Patent ID: 8255165

Claim:
A method for predicting differences in subsurface conditions in a subsurface region, the method comprising: defining at least one layer comprising a plurality of data points in a data set representing a first subsurface condition; performing an exhaustive search methodology using a set of parameters corresponding to a second subsurface condition for each of the plurality of data points in the first data set that relate to the at least one layer or to a lesser number of such data points that are predicted to have a significant impact on data fit below, wherein synthetic geophysical data, generated using a model having the first and second subsurface conditions as a model parameters, is compared to measured geophysical survey data, and a best data-fit set of second subsurface condition values is selected; performing a statistical analysis to determine whether error in the data fit of the synthetic data relative to the measured data is significantly reduced if one of the at least one layer is subdivided into at least two layers; dividing the at least one layer into at least two layers if the error is significantly reduced; and predicting a model showing variation of the second subsurface condition at a time when the measured geophysical survey data were obtained; wherein at least the performing an exhaustive search methodology and the performing a statistical analysis are performed using a computer.