Systems and methods for identifying subsurface hydrogen accumulation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024142661-A1
Application number	US-202318528407-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 4, 2023
Priority date	Apr 30, 2021
Publication date	May 2, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses, methods, and computer program products are disclosed for training an image analysis engine to identify surface features of the Earth consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation. An example method includes receiving, by communications circuitry, a training dataset of labeled images illustrating surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation, the surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation comprising ovoid surficial depressions. The example method further includes training, by a model generator and using the training dataset, an image classification model of the image analysis engine to identify whether new images contain surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation. The example method further includes hosting the image classification model by the image analysis engine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for automatically identifying surface features of the Earth indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation, the method comprising:
receiving, by communications circuitry, a training dataset of labeled images illustrating surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation; training, by a model generator and using the training dataset, an object detection model to identify regions within images containing surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation; receiving, by the communications circuitry, a target image; identifying, by image analysis engine and using the object detection model, a region within the target image containing a surface feature consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation; automatically estimating, by a relevance determination engine, a likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation; determining, by the relevance determination engine, whether the estimated likelihood satisfies a predetermined threshold; and in an instance in which the estimated likelihood satisfies the predetermined threshold, outputting, by the communications circuitry, an indication that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the object detection model comprises a semantic segmentation model, and
wherein training the object detection model includes training the object detection model to identify every pixel of an image corresponding to surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation, and wherein identifying a region within the target image containing a surface feature consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation includes identifying every pixel in the target image that corresponds to the surface feature.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing, by the image analysis engine, orthorectification on the target image to remove distortion prior to identifying the region within the target image containing a surface feature consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically estimating the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation includes:
determining, by the relevance determination engine, a degree of geomorphic differentiation between the surface feature and one or more surrounding surface features; and estimating, by the relevance determination engine, the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation based on the degree of geomorphic differentiation between the surface feature and the one or more surrounding surface features.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically estimating the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation includes:
determining, by the relevance determination engine, a rate of change in one or more contours of the surface feature; and estimating, by the relevance determination engine, the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation based on the determined rate of change in the one or more contours of the surface feature.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically estimating the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation includes:
identifying, by the relevance determination engine, a geographical location of the surface feature; receiving, by the communications circuitry, information about a stratigraphic unit containing the identified geographical location of the surface feature; and estimating, by the relevance determination engine, the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation based on the received information regarding the stratigraphic unit.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the information about the stratigraphic unit includes at least one of:
geological characteristics of the stratigraphic unit; hydrogen migration pathways to the geographical location of the surface feature; hydrogen traps or seals proximal to the geographical location of the surface feature; or a thermal maturity or present temperature conditions of one or more portions of the stratigraphic unit.

8 . A apparatus for automatically identifying surface features of the Earth indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation, the apparatus comprising:
communications circuitry configured to receive a training dataset of labeled images illustrating surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation; a model generator configured to train, using the training dataset, an object detection model to identify regions within images containing surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation, wherein the communications circuitry is further configured to receive a target image; an image analysis engine configured to identify, using the object detection model, a region within the target image containing a surface feature consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation; and a relevance determination engine configured to:
automatically estimate a likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation, and
determine whether the estimated likelihood satisfies a predetermined threshold,
wherein the communications circuitry is further configured to, in an instance in which the estimated likelihood satisfies the predetermined threshold, output an indication that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 ,
wherein the object detection model comprises a semantic segmentation model, wherein the model generator is configured to train the semantic segmentation model to identify every pixel of an image corresponding to surface features consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation, and wherein the image analysis engine is configured to identify every pixel in the target image that corresponds to the surface feature.

10 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the image analysis engine is further configured to perform orthorectification on the target image to remove distortion prior to identifying the region within the target image containing a surface feature consistent with subsurface hydrogen accumulation.

11 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the relevance determination engine is configured to automatically estimate the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation by:
determining a degree of geomorphic differentiation between the surface feature and one or more surrounding surface features; and estimating the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation based on the degree of geomorphic differentiation between the surface feature and the one or more surrounding surface features.

12 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the relevance determination engine is configured to automatically estimate the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation by:
determining a rate of change in one or more contours of the surface feature; and estimating the likelihood that the surface feature is indicative of active subsurface hydrogen accumulation based on the determined rate of change in the one or more contours of the surface feature.

13 . The apparatus of claim 8 ,
wherein the relevance determination engine is further configured to identify a geographical location of the surface

Assignees

• Ohio State Innovation Foundation

Inventors

• Darrah Thomas
• Howat Ian
• Moortgat Joachim
• Whyte Colin

Classifications

• G01V8/02

  Prospecting · CPC title

• G06V20/13 Primary

  Satellite images · CPC title

• G06V10/26

  Segmentation of patterns in the image field; Cutting or merging of image elements to establish the pattern region, e.g. clustering-based techniques; Detection of occlusion · CPC title

• G06V10/82

  using neural networks · CPC title

• G06V10/40

  Extraction of image or video features · CPC title