An improved edge detector for interpreting potential field data

Mapping geologic features, such as faults and contacts, often involves extracting the edges of potential field sources, which is popularly done using a variety of different edge detectors. Nevertheless, these detectors have general drawbacks, such as low-resolution output or dependence on the source depth. To address these problems, an improved edge detector that employs the unit step function of the Laplace equation has been presented. The applicability of the presented detector is exemplified with synthetic datasets and a real dataset of the Vredefort dome (South Africa). The findings show that the presented detector has performed better than other detectors at highlighting geologic features that were not visible in potential field data.