Models of Anisotropy Often, directional sample variograms will reveal major changes in the range or sill as the direction

changes. The example in figure 16.3a shows an isometric view of a variogram surface where the range changes with direction, while the sill remains constant. This type of anisotropy is known as the geometric anisotropy. In case of the zonal anisotropy, the sill changes with direction while the range remains constant. The example in figure 16.3b shows both the range and sill changing with direction and is the mixture of both the geometric and zonal anisotropies. Given a set of sample variograms which show the range and/or sill obviously changing with direction, one begins by identifying the anisotropy axes. This is usually done by experimentally determining the directions corresponding to the minimum and maximum range or the maximum and minimum sill in the case of the zonal anisotropy [7]. Contour maps of the variogram surface, such as the one shows in figure 7.6, are tremendously useful for determining these directions. Another alternative, also shown in chapter 7, is to plot the experimental ranges for the different directional sample variograms on a rose diagram. (a)

(b)

Figure 16.3 in (a), the isometric drawing of the variogram surface shows an example of a geometric anisotropy where the range changes with direction while the sill remains constant. Another anisotropy type is the zonal, where the sill changes with direction while the range remains constant. A mixture of the two anisotropy types is shown in (b).

Figure 16.4 this figure shows the equivalence between a transition model with range a and the transition model with range 1 and equal sill values. These two models are equivalent providing they are evaluated using the vectors h and h/a respectively.

Qualitative information, such as the orientation of lithologic units or bedding planes, is usually very helpful in identifying the axes of the anisotropy. A knowledge of the genesis of the phenomenon under study can also be very helpful. For example, airborne pllution is likely to be more continuous in the prevailing wind direction than in a perpendicular direction. Having identified the axes of the anisotropy, the next step is to put together a model that describes how the variogram changes as the distance and direction change. For now we will work in the coordinate system defined by the axes of the anistropy. Once we have seen how to build a complete model in this coordinate system we will look at a method that will enable the variogram model to be used in the data coordinate system. One method for combining the various directional models into a model that is consistent in all directions is to define a transformation that reduces all directional variograms to a common model with a standardized range of 1. The trick is to transform the separation distance so that the standardized model will provide us with a variogram value that is identical to any of the directional models for that separation distance. For example, two transitional variogram models with the same sill are shown in figure 16.4. One has a range of 1 while the other has a range of a. Note that if we evaluate the model with range 1 at a distance of h/a we will get the same value that we would get by evaluating the model with range a at a distance of h. Thus we have effectively reduced the model with range a to an equivalent model with range 1 by reducing the separation distance h to h/a. We can express this equivalence as ( ) Or, if we let h1 equal then, (16.12) Thus any directional model with range a can be reduced to a standardized model with a range of 1 simply by replacing the separation distance, h, by a reduced distanceh/a. or (16.11)

The concept of an equivalent model and reduced distance can be extended to two dimensions. If ax is the range in the x direction and ay the range in the y direction, then the anisotropy variogram model can be expressed as ( And the reduced distance h1 is given by (16.14) ) (16.13)

Where hx is the component of h along the x axis and hy is its component along the y axis. Similarly,the anisotropic variogram model in three dimensions, with ranges ax, ay and az can be expressed as ( And the reduced distance h1 is given by (16.16) ) (16.15)

The method of using equivalent models and reduced distances also works with models that do not reach a sill. Equations 16.12 through 16.16 can also be applied to linear directional models with slopes ax, ay and az. The reduced distances would be axh, ayh and azh and equivalent isotropic model with slope 1 is given by 1(axh) = ax(h) etc.

Figure 16.5 transitional directional variogram models along the axes of a three-dimensional geometric anisotropy.

In the following paragraphs we have provided several examples of different models that use the equivalent model and reduced distance trick. The equation of the final model in three dimensions is also provided for each example. Geometric Anisotropy One Structure. Recall that the geometric anisotropy is characterized by directional sample variograms that have approximately the same sill but different ranges (in the case of a linear variogram, the slope will vary with direction). Figure 16.5 shows three directional variogram models along the three perpendicular axes of the anisotropy. Each directional

model consists of only one structure, and all three have the same sill value, however, their ranges are different. The equivalent three-dimensional varigram model for Figure 16.5 is given by | And the reduced distance h1 is (16.18) | (16.17)

