GeoLaB: A digital infrastructure for a geothermal laboratory

The GeoLaB infrastructure currently in planning stages will be the first underground research laboratory (URL) for investigating the sustainable und safe use of deep geothermal energy in Germany. The Odenwald is currently being investigated as a potential candidate for the GeoLaB. To support researchers from multiple research centres in Germany, a digital infrastructure has been developed for a digital twin of the laboratory. A 3D visualisation of the surrounding area has been modelled, containing geographical, hydrological, geological, and administrative data. On the surface, this gives an overview of settlements, protection areas, land use and much more. In addition, the subsurface includes detailed information on geological layers and existing boreholes. Currently seismic and hydrological campaigns are conducted in the area and test drillings are being performed. All the available data from these campaigns will be added into the visualisation framework along with the layout of a potential tunnel system. This system serves to support the planning stage of the project and provide information for knowledge transfer activities for stakeholders and the public. The visualisation is interactive and users can explore the integrated datasets. Supplemental information such as websites, videos, or documents can be linked to specific structures to provide additional information. Already set up data loggers and sensors are being shown and measured data can be accessed by simply clicking the respective 3D representation.

To allow this kind of real time data access and interaction, a complex data management system has been set up for storing a large collection of heterogeneous data related to the location, the infrastructure, measurement campaigns, experiments, and any other data within the context of GeoLaB. It contains not only geoscientific data that is feeding the digital twin of the laboratory, but also documentation, public relations material, publications and much more.

Over time, with more data being gathered and measured this system will be gradually expanded. The functionality to integrate the results of numerical simulations has already been implemented into the framework. This allows to compare observed and simulated data for more reliable insights into complex hydro-thermal-mechanical and chemical processes within the host rock and will provide a large benefit during both the planning and the productive stage, when research experiments within the tunnel system are being set up. For now, this visualisation and the data management framework provide an interactive overview of all the available project-related data in a unified context and give a descriptive and intuitive presentation of the site and ongoing activities. In the future, the system will be expanded into a full digital twin of the site to explore and check many aspects of the ongoing research activities within GeoLaB. We will also briefly present the GeoDT project, which is specifically dedicated to the data and model integration of the Odenwald site.