Magnetic and gravity derivatives can be likened to seismic attributes in that they can help define/estimate the physical properties of the source structure causing the anomaly. This contribution looks at the tilt derivative, first reported in 1994 and more recently used to derive the local wavenumber (1997). We will show that the combination of the tilt derivative and its total horizontal derivative are highly suitable for mapping shallow basement structure and mineral exploration targets and that they have distinct advantages over many conventional derivatives. We provide the simple theory behind the derivatives, use a range of simple 2D models to illustrate their response, and apply them to mapping a mineral target in Namibia.Tilt derivative (TDR). The physical properties of a magnetic source structure that can be determined from a grid of magnetic data include its shape (plan), location of its edges, depth to top edges, dip, and rock susceptibility contrast. This contribution will focus on the first two-i.e. shape and edge detection. The problems to be overcome in data enhancement are to identify and map (a) subtle anomalies attenuated in the dynamic range due to the presence of high amplitude magnetic anomalies, (b) the continuity of individual bodies where there are lateral changes in susceptibility and/or depth of burial, and (c) the edges of structures by adequately accounting for the nature of the rock magnetization. Rock magnetization is a vector quantity that can consist of both remanent and geomagnetically induced components. The presence of the remanent component can adversely affect the shape of the magnetic field response and result in spurious derivatives, if one has assumed that only the induced component is present. Fortunately, basement rocks are usually dominated by the induced component, whereas mineralized zones often host long-lived remanent components. The following theory and 2D model examples show how these three problems can be successfully overcome, thus generating maps that can provide more reliable descriptions of source body parameters.

During 2014 and 2015, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission proceeded successfully through Phase C, Design and Development. An X-ray (0.2-12 keV) astrophysics payload destined for the International Space Station, NICER is manifested for launch in early 2017 on the Commercial Resupply Services SpaceX-11 flight. Its scientific objectives are to investigate the internal structure, dynamics, and energetics of neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe. During Phase C, flight components including optics, detectors, the optical bench, pointing actuators, electronics, and others were subjected to environmental testing and integrated to form the flight payload. A custom-built facility was used to co-align and integrate the X-ray "concentrator" optics and silicon-drift detectors. Ground calibration provided robust performance measures of the optical (at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) and detector (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) subsystems, while comprehensive functional tests prior to payload-level environmental testing met all instrument performance requirements. We describe here the implementation of NICER's major subsystems, summarize their performance and calibration, and outline the component-level testing that was successfully applied.

A study was made of 58 male Broadmoor patients who had killed their mothers. In most cases the homicides occurred in association with a schizophrenic illness. The remaining patients were diagnosed as suffering from endogenous depressions or personality disorders. Within a predominantly psychotic framework, the matricides often appeared to be a response to a close confining mother/son relationship. This was characterized by a dominant mother and an immature, dependent son, who had frequently lost his father some years before the homicide.

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The ocean geoid can be inferred from the topography of the mean sea surface. Satellite altimeters transmit radar pulses and determine the return traveltime to measure seasurface height. The ERS-1 altimeter stacks 51 consecutive radar reflections on board the satellite to a single waveform. Tracking the time shift of the waveform gives an estimate of the distance to the sea surface. We retrack the ERS-1 radar traveltimes using a model that is focused on the leading edge of the waveforms. While earlier methods regarded adjacent waveforms as independent statistical events, we invert a whole sequence of waveforms simultaneously for a spline geoid solution. Smoothness is controlled by spectral constraints on the spline coefficients. Our geoid solutions have an average spectral density equal to the expected power spectrum of the true geoid. The coherence of repeat track solutions indicates a spatial resolution of 31 km, as compared to 41 km resolution for the ERS-1 Ocean Product. While the resolution of the latter deteriorates to 47 km for wave heights above 2 m, our geoid solution maintains its resolution of 31 km for rough sea. Retracking altimeter waveform data and constraining the solution by a spectral model leads to a realistic geoid solution with significantly improved along-track resolution.

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[1] Significant E-W extension and/or compression must have been generated by displacements along the Red River Fault (RRF) since its curvature does not match a small circle centered at the Euler pole for the Indochina-south China plate pair. The amount of extension perpendicular to the RRF offshore Vietnam depends on the magnitude of left-lateral displacement along the RRF. In general, the larger the left-lateral displacement along the fault, the smaller the amount of E-W extension. All purely strike-slip models of the opening of the South China Sea that assume large displacements (>250 km) along the RRF encounter major problems because they imply little extension, or even considerable shortening, offshore east Vietnam. This is inconsistent with the presence of large elongated basins offshore Vietnam. Using a plate tectonic model, we compare continental extension values implied by different magnitudes of displacement along the RRF with crustal stretching estimates derived from 2-D profiles modeled from gravity data. We utilize 2-D gravity forward models to restore the extended continental margin crust to its original position prior to extension. We find that substantial amounts of extension for offshore Vietnam can only be modeled assuming moderate displacements along the RRF compatible with the presence of a southward subducting proto-South China Sea. The total amount of ENE-WSW extension offshore northern Vietnam constrained by our 2-D gravity profiles and gravity inversion increases southward from 36 to 89 km along the Yinggehai Basin. These values of ENE-WSW extension are consistent with 250 km of left-lateral displacement along the RRF.