logs can be imported and displayed alongside digital logs in cross-section. These logs can be used to pick tops and fill in gaps where digital logs are sparse or unavailable. The logs can be imported as both non-depth registered rasters and depth registered rasters in .XML, .DRA and .LIC format.
Rasters do have their limitations. Without digitizing log values, the images cannot be used in automated calculations. While SeisWare does not directly digitize logs, SeisWare users can use custom scripts with the software or access the SDK to develop their own.
Maximizing Data Value with Raster Logs
Raster data, although often discounted as an older format, do still leave room for creativity. Because rasters are images, they can also be displayed on the Basemap (as georeferenced tiffs or regular images). These images are a great way to add more detail to your basemap and can assist in well planning and drilling hazard mitigation.
When asked what geoscientists should know about working with raster logs, SeisWare Geoscience Support Team member, Stephane Vandal, points out that geoscientists “can get creative with this data type. Users can import any data in a raster format that can be displayed along a wellbore in the cross-sectional viewer. This could be photo of core, annotations, the sky’s the limit!”
Old data, new life
In a digital world, raster logs might be seen as a throwback, but they’re a powerful bridge to our geologic past. They bring valuable historical data into the modern interpretation toolkit.
Raster logs give geologists access to data that might otherwise be lost and ensure that legacy information is preserved in an accessible and usable format. By integrating raster logs with digital data and workflows, geoscientists gain a more complete view of the subsurface, maximizing the value of both old and new data to make more informed exploration and development decisions.
Are you a SeisWare user?
Find more information about working with raster images & raster logs on our Support Center. Note, you must be logged in to view these pages.
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