Effects of low-pass filtering on the calculated structural index from magnetic data

Euler and extended Euler deconvolution applications use an assumed structural index (SI) or calculate the SI, respectively, for magnetic anomaly data within a specified window. The structural index depends on the source type: specifically, the rate at which the field produced by the source decays. We have examined the effects that the application of low-pass filtering to magnetic data has on estimating the SI. Using a simple low-pass filter, we derived the SI for filtered-field solutions directly over, and away from, a target based on the magnetic potential of a vertical dipole (SI = 2). We validated this approach by applying extended Euler deconvolution to synthetic and field examples. In general, filtered magnetic data will decrease the numerically determined SI to a value lower than the theoretical one. The slope and cutoff wavelength of the filter directly affect the estimated SI solutions. The results prove that one must take into account filtering for the application of Euler deconvolution to locate dipole anomalies for unexploded ordnance detection.