Aeromagnetic and radiometric data filtering at the Vesuvian Volcanic Area

In this paper we present an application of denoising techniques to the high-resolution aeromagnetic and radiometric data measured in 1999 in the Vesuvian Volcanic Area, southern Italy. The helicopter-borne survey aimed at giving new detailed insights into the distribution of the magnetization and of the main radionuclides of the area and, therefore, into the volcanological characteristics of the region. The surveyed area is characterized by the presence of towns and buildings and an extensive network of railway lines which affected the measurements and were responsible for some of the anomalies measured. In order to warrant a reliable interpretation of the data, it was therefore necessary to filter out this cultural noise. The denoising was performed by a powerful method based on the discrete wavelet transform, whose excellent space-scale localization properties lead to a very sharp and space-localized filtering. The comparison between the filtered maps and known geological sources located in the area by other geophysical and geological constraints led to the identification of some of the main magnetic and radiometric features of the Vesuvian Volcanic Area.