Mapping old oil and gas wells (MS, US)
I'm a geologist that's trying to map a large quantity of older oil wells in Mississippi. All the wells post 2000 have gps coordinates in NAD83 which are somewhat accurate. I'm having trouble accurately plotting the older wells. I'm using QGIS currently, but would definitely be open to other options. I do not need this to be as accurate as survey work, but would like it to be as accurate as possible.
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The PLSS data provided by the state is extremely inaccurate. I can't use section data as GCP's for georeferencing because it's so far off. I pulled in some georeferenced quad maps from the USGS and it perfectly matches the PLSS data provided by the state which is inaccurate (or at least it doesn't match the well plats by 500+ ft). The maps on blm's GLO are from the 1700's with no notes..
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I have some 6 inch aerial data and 1m Lidar data used as hillshade which helps find both new and older pads.
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With some of the old wells, I can't find the pads using the 1m lidar layer. And when I try to georeference using only other wells, it can be hundreds of feet off.
I guess my question is, is there any better way I can go about accomplishing this task? Do I need to go to the clerk of courts office and try to scan some maps from there with coordinates to recreate the sections?
Posted May 29, 2026, 7:54 PM UTC