Edge detection of potential field data by Balanced ASTA filter (BASTA) - a new filter

Articles in Press

Authors

1 MINING AND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY

2 Shahrood university of technology

Abstract

In this paper, we introduced a new edge detection filter, BASTA (Balanced Analytic Signal of the Tilt Angle), designed to enhance the edges of geological sources in potential field data. This filter leverages orthogonal Hilbert transforms applied to the Analytic Signal of the Tilt Angle (ASTA) filter. This method helps to equalize signals from sources buried at different depths. To evaluate the effectiveness of the designed filter, we compared its results with those from recently applied methods, using both synthetic data and real aeromagnetic and gravity data from South Africa. The results show that the new filter allows for better extraction of the edges of causative anomalies, while also highlighting several anomalies that are either not visible using tilt derivative, analytic signal, and other methods, or are not well-defined. The proposed technique also demonstrates significant improvements in simultaneously delineating the actual edges of both shallow and deep anomalies, compared to the tilt derivative and analytic signal methods. It enhances source geometries with greater accuracy and shows particular promise in estimating the thicknesses of deeply seated anomalies. The results of the BASTA filter demonstrate that it produces more accurate and sharper edges, including corners, and makes nearby anomalies caused by closely spaced sources more distinguishable. Additionally, it generates fewer false edges (artifacts) compared to other filters, thereby reducing ambiguity in potential field interpretations. Therefore, it seems to be the most effective option for both qualitative and quantitative interpretation of potential field data when compared to more commonly used filters.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 19 August 2025

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