oa Modern Data Interpretation Software And Its Role In Geophysical Investigations

A geophysical investigation consists of six steps:<br>1. Defining the problem (target) and demonstrating the feasibility of achieving the required goals.<br>2. Designing the experiment, including method(s) to be used and the survey parameters.<br>3. Quality control/real time interpretation to insure that reliable data is being acquired and that the premises arising from experiment design are valid.<br>4. Interpreting the data in terms of the problem (target) which has been defined.<br>5. Estimating the range of alternative interpretations and their effect on the goal of the experiment.<br>6. Reinterpretation of the data at a later date when more information becomes available.<br>Computers and their associated software play an increasingly<br>important role in the efficient and precise execution of<br>geophysical experiments. Digital data acquisition and storage is<br>becoming more and more prevalent. This allows the geophysicist<br>to collect vast amounts of data with relative ease. The<br>increased data volume, coupled with the requirement for more<br>sophisticated data processing and analysis has resulted in the<br>development of more advanced software packages. Equally<br>important to the software's capability to handle sophisticated<br>analysis on large data sets is the human interface which enables<br>the geoscientist to access these tools in an productive manner.<br>Modern interpretation software enables the feasibility study<br>and survey design to be conducted in an efficient and accurate<br>manner. Real time data interpretation and quality control<br>requires on site use of such software. Finalizing the results<br>and evaluating the range of alternative interpretations requires<br>software if it is to be carried out thoroughly and cost<br>effectively. Some of the more sophisticated field techniques<br>cannot be interpreted at all without such software. The addition<br>of report ready displays and interfaces to powerful word and<br>drawing processors further improves quality, productivity and<br>cost effectiveness.