Geodetic integrity

JewelSuite 2026.1 Subsurface Modeling applies the GIGS (IOGP) guidelines in regard to geodetic integrity. This ensures a consistent workspace that aims to eliminate real-world positioning errors with your data in an attempt to prevent business and safety related issues while creating your model. While working with the application, this means that all geospatial data (well data, seismic data, 3D grid data, etc.) is expected to use a correct and consistent coordinate reference system (CRS) that ensures the real-world placement of your data is accurately represented. The type of CRS is a 'projected CRS'. To aid in this effort and maintain geodetic integrity, a number of events and checks that ensure the consistency of the CRS in your solution have been implemented throughout the data import, creation and export processes.

If circumstances force you to work with a dataset of an unknown CRS, functionality is provided that will allow you to perform the entire workflow, though the data will be the subject of restrictions intended to prevent the propagation of the unidentified data. See next section 'How geodetic integrity is applied in JewelSuite Subsurface Modeling' for further information. For a summary of the rules and limitations per geodetic mode, see Before you start - geodetic rules.

Important  When you import geographic features, surface representations (tri-mesh, polyline, point set) and wells (well heads and wellbores, well pads, designs) with specific file formats, the imported data CRS and the solution CRS do not have to match. In this case, a CRS transformation must be applied, see Coordinate Reference System Transformation.

How geodetic integrity is applied in JewelSuite 2026.1 Subsurface Modeling

Known CRS

When creating a new solutionor opening a legacy solution without an assigned CRS, you are prompted to assign a CRS to the solution using the Set solution CRS and Display Units form. The geodetic library can be accessed from this form and you will need to select a CRS to continue; clicking Cancel in the form will return you to the application start page. For your reference, the assigned (or original CRS when working in Sandbox mode) CRS is always displayed in the Geodetic Reference Section of the Inspector pane for any of your objects. After a CRS is assigned to the solution, you can import data with that CRS. To import data with different CRS than the solution CRS depends on the type of data you want to import. Data types with specific file formats are allowed to be imported using a CRS transformation. To find more about these data types and file formats, see the topic Coordinate Reference System Transformation. Geospatial data with different CRS that is not under these data types, is blocked for import.

Deleting all geospatial data from a solution does not allow for the changing of the assigned CRS. If you want to assign a different CRS, create a new solution.

Unknown CRS

In cases where the CRS of the data is unknown, the Sandbox Mode allows you to work with the data without assigning a CRS. When creating a new solution or opening a legacy solution without an assigned CRS, you can choose the Sandbox Mode option on the Set solution CRS and Display Units form. When in Sandbox Mode, a CRS does not need to be specified, nor will any data import action be blocked if the data belongs to a CRS that's different from other imported data. The limitation of Sandbox Mode comes in the form of the following restrictions:

  • Drag and drop of data from a solution in Sandbox Mode to a solution using a CRS is blocked. However, drag and drop of data from a solution with a CRS to a solution in Sandbox Mode is allowed (only between instances of the application that are in the same version).
  • Once Sandbox Mode is chosen, a real-world CRS can no longer be assigned.

See Before you start - geodetic rules for an overview of the rules and limitations per geodetic mode.

General import behavior

For some file formats, the CRS of the data being imported is read from the file during the import process so that it can be inspected for compatibility with the solution CRS. This includes situations where you are attempting to import multiple data types (e.g. well, marker, and perforation data) from separate files in a single operation; here the CRS for each file is individually listed and you are able to specify the CRS individually or for the entire group of data. When connecting to an external data source through the Connectors strip, a slightly different process is followed for ensuring geodetic integrity. See Data connectors and multiple well data file importers for more information.

For most file formats, the CRS cannot be determined during the import process. In this case, the CRS for the incoming data will be initially set to Undefined and you will need to assign the solution CRS to the data in order to continue. For some data types with specific file formats you are allowed to assign a different CRS that the solution CRS by applying a CRS transformation.

Assigning the solution CRS to the incoming data can be easily taken care of by clicking the Use solution CRS button, which appears in all of the import forms for geospatial data.

Geodetic integrity is applied to the following data types:

  • Seismic volumes
  • Well data
  • Point sets
  • Polyline sets
  • Tri-meshes
  • 2D grids
  • 3D grids
  • Area
  • 3D meshes
  • Feature Sets
  • Images

Drag and drop behavior

The same level of geodetic consistency applied to imported data is also applied to drag and drop of data. When attempting to use drag and drop to transfer data between two instances of JewelSuite 2026.1 Subsurface Modeling, the transfer is blocked if the same CRS is not assigned to the two solutions.

Exporting the data under the GIGS guidelines

Solution CRS information is written into the export file when exporting certain file formats. This includes CRS metadata that precisely identifies which CRS the data coordinates belong to, for future import purposes. CRS information is written to the following formats when exported:

  • All JOA ascii formats
  • All JOA binary formats
  • SEG-Y files
  • User-defined, column based files
  • Paradigm GOCAD™ Well Trajectory files
  • ESRI Shapefiles (*.shp)

How GIGS guidelines affect created data

The CRS used by the solution is automatically assigned to any applicable data that is created throughout the workflow process. If you are creating geospatial data, such as a well, as the first step of a new solution, you will encounter the same process as when importing data into a new solution and will be prompted to select and assign a CRS to the solution before proceeding.