Subsurface IQ
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Bringing Intelligence Below Ground

We turn microseismic data into defensible answers about fracture geometry, fault interaction, and depletion using the physics of how events trigger each other.

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What We Do

Know Which Microseismic Events Actually Matter

Modern completions generate massive microseismic catalogs. The challenge isn’t collection. It’s knowing which events represent real, connected fracture growth and which are disconnected noise.

Subsurface IQ’s patent-pending method maps microseismic events into physically connected triggering cascades, like foreshock and aftershock sequences, filtering out events that can’t be part of the same propagating fracture system. The result is fracture geometry, fault interaction, and depletion diagnostics you can actually act on.

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Industry Challenges

  • Stimulated rock volume (SRV) and fracture half-length estimates inflated by disconnected events
  • No reliable way to set fault standoff distance, so rules of thumb cost lateral length or risk casing deformation
  • Infill wells underperforming from parent-child interference, with no way to tell new fracture growth from reactivated depleted rock
  • Fracture energy lost to faults and pre-existing fracture networks without warning

What We Deliver

  • Filtered event catalogs showing only physically connected fracture growth
  • Refined fracture geometry estimates, a step closer to effective rather than just wetted dimensions
  • Fault and natural fracture interaction detection from data you’ve already collected
  • Depletion-zone fracture behavior characterization for smarter child well design

Works on historical microseismic data. No new acquisition required, only event locations, times, and magnitudes.

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Services

Project-Based Fracture Diagnostics

Targeted analysis tailored to your data, wells, and operational questions.

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Fracture Geometry Refinement

Filter disconnected events to sharpen fracture half-length, height, and SRV estimates — closing the gap between wetted and propped dimensions.

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Fault & Natural Fracture Interaction

Identify when fracture energy is diverted into faults or reactivates natural fractures — informing standoff distance, stage design near structure, and casing deformation risk.

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Depletion & Parent-Child Diagnostics

Distinguish new fracture creation from reactivation of depleted rock. Characterize parent-child interference to guide child well spacing, sequencing, and completion sizing.

Our Approach

From Event Cloud to Defensible Interpretation

We apply a triggering framework to filter microseismic catalogs and reveal the mechanisms actually controlling fracture behavior.

01 | Connect

Map every event pair against the physics of stress transmission. Can these events actually be physically connected in space, time, and magnitude?

02 | Filter

Remove statistically disconnected events, isolating the sequences that represent real, propagating fracture systems.

03 | Interpret

Characterize fracture behavior to reveal what’s controlling propagation: completion design, faults, natural fractures, or depletion.

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The Difference

Physics-Informed Analytics — Not Just Pattern Recognition

AI works best when conditions repeat. Subsurface systems rarely do.

Our diagnostics are constrained by the physics of seismic triggering, producing interpretations that remain credible across changing geology, evolving stress, and non-ideal field conditions.

THE RESULT: Fracture diagnostics you can trust for high-stakes completion and development decisions.

Our Team

Built on Peer-Reviewed Research

Subsurface IQ is built on a decade of research at the intersection of geomechanics, seismology, and computational methods, shaped through close collaboration with operators.

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Ellie Johnson

Founder & CEO

Ellie is a PhD student in Geological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where her research spans seismic energy release across every scale, from earthquakes to microseismicity to laboratory acoustic emissions. Her work applies earthquake triggering frameworks to hydraulic fracturing, mapping foreshock-aftershock sequences to reveal the natural and induced features that govern fracture behavior.

She developed Subsurface IQ’s patent-pending microseismic network analysis and applies its methodology through DOE-funded research on both field- and lab-scale hydraulic fracturing datasets. She holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Geological Engineering from UW-Madison.

Let’s Solve Your Subsurface Challenge

Schedule a consultation to discuss your project and data.