Directional tilt derivatives to enhance structural trends in aeromagnetic grids

Abstract The tilt derivative remains one of the most simple and useful image enhancement methods that can be applied to gridded potential field data. Since it acts as a type of automatic gain control it is particularly useful for revealing low-amplitude short-wavelength features in data. This derivative has now been modified to improve its ability to enhance linear trends with specific spatial orientations. When calculated for a range of directions it may be possible to detect subtle lineations that are not so evident in the original non-directional version of the tilt derivative.