Scientific Development and Technical Capacity of RSDD-H
Sub-surface hydrocarbon deposits can influence surface landscape conditions by effecting changes in the geochemical parameters (pH, Eh) of soils, by generating secondary minerals of polyvalence elements and by changing the micro elemental composition of vegetation, the quantity and type of chlorophyll, etc.
The spectral / optical characteristics of a given landscape alter accordingly - photo-spectral variances or "PSVs". RSDD-H is a mathematical, computer processing technology applied to multi-spectral satellite images, that seeks to detect and amplify such PSVs. Typically, these are second order variances, not recognisable to the naked eye on the visual bandwidth of satellite images and seldom being apparent on an area-wide basis in the natural landscape, as viewed by the eye. Occasionally, however, some local indications of the "macro-occurrence" of such PSVs are observed in the field in the change in colour of affected vegetation:
Boreal Forest showing a mix of healty green, and dying brown/orange spruce trees above a gasfield
A wide array of "ground truth" chemical, geochemical and spectral / photometrical analysis of soil and vegetation samples was carried out before RSDD-H was commercially released. These analytical surveys were from such diverse landscape conditions as taiga, tundra, steppe and arable farmlands, deserts, coastal swamps, mountainous terrain, jungles and tropical rain forests. RSDD-H technology "know how" arising from these results has allowed Scotforth to optimise its processing algorithms for satellite images in these different types of landscapes.
The authenticity and reliability of RSDD-H results are not critically dependant on the thickness or the complexity of the underlying geological section, as the information about the presence of oil or gas deposits is gained directly from the expressed landscape. A distinct advantage of this is that it can detect both stratigraphic and structural traps without recourse to knowledge of the detailed local geology.
RSDD-H can work well in detecting both small and large deposits, provided the appropriate imagery quality is available and processed to an appropriate resolution. The minimum size of detectable objects is usually 1-2 km2 in a high resolution survey.
To ascertain reliably whether detected anomalies are potentially commercial oil or gas structures requires integration with the known petroleum geology and conventional exploration database for an area- this is normally progonosed only at a simple, synoptic level in RSDD-H survey reports.