GEOMODELATOR-GUI: A web-based graphical user interface for 3D geological modelling
Geological modelling workflows often rely on command-line tools requiring programming expertise, limiting accessibility for domain scientists. This paper introduces GEOMODELATOR-GUI, a novel web-based graphical user interface for the open-source 3D geological modelling software GEOMODELATOR. The GUI abstracts complex configuration and execution processes into an intuitive, step-wise wizard interface, enabling geoscientists to generate structural geological models without coding, and thereby turning available field data into practical insights in a straightforward process. Built using Streamlit for the client and Flask for the server, the application implements a session-based architecture where model configurations are transmitted via JSON. The core innovation lies in its hybrid local-storage approach: large geological structural datasets and model outputs (ParaView VTK and VTS, numpy npz) are managed via a shared directory to circumvent network transfer limitations, while configuration logic remains server-mediated. The system performs model pre-configuration including grid alignment and data transformation, partitioning using cubic interpolation and priority-based sequential assignment of fault/strata relationships, and post-processing by inverse transformation and output generation. Validation using synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrates successful generation of complex faulted and stratified geological models. GEOMODELATOR-GUI significantly lowers the barrier to entry for geological modelling, enhances reproducibility through session management, and provides interactive 3D visualisation via PyVista. The fully open-source Python implementation of the GUI supports efficient 3D model development for numerical simulations within short time frames.
Authors
- Benjamin Nakaten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4782-8871)
- Elena Chabab (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0015-9914)
- Thomas Kempka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-5113)
Institutions
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- SoftwareX
- Published
- 2026-03-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2026.102630
- Primary Topic
- Geological Modeling and Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00