INFORMATION SYSTEM ON GEOLOGICAL RESERVOIR AND BARRIER ROCKS IN GERMANY (STORAGE CATALOGUE OF GERMANY)

Within the last years, increasing interest in climate friendly geotechnical and energetic utilization of the deeper underground has created a demand for a competent advisory service to politicians, the public, industries, and authorities.

In cooperation with the state geological surveys of Germany and the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), an information system on geological reservoir and barrier rock units was set up for the Federal Republic of Germany – the Storage Catalogue of Germany.

Within the project, rock units were elaborated with respect to their reservoir and barrier characteristics, and categorized based on consistent evaluation criteria according to depth and thickness (see also the contribution of Müller et al. in this issue). The data from the state geological surveys were merged, harmonized and consistently visualized in a map application. The GIS-based work was carried out using ArcGIS of ESRI (Environmental Systems Reasearch Institute), a very flexible tool for compiling the Storage Catalogue of Germany.

An essential component of the Storage Catalogue of Germany is digital information on exploration data, which has been generated in a sub-project by the State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG). This Information System provides information about existing data of the deep subsurface (e.g. deep wells, seismic surveys) and is attached to the corresponding spatial data. It therefore gives the user an overview about available measurements in different regions. The information system is complemented by reports on the geological knowledge of deeper underground. These different components are the results of the project. Content and functionalities of the map application within the information system Storage Catalogue of Germany will be presented.