AAPG Bulletin, V. 84, No. 6 (June 2000), P. 727-740.
Quantitative Structural Analysis with Stereoscopic
Remote Sensing Imagery1
Frank Bilotti,2 John H. Shaw,3 and Peter A.
Brennan4
©Copyright 2000. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights
reserved.
1Manuscript received June 18, 1998; revised manuscript received September 22,
1999; final acceptance November 15, 1999.
2Texaco Upstream Technology, 4800 Fournace Place, Bellaire, Texas 77401;
e-mail: [email protected]
3Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 20 Oxford
Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
4Consultant, 5003 Plantation Colony Court, Sugar Land, Texas 77478.
We thank Alfredo Prelat and Jack Carnes for their support and encouragement in this
project. Steve McDougall, Kristi Keller, and Glenn Winters introduced us to the study
areas, and Chris Connors gave valuable guidance in merging remote sensing and subsurface
structural inter pretations. Dave Schunk provided insight into stereo data and reviewed an
early manuscript. Also, Jimmy Wang helped with image processing, and Steve Hook provided
helpful comments on the manuscript. Landsat and NAPP data are available from the U.S.
Geological Survey, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. SPOT data published with
permission of SPOT Image Corp.
ABSTRACT
We employ powerful stereoscopic methods with satellite imagery to obtain surface
bedding attitude measurements. These data are used to constrain geologic structures in
three dimensions using quantitative structural models. We document a numerical method for
measuring the strike and dip of bedding using stereoscopic pairs of air photos, as well as
Landsat Thematic Mapper and SPOT images. In examples from the North American
and Andean cordilleras, these remote measurements prove consistent with direct surface
control and subsurface structures imaged in seismic reflection profiles. Remotely derived
measurements are combined with subsurface data to generate balanced structural
interpretations that define complex structural traps using fault-related folding theory.
These remote sensing methods can provide a low-cost and rapid means of delineating
prospects and leads.
