Patent ID: 6912491

Claim:
A method of generating a map illustrating a set of risk-related characteristics of a cross section through an earth formation, representing a time slice passing horizontally through the formation or a horizon passing generally horizontally through said formation, in response to a plurality of scattered data observations on said cross section representing a plurality of parameters located at a plurality of locations on said cross section, comprising the steps of: (a) gridding said cross section thereby generating a gridded cross section which includes a grid having a plurality of intersection points, wherein each intersection point is not an area and is not a volume, and said plurality of scattered data observations distributed among the intersection points of said grid on said cross section; (b) obtaining a unique cumulative distribution function associated with each intersection point of the grid of the gridded cross section using ordinary Kriging, thereby producing a plurality of cumulative distribution functions associated, respectively, with the plurality of intersection points of said grid; (c) choosing a value representing a probability-related attribute from each of the cumulative distribution functions at each of the intersection points of the gridded cross section thereby producing a plurality of values associated, respectively, with the plurality of intersection points, and (d) assigning each value to its associated intersection point of the gridded cross section and assigning a unique color to said each value thereby generating a map illustrating said set of risk-related characteristics of said cross section through said earth formation.