Directional Survey

Directional Surveys

This screen allows the user to enter the deviation survey of the well, or any information that you may have on the trajectory of the well. If you have entered a valid survey in the Survey table, you can select the trajectory calculation method you would like to use, and then click the Calculate button to generate any columns that are blank. You can also generate the survey based on Segments or Targets (and Constraints) that you enter in the appropriate tabs.

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When this button is unselected, the screen is in Untacked mode. When this button is selected (pressed down), the screen is in Tacked mode.

Most screens in FIELDPRO support two modes of operation: Tacked and Untacked.

If you open a screen (e.g., a Geological Depth Profile), it will usually appear Untacked. If you go back to the Well Explorer or other navigation screen, and change the selected object (e.g., change the well or component that is selected), this screen will update to display the current object (or related component). If you select another object of the same type (e.g., another Geological Depth Profile) and select that you want to launch the application screen, you will be returned to this original screen, with that object displayed.

If you make edits to an application screen (e.g., in a Geological Depth Profile), the screen will automatically switch to Tacked mode. If you go back to the Well Explorer or other navigation screen, and change the selected object (e.g., change the well or component that is selected), the contents of this screen will not change! This screen will now always display the object which you have marked (tacked). This also means that you can select another object of the same type (e.g., another Geological Depth Profile) and select that you want to launch the screen, this time a second screen of this type will appear, displaying that object. In this way, you can compare the information related to multiple objects.

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These buttons are used to Save (commit) your changes to the database, or to Discard (ignore) your changes. When these buttons are inactive (gray), it indicates that there have been no edits on this screen.

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Click the Add button to add a row at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Click the Delete button to remove the currently selected row in the spreadsheet. On certain tabs you can select a row and click the Edit button to edit the configuration of that row. Note: You can select multiple rows by keeping the [SHIFT] or [CTRL] keyboard keys pressed as you select the rows with the left mouse button or keyboard cursor, and in this way you can delete multiple rows at once.

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This button is only active when the Segments or Targets Definition tabs is selected. Click this button to view and edit the configuration properties of the Segment or Target that you have selected in the table.

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Click this button to launch associated Global Outputs. If there is only one global output associated with this screen, this will automatically be launched. If there is more than one global output associated with this screen, then a list will be displayed for you to select which output you would like to see. Global Outputs include Multi-Panels, Charts, and Reports that can be pre-configured by system administrators to display common graphical outputs for your organization.

Note: See the FIELDPRO Outputs section for further information on Global Outputs and creating associations between these and particular screens.

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Click this button to launch the Import Data Wizard for this directional survey screen.

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Click the 3D Viewer button to launch a 3D View of the survey defined. Click the 3D Locator to launch a dialog where you can see a quick rotating 3D View of the survey.

If you have entered segments or targets in this screen, you can use them to generate survey points by clicking on the From Segments (to generate the survey based on the segments that you have entered) or From Targets (to generate the survey based on the targets and constraints that you have entered) buttons.

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You can reorder the layout of the targets using these buttons. Click the Navigate button to activate a dialog which will give you simple relative Distance, Inclination and Azimuth readings between the different targets that you define.

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You can select from the combo box the calculation method that you wish to use to generate the full survey details. When you have selected the method that you wish to use, you can click the Calculate button to generate the empty columns.

Note: If the source data (e.g., MD, Inclination or Azimuth) is invalid (i.e. if you have null values or a repeat value for MD), you will get an error warning that some of the data is invalid and the calculation will not complete.

Note: If the calculation is completed successfully, this Calculation Method that you used will be displayed always in this combo box when you open this Directional Survey. If the calculation is not completed successfully (because of errors or missing source data), the selected Calculation Method will remain only until you Save or Discard the data, when it will revert to its previous setting.

Minimum Curvature Method – This method seeks the minimum angle of curvature required to satisfy the connection between sequential data points. This method takes its input data from MD, Inclination and Azimuth channels and calculates all other channels.

Note: This is the most frequently used and most accurate method available for calculation of survey data points and we recommended this method.

Radius of Curvature Method – This method uses the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the previous and current point of the survey and generates a space curve representing the curve path. This space curve passes through the measured angles at the top and the bottom of this interval. This method usually is considered the most accurate but is still sensitive to the length of the interval. This method takes its input data from MD, Inclination and Azimuth channels and calculates all other channels.

