A generalized derivative operator for potential field data‡

The enhancement of potential field data using filters based on horizontal and vertical derivatives is common. As well as the direct use of the gradients themselves they are used in filters such as sunshading, total horizontal derivative, analytic signal, horizontal and vertical tilt angles, the Theta map and other filters. These techniques are high‐pass filters of different types and so enhance noise as well as detail in the data. A new derivative operator is introduced in this paper, which generalizes the effects of some of the previously mentioned filters. This filter is a linear combination of the horizontal and vertical field derivatives, normalized by the analytic signal amplitude. The filter is demonstrated on aeromagnetic and gravity data from South Africa.