Design and Use of Relational Databases in the Geothermal Sector

Abstract

At ÍSOR two kinds of databases have been designed: • ÍSOR‘s database and a database for the Ministy of Energy and Mines, Geothermal Division, Nicaragua: Both these are for data gathered in research and utilization work, like all the various measurements values, along with the concerned location dependent information and metadata. • Database of African Geothermal Development, for ARGeo: For overview of geothermal development work, regarding funding of projects and their progress at the various sites, human capacity and equipment available or required. Geothermal information has been gathered for decades, through research and costly projects. This information is vital and requires safe storage. It is a challenge for supervisory authorities and all institutions involved to do this safely and reliably. At the moment geothermal data is often stored in "flat file" databases. This is not problematic when the amount of data is considered small and simple, but it has it's limitations. Using Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) will be very beneficial to all our work. The value of databases as a relational is among other things to ensure data consistency, avoid data duplication, minimize human error, and maximise data security and accessibility. Data can be retrieved quickly with ease, and compared on a large or a small scale, from within and between areas and reservoirs, down to comparison of individual wells and other locations of measurements or sampling. Information can be shared more easily, resulting in improved collaboration, thus advancing geothermal work around the world. Here the main outlines of these databases will be described, their main design, structures and internal relations, main parts and tables, significant table views, general usage of the databases, including some notable output examples.