Figure 16.6 a second example of transitional directional variogram models along the axes of a threedimensional geometric anisotropy. In this example, each directional model consists of three structures. The first is the nugget with coefficient w0. The second is the transition structure with ranges ax1, ay1, az1 and coefficient w1. The third is the transition structure with ranges ax2, ay2, az2 and coefficient w2.

where ax, ay and az are the ranges of the directional variogram models along the axes of the anisotropy, hx, hy and hz are the components of h in the x, y, and z directions of the anisotropy axes and 1(h1) is the equivalent model with a standardized range of 1. Note that for each nested structure, the directional models must all be the same type. That is, the directional models must all be either spherical, exponential, or some other suitable model for each nested structure, however, the model types can differ from one nested stucture to the next. For example the first nested structure for each of the directionals might consist of a spherical model while the second nested structure could be an exponential model. Geometric Anisotropy Nugget and Two Structures. A modeling problem that is commonly encountered in practice is shown in Figure 16.6. Each directional model consists of three structures, the nugget effect and two additional transition structures. The nugget effect is isotropic in three directions while the remaining. Two structures are isotropic in the x, y plane but show an anisotropy between the z direction and the x,y plane. We will build the three-dimensional model for this example by considering each nested structure in turn. The nugget effect is isotropic and can be modeled straightforwardly. Its equation is given by (16.19)

Where 0(h) is defined by equation 16.5. The next structure is identified in figure 16.6 by the ranges ax1, ay1, az1 and the coefficient w1. This structure is isotropic in the x,y plane but shows an anisotropy between the x,y plane and the z direction. The equivalent isotropic model of this structure is given by | And the reduced distance h1 is (16.21) | (16.20)

For the last structure, the ranges along the three principal axes of the anisotropy are given by ax,2, ay,2, and az,2 and the coefficient by w2. This structure is also isotropic in the x, y plane and shows an anisotropy between the x, y plane and the z direction. The equivalent isotropic model is given by | And the reduced distance h2 is (16.23) | (16.22)

The complete three dimensional anisotropic model is obtained by combining the three equivalent isotropic models of equations 16.19 through 16.22 to obtain (16.24) To summarize, the geometric anisotropy requires some foresight in modeling the directional sample variograms. All the directional variogram models must have identical sill values. Each nested structure in any particular directional variogram model must appear in all the other directional models with the same coefficient w.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 16.7 The geometric anisotropic variogram model shown in (a) has been combined with the directional (zonal) component shown in (b) and the resulting mixture is shown in (c).

Figure 16.8 a third example of transitional directional variogram models along the axes of a three-dimensional anisotropy. The directional models along the x and y axis show the same sill, w 1, but different ranges. However, the directional model along the z axis shows a different range and sill and indicates a mixture of geometric and zonal anisotopies.

Zonal and Geometric Anisotropy. A zonal anisotropy is one in which the sill value changes with direction while the range remains constant. In practice we rarely find a pure zonal anisotropy, it is more common to find a mixture of the zonal and geometric anisotropies together. Figure 16.7a shows a perspective view of the geometric variogram surface where the range changes with direction while the sill remains constant. Figure 16.7b shows a zonal variogram surface

where the variogram only changes in one direction. Figure 16.7c, shows the resulting model odtained by combining the geometric anisotropy shown in Figure16.7a with the zonal model shown in Figure 16.7 b. Both the sill and the range change with direction in the combined model. The example Figure 16.8 consist of three directional variogram models along the axes of the anisotropy. Each directional model consists of one structure. The direcyional models along the x and y axes have the same sill, but different ranges. The directional model along the z axis has a shorter range and a larger sill than the directional models for x and y. The isotropic models for these anisotropies consists of two structures similar to the models illustrated in figure 16.7a and b. The first structure is modeled as a geometric anisotropy, while the second is modeled asa zonal component using a directional model. The equivalent modelfor the first structure will be an isotropic model wiah a sill of w1 and a range of 1. It is important to note that this model is isotropic, which means it must return a value of w1 when evaluated for the vector (0, 0, az). Its equation is given by | And the reduced distance h1 is (16.26) | (16.25)

The second structure has a sill equal to w2 and exists only in the hz direction. This zonal component is modeled using an equivalent directional variogram in the z direction : (16.27) And the reduced distance h2 is (16.28) The complete model is given by (16.29)