Optimization of Borehole Layout Strategy Considering 3D Stratigraphic Uncertainty

Borehole drilling has been regarded as a traditional way of obtaining geological information in site investigation, while the borehole locations are difficult to be determined. Since increasing the number of boreholes requires additional expenditure, the optimization of borehole locations considering stratigraphic uncertainty has been crucial for sustainable development. In this study, a borehole planning strategy is proposed considering updated 3D stratigraphic uncertainty distribution, which is determined by a stratum-informed random field-based method, site division approach, and information entropy. Several sub-sites are generated based on the neighboring boreholes, enabling the site-specific uncertainty to be evaluated and compared. The optimized borehole location is the center of the sub-site presenting the highest average entropy. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified through a three-layer geological model and compared with the traditional borehole planning strategy. The results have shown that the proposed strategy effectively decreases the information entropy and increases the accuracy.