Patent ID: 8027790

Claim:
A computer implemented method for interpreting data from a controlled-source electromagnetic survey of a subsurface region, comprising: (a) providing a graphical user interface allowing selection of electromagnetic data and their manipulation or display by one or more selected tools; (b) providing a plurality of data manipulation and display tools, each accessible from a graphical user interface; (c) providing layered data storage for frequency-domain electromagnetic field data volumes, each layer corresponding to a certain survey to source line, frequency and receiver, and being allocated to receive at least the following types of data or information: (A) frequency; (B) type of processing used for actual data, or identification of resistivity model assumed for synthetic data; (C) receiver identification and geometry information for survey receivers, including (x,y,z) coordinates and 3D orientation angles; (D) source information including (x,y,z) location and data specifying source antenna shape as a function of time; and (E) electromagnetic data corresponding to parameters (A)-(D); wherein the electromagnetic data in each layer, whether real data or synthetic data, are stored with the same internal structure; and (d) using a software program comprising the features provided in steps (a)-(c) to interpret the electromagnetic data to predict hydrocarbon potential of the subsurface region.