Structural mapping of potential field sources using BHG filter

Abstract

Edge detection is one of the most commonly used interpretation techniques applied to potential data for detecting subsurface susceptibility/density discontinuities. Several edge detection techniques utilize the first, second, or even third-order gradients of the magnetic field to delineate the susceptibility contrasting zones. A new filter called Balanced Horizontal Gradient (BHG) filter is designed for enhancing the edges of the subsurface bodies that overcomes the limitations of the conventional filters. The BHG filter is based on the arctangent function of derivatives of horizontal gradients. The main advantage of the proposed filter is that it seems to detect all the source edges with no false edges generated around the true edges and effectively balances the edges arising from the shallow and deep-seated sources. We applied the filter on the aeromagnetic data from central India and identified the extensions of the Godavari rift and central Indian shear underneath the Deccan volcanic province.

Keywords:

• Edge detection
• synthetic data
• horizontal gradient
• aeromagnetic data
• central India

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr. V.M. Tiwari, Director CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, for his encouragement and permission to publish this paper. We humbly thank Prof. Rundquist, Regional Editor, Geocarto International, Dr. Aziz Nasuti and five anonymous reviewers for their suggestions that improved the manuscript greatly.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

KND acknowledges the financial support provided by CSIR, New Delhi, in the form of the CSIR-Senior Research Fellowship (31/023(0252)/2019-EMR-I). GAP-776-28 (APS), aided by the Ministry of Earth Science, India, financially supports the present research work.