Source depth estimation of self-potential anomalies by spectral methods

Spectral analysis of the self-potential (SP) field for geometrically simple anomalous bodies is studied. In particular, three spectral techniques, i.e. Periodogram (PM), Multi Taper (MTM) and Maximum Entropy (MEM) methods, are proposed to derive the depth of the anomalous bodies. An extensive numerical analysis at varying the source parameters outlines that MEM is successful in determining the source depth with a percent error less than 5%. The application of the proposed spectral approach to the interpretation of field datasets has provided depth estimations of the SP anomaly sources in very good agreement with those obtained by other numerical methods.