Automatic reconstruction method of 3D geological models based on deep convolutional generative adversarial networks

How to reconstruct a credible three-dimensional (3D) geological model from very limited survey data, e.g. boreholes, outcrop, and two-dimensional (2D) images, is challenging in the field of 3D geological modeling. Against the limitations of the huge computational consumption and complex parameterization of geostatistics-based stochastic simulation methods, we propose an automatic reconstruction method of 3D geological models based on deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN). In this work, 2D geological sections are used as conditioning data to generate 3D geological models automatically. Various realizations can be reproduced under a same DCGAN model established through deep network training. A U-Net structure is used to enhance the fitting effect of the DCGAN model. In addition, joint loss functions are exploited to increase the similarity between 3D realizations and reference models. Three synthetic datasets were used to verify the capability of the method presented in this paper. Experimental results show that the proposed 3D automatic reconstruction method based on DCGAN can capture the features, trends and spatial patterns of geological structures well. The output models obey the used conditioning data. The complex heterogeneous structures are reconstructed more accurately and quickly by using the proposed method.