Calculation of magnitude magnetic transforms with high centricity and low dependence on the magnetization vector direction

Abstract

We present a Matlab tool that calculates five magnitude magnetic transforms (MMTs) from an input measured anomalous magnetic field. The MMTs are all based on the total magnitude anomaly (TMA), and consist of the TMA itself, the modulus of the gradient of the TMA, the Laplacian of the TMA, half of the square root of the Laplacian of the square of the TMA, and the square root of the product of the TMA plus the Laplacian of the TMA. These MMTs produce anomalies that are closer to the magnetic source’s true horizontal position and are simpler to interpret than the measured anomalous magnetic field itself. While the conventional magnetic transforms of reduction-to-the-pole (RTP), the pseudogravity field, and the analytic signal (AS) also have these properties, these MMTs have several additional advantages. They require only first-order, horizontal derivatives for their calculation. They are also more stable at low magnetic latitudes than the RTP, and have a pattern that is independent of the geomagnetic-field vector direction, in contrast to the AS. The Matlab tool is designed to deal with big data sets and is compatible with common data formats, GS ASCII grid files, and XYZ data files. A calculation of the MMTs of the total magnetic anomaly of a synthetic example at a low magnetic latitude and with a field example from the Kuju volcanic area, Japan demonstrate the effectiveness of the program.