Edge detection of potential field anomalies using vertical derivative of analytic signal

The analytic signal for magnetic anomalies was initially defined as a “complex field deriving from a complex potential” (Nabighian, 1972). This function can be computed easily in the frequency domain, its real part is the horizontal derivative of the field and its imaginary part is the vertical derivative. Analytic signal processing and interpretation requires few initial assumptions regarding the source body geometry and magnetization and is particularly efficient at an early stage of the interpretation even if constraints are not available. For 2-D structures (Nabighian, 1972), the method assumes that the causative bodies have a polygonal cross-section with uniform magnetization. Such structures can also be considered as the superimposition of a finite number of magnetic steps. Narrow dikes and thin sheets can also be taken into account using a lower order of derivation; for example, the field itself instead of the horizontal derivatives. Nabighian (1972) demonstrates that the analytic signal has simple poles at each corner of the structures. The amplitude of the analytic signal is a bell-shaped symmetric function maximizing exactly over the top of each contact, with the width of the amplitude curve being related directly to the depth of the contact. This is also true for any of the derivatives of the signal (Nabighian, 1974); these properties can be used to locate the magnetic contacts and to estimate their depths. Extension of the 2-D analytic signal to three dimensions will allow more general interpretation procedures to be developed, the two-dimensionality assumption being no longer required. The relationship between the horizontal and vertical derivatives for the 3-D case was first derived by Nabighian (1984).