Low-latitude reduction-to-the-pole and upward continuation between arbitrary surfaces based on the partial differential equation framework

Abstract

SUMMARY Magnetic surveys conducted in complex conditions, such as low magnetic latitudes, uneven observation surfaces, or above high-susceptibility sources, pose significant challenges for obtaining stable solutions for reduction-to-the-pole (RTP) and upward-continuation processing on arbitrary surfaces. To tackle these challenges, in this study, we propose constructing an equivalent-susceptibility model based on the partial differential equation (PDE) framework in the space domain. A multilayer equivalent-susceptibility method was used for RTP and upward-continuation operations, thus allowing for application on undulating observation surfaces and strong self-demagnetization effect in a non-uniform mesh. A novel positivity constraint is introduced to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the inversion. We analysed the effect of the depth-weighting function in the inversion of equivalent susceptibility for RTP and upward-continuation reproduction. Iterative and direct solvers were utilized and compared in solving the large, sparse, non-symmetric and ill-conditioned system of linear equations produced by PDE-based equivalent-source construction. Two synthetic models were used to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method in processing both ground and airborne magnetic data. Aeromagnetic and ground data collected in Brazil at a low magnetic latitude region were used to validate the proposed method for processing RTP and upward-continuation operations on magnetic data sets with strong self-demagnetization.