26
CHAPTER
11.
GETTING STARTED
Y
axis
Major Direction of Continuity
(North)
Rotated
Y
axls
(N30E)
30
degrees
angle
=
ang
=
30
maximum range
=
a-hrnax
=
20
minimum range
=
a-hmin
=
10
Figure
IL3:
An
example
of
the
two parameters needed to
define
the geometric
anisotropy of a variograrn structure
iy
2D.
specified by the direction of the hole effect, the range parameter in that
direction, and very large range parameters in the two other directions,
say, 1.0e21.
Although not allowed for in the parameter files, a dampened hole effect
model is
also coded in the cova3 subroutine. The dampened hole effect
model is:
where
d
is the distance at which
95%
of the hole effect is dampened out
(the variance magnitude of the periodic component is then
5%
of
c).
'The type of variogram structure is specified by an integer code, which
is the order in the above list, i.e., it=l: spherical model, it=2: exponential
model,
it=3:
Gaussian model,
it=4:
power model, and it=5: hole effect
model. The
a
and
c
parameter values, which correspond to the description
in the above list, are also needed.
Each nested structure requires an
additional two or five parameters that
define its own geometric anisotropy in
2D
or
3D.
Figure
11.3
illustrates the
angle and range parameters required in 2D.
The direction of maximum continuity is specified by a rotation angle
ang
corresponding to an azimuth angle measured in degrees clockwise from the
positive
Y
or north direction. The range in this horizontal naazimum direc-
tion is specified by
ahmaz.
The range in the perpendicular direction or the
horizontal minimum direction is specified by
ah,,,.
IL3.
VARIOGRAM
MODEL
SPECIFICATION
27
A
very large range implies that no variance contribution will
be
added to
that direction, a feature known
as
"zonal anisotropy."
Within the soRware the actual distance is corrected so that it accounts for
the specified anisotropy. That is, the distance component along the rotated
X
axis (see Figure
11.3)
is corrected by the ratio
ah,,,/ah,,,.
This convention
allows the anisotropy of the power model to be handled in an intuitively
correct manner; an anisotropic distance is calculated and the power
w
is left
unchmged.
Figure
11.4
illustrates the angles and ranges required in
3D.
Many software
packages take a shortcut and only use two angles and two ranges. The added
complexity of three angles is not in programming but in documentation. It is
quite straightlorward to visualize and document a phenomenon that is dipping
with respect to the horizontal at a dip azimuth that is not aligned with a
coordinate axis. The third angle is required to account for the geological
concept of a plunge or rake. One example that requires a third
angle
is
modeling the geometric anisotropy within the limbs uf a plunging syncline.
The easiest way to describe the three angles and three ranges is to imagine
the rotations and squeezing that would be required to transform
a
sphere
into an ellipsoid; see [65]. We will refer to the original
Y
axis
as
the principal
direction and consider the rotations such that it ends
up
being the actual
principal structural direction (direction of maximum continuity):
The first rotation angle
angl
rotates the original
Y
axis (principal
direction) in the horizontal plane: This angle is memured in degrees
clockwise.
The second rotation angle
ang2
rotates the principal direction from
the horizontal: This angle is measured in negative degrees down from
horizontal.
The third rotation angle
ang3
leaves the principal direction, defined
by
angl
and
ang2,
unchanged. The two directions orthogonal to that
principal direction are rotated clockwise relative to the principal direc-
tion when looking toward the origin. Thc rotation of the third step in
Figure
11.4
appears
as
counterclockwise since the view is away from the
origin.
Zonal anisotropy
can
be considered
as
a particular case of a geometric
anisotropy, see
[74]
and [89], pp. 385-386. This can be handled by entering the
appropriate range
as
a very large number; that particular variogram structure
is then added only to the orthogonal directions (say, across bedding). For
simulation purposes, a strong zonal anisotropy is better reproduced when the
simulation grid is aligned with the direction of zonal anisotropy.
The program
vmodel (see Section VI.2.8) will write out the model semi-
variogram in any number of arbitrary directions and lags. This will help
validate the correct entry of a semivariogram model.