Guidance and Best Practices for Advanced Magnetic Data Processing
I have had the opportunity to participate in projects involving geological reconnaissance, core logging, and the preparation of upcoming exploration campaigns, including magnetic surveys for dimension stone exploration (dolerite, granite) and for gold exploration projects. These experiences have gradually allowed me to become familiar with the various stages of geophysical data processing and interpretation.
I recently attended a webinar led by @FarzanehFarahani1 , which I found very interesting and insightful. I am currently working with airborne and satellite magnetic data as part of a gold exploration project, but I realize that I do not yet fully master all the advanced steps of processing and interpretation.
After the initial quality control (QC) and removal of the geomagnetic reference field (IGRF), I am trying to better understand how to use techniques such as gridding, leveling, microlevelling, and 2D filtering (MAGMAP, Interactive Filtering) to produce clear and usable maps. I would greatly appreciate any insights on best practices or workflows that could make these steps more reliable and reproducible.
I also find it challenging to extract residual anomaly maps at different depths, for example using spectral analysis, and to clearly distinguish deep anomalies from shallow ones, as well as geological structures from local anomalies.
I am also interested in highlighting lineaments and geological structures using tools such as Grid Texture Analysis, Structural Complexity Map, and Source Edge Detection, as well as integrating Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) in Evo, and generating 2.75D geological models and visualizations — particularly in sedimentary contexts — to better highlight gold-bearing zones and certain carbonate formations.
I would like to know if any of you could share workflows, methodologies, or best practices, either in this specific context or more generally, regarding magnetic data processing.
Any advice, experience, or suggestion would be extremely valuable to me, especially as a young geophysicist still in the learning phase.
Thank you very much for your help and time.
Franck Igor Bayegui