An integrated approach reduces ambiguity by focusing on areas where the multiple methods all point to anomalous areas. The integration of lineament mapping techniques with geobotanical exploration methods for this study provides a more reliable way to identify remotely-sensed indications of microseeps, and reduce the uncertainty inherent in both techniques. In previously known reservoirs, an approach based on such an integration has the potential to identify lineaments which are also zones of increased permeability, and thus locations where maximum reservoir production might be expected. In new areas, microseeps provide a surface indication of potential targets for further analysis or drilling. The present satellite-borne sensors have a limited spectral resolution which limit the identification of subtle spectral effects related to vegetation stress.
Ground based measurements can provide further validation.
In addition, multi-temporal analyses provide an alternative source of information, as some spectral anomalies may only be evident at certain times of the year. The approach used in this study was an empirical analysis of a known area of historical seeps of hydrocarbons, which was assumed to have the potential for current microseep activity. The study site is the historic Volcano Oil field, on the crest of the North-South trending Burning Springs Anticline. The oil field was discovered about 1864, and has produced over 2 million barrels of oil since that time. Production was from four sandstone horizons within the Connoquenessing Sandstone, the Pottsville, the Greenbrier, and the Pocono Big Injun Sands.