Transformations between aeromagnetic gradients in frequency domain

Abstract

Aeromagnetic gradients are often used to enhance details or add new insights for interpretation. The gradients may be measured or derived from the total field or from transformation between horizontal and vertical gradients. At present, vertical, horizontal, and triaxial aeromagnetic gradiometers are in operation throughout the world, while the first two are used more widely. Transformations between horizontal and vertical gradients are needed for acquiring three gradient components or for checking the validity of measured gradients. Transformation of potential field by fast Fourier transform technique in frequency domain is popularly used; however, when applied to transforming between gradients, there is a problem that needs resolving. Because those expressions of transform operators are undefined when u or v is equal to zero or u and v are simultaneously equal to zero (u is the frequency in x-direction, and v is the frequency in y-direction), the operators cannot be sampled at these frequencies. Consequently, the transformation cannot be implemented by fast Fourier transform technique directly. In this article, shift sampling theory is employed for resolving this problem. Model test results show that the technique has good accuracy, and the real case of transformation indicates that the computed results agree better with the measured gradients; it demonstrates not only the effectiveness of method but also the reliability of the measured gradients.