Balanced Tangential Method – This method uses the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the previous and current point of the survey to Tangentially Balance the two sets of measurements over the interval. This method is more accurate than the Tangential Method below but is still sensitive to the interval length. This method takes its input data from MD, Inclination and Azimuth channels and calculates all other channels.

Angle Averaging Method – This method uses a simple mathematical average of the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the previous and current points of the survey to compute the survey using the Tangential Method below. This is more accurate than the Tangential Method but still simple enough for hand calculations in the field. Interval length between survey points must be kept as short as possible. This method takes its input data from MD, Inclination and Azimuth channels and calculates all other channels.

Tangential Method – This method uses the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the current survey point to determine the curve to be used for the interval between this survey point and the previous survey point. This is the most common and least accurate method used for hand calculations. The error introduced increases with the inclination angle and the interval length (between the current and previous survey point). This method is not recommended, therefore. This method takes its input data from MD, Inclination and Azimuth channels and calculates all other channels.

Circular Arc – This method is similar to the Minimum Curvature Method except that the curve that is used must be a part of a Circular Arc and this introduces an error that makes this method much less reliable than the Minimum Curvature Method. This method takes its input data from MD, Inclination and Azimuth channels and calculates all other channels.

From XYZ Minimum Curvature – This method seeks the minimum angle of curvature required to satisfy the connection between sequential data points. This method takes its input data from TVD, N/S Offset and E/W Offset channels and calculates all other channels.

From XYZ Tangential – This method uses the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the current survey point to determine the curve to be used for the interval between this survey point and the previous survey point. This is the most common and least accurate method used for hand calculations. The error introduced increases with the inclination angle and the interval length (between the current and previous survey point). This method is not recommended, therefore. This method takes its input data from TVD, N/S Offset and E/W Offset channels and calculates all other channels.

From XYZ Curvature Radius – This method uses the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the previous and current point of the survey and generates a space curve representing the curve path. This space curve passes through the measured angles at the top and the bottom of this interval. This method usually is considered the most accurate but is still sensitive to the length of the interval. This method takes its input data from TVD, N/S Offset and E/W Offset channels and calculates all other channels.

From XYZ Balanced Tangential – This method uses the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the previous and current point of the survey to Tangentially Balance the two sets of measurements over the interval. This method is more accurate than the Tangential Method below but is still sensitive to the interval length. This method takes its input data from TVD, N/S Offset and E/W Offset channels and calculates all other channels.

From XYZ Angle Averaging – This method uses a simple mathematical average of the Inclination and Azimuth angles at the previous and current points of the survey to compute the survey using the Tangential Method below. This is more accurate than the Tangential Method but still simple enough for hand calculations in the field. Interval length between survey points must be kept as short as possible. This method takes its input data from TVD, N/S Offset and E/W Offset channels and calculates all other channels.

<Custom> – This indicates that this survey data was either entered manually or edited after it was calculated. The calculation method for the data may be one of the methods above if it was manually entered, but it will still be marked as <Custom> here to indicate that our program did not verify the calculation.

Note: If you edit the survey after it has been calculated, this Calculation Method combo box will automatically revert to display <Custom>.

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You can use this option to indicate the coordinate system that you want to use to view the Projected Surface Coordinates above each point of the survey in the X-Coordinate and Y-Coordinate columns.

There are four tabs on this screen:

Survey – This tab displays the actual survey points versus Measured Depth and True Vertical Depth. These are usually the points that are provided by a surveying tool (most common in Measured Depth, Inclination, and Azimuth).

Segments – This tab allows you to construct a description of a survey based on segments that can be linear or curved in a particular way. You can then generate a corresponding survey on the Survey tab based on these segments.

Targets Definition – This tab allows you to define targets of different shapes that you intend to strike with the survey that you are planning. You can then use the Target Constraints tab to construct limitations on the manner in which your equipment can reach these targets, and then you can generate a suitable survey on the Survey tab based on these Targets and Constraints.

Target Constraints – Once you have set up targets that you wish to achieve, you can set up limitations on the path that will be permitted as guidelines for the survey that will be generated. You can generate a survey on the Survey tab that satisfies the Constraints you supply here and still achieves the Targets set up on the Targets Definition tab.