Index Table of contents

Identification of Sources of Potential Fields

with the Continuous Wavelet Transform:
Tenth Birthday
1 2
P. Sailhac and D. Gibert
1
EOST CNRS UMR 7516, 5 rue Ren Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg cedex, France pascal.sailhac@eost.u-strasbg.fr
2
Gosciences Rennes CNRS UMR 6118, B15 Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France,
dominique.gibert@univ-rennes1.fr

Introduction
We consider the use of the continuous wavelet transform in the interpretation of potential field data.
Our objective is to report its development since the publication of the first paper by Moreau et al. in
1997. First target parameters were the source positions and shape (similarly to the Euler
deconvolution). We have then developed the method to estimate size and directions of extended
sources (e.g. faults and dikes of finite dimensions) and also the magnetization direction in the case of
magnetic data. Latest developments can help in the automatic detection of elongated structures in 3D,
simultaneously to the estimation of their strike direction, shape and depth.

Methodology
Two of the key parameters in the interpretation of potential field data are the source depth and shape.
First, let us summarize the basic principles introduced in Moreau (1995) and Moreau et al. (1997).
They are parameters defined for a homogeneous function (r) which serves as a source model able to
approximate simple dikes and faults (Figure 1). The homogeneous degree quantifies the source
shape and can be compared to the structural index used in Euler deconvolution (Sailhac et al., 2002;
Sailhac and Gibert, 2004). It is defined by the power law scaling property of the homogeneous source
function (r) at source location r0 = (x0,y0,z0)t: > 0, (r0 + (r r0 )) = (r ).

Figure 1. Simple instances of homogeneous sources of degree at r 0 =(0,0,0)t: (a) point source ( = 3, is a 3-D Dirac
function), (b) horizontal line source with infinite extent ( = 2, is a 2-D Dirac function), (c) vertical strip source with
infinite extent ( = 1, is the product of a 2D Dirac function with a 1-D Heaviside step), (d) horizontal line source with
infinite extent ( = 2, is a 1-D Heaviside step), and (e) vertical contact source with infinite extent ( = 0, is the product
of two 1-D Heaviside steps).

To this power-law scaling property of the homogeneous source there are corresponding power-law
scaling relations of the potential fields and of some transformed potential fields. To formalize such
scaling relations more precisely, we consider the continuous wavelet transform of potential field data

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where the analyzing wavelet belongs to the Poisson semigroup class, equivalent to a combination of
the upward continuation and derivatives.
For potential field data in n dimension, the upward continuation is defined as a convolution product
with the Poisson semi-group kernel:

1 a
Pa ( h ) =
( )( n +1 ) / 2 ,
n a 2 + h 2

where the variable h is either the abscissa h=x for data on a profile (n = 1) or the horizontal vector h =
(x,y)t on a map (n = 2), and the parameter a > 0 is the continuation altitude.
Then we define wavelets by applying to P1 an homogeneous Fourier multiplier of degree 1 which is
basically equivalent to a derivative of order . A simple instance with =1 is the oblique derivative in
direction of the unit vector q: O q .q, the corresponding wavelet is the derivative of P1 (Figure 2).
The wavelet transform of potential field 0(h) is then defined by dilation and convolution:

bh
(
W ( b , a ) = Da 0 ( b ) =) a
1
n
0 ( h )dh ,
Rn a

where b is a translation parameter for the horizontal positions (b = (b x,by)t for n = 2), and a > 0 is a
dilation parameter and can be named altitude since it is the altitude of the upward continuation. Thus,
the wavelet domain is the upward continuation domain of derivatives and gradients (Moreau et al.,
1999; Hornby et al., 1999; Valle et al., 2004), Hilbert transforms and analytic signals (Sailhac et al.,
2000; Martelet et al., 2001) or tensors of derivatives (Sailhac and Gibert, 2003).

Figure 2. Example of a 2D wavelet belonging to the Poisson semi-group class defined as

3 x .
x1 ( h ) = ( Ox P1 )( h ) =
(
2 x + y + 1
2 2
)
5/ 2

The power-law behavior of homogeneous source functions gives, in the potential field wavelet domain
(for a source at r0 = (0,z0)t if n = 1 or r0 = (0,0,z0)t if n = 2),

W ( b , a ) = (a / a' ) W ( b , a' ),

where = (a + z 0)/(a + z0) involves two altitudes a and a and the source depth z0, and is related to
the shape of the source (homogeneity degree ), dimension n, wavelet order , and physical nature of
the potential field: = - + 2 n for magnetic total field anomaly and = - + 3 n for gravity
anomaly. This scaling relation involves a cone-like structure of the wavelet domain with apex located
at the source place (Figure 3). This geometric property can be used in inversion (Moreau, 1995;
Martelet et al., 2001). It is easier and automatic to do linear regressions of log-log plots of normalized

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modulus |W/a| vs. apparent depths a + z0 (Moreau, 1999; Sailhac et al., 2000; Boukerbout et al., 2003;
etc.). By using complex wavelets, we actually deal with upward continued analytic signals, and the
phase can be used to estimate dip angles of faults or dikes, and is simply related to inclination in
magnetics (Martelet et al., 2001; Sailhac et al., 2000.

Figure 3. Example of wavelet transforms in case of typical homogeneous sources of Figure 1 (calculed using wavelet 2x):
see cone-like structures with apex located at the source place.

Although it is common to limit potential field interpretation to source depth and shape index, we have
developed the method to extend local sources found using the homogeneous sources approximation.
First direction was to do a Taylor expansion or multipolar approximation with a huge potential in
applications (Martelet et al., 2001; Sailhac et al., 2000; Pouliquen et al., 2003; Sailhac and Gibert,
2003).
In case of elongated structures with finite sizes, multipolar 3D approximations could be useful since
this approach makes possible to estimate eccentricity of prism like sources or ellipsoid-like sources
(Sailhac and Gibert, 2003). Another extension of the method in 3D is to explicitly add an angle in the
wavelet domain which was initially just made of position and altitude. This can be done by using
rotations in addition to translations and dilations (Sailhac, 1999). This can be done also by using a
Radon transform (in 2D) prior to a 1D wavelet transform (Boukerbout and Gibert, 2006). More
precisely we consider striking directions s; the Radon transform involves a stacking in the direction
perpendicular to s, which enhances elongated structures, then the 1D wavelet transform is
automatically performed along striking directions.

Conclusions
The continuous wavelet transform has a large potential in prospecting because it helps automatic
interpretation of large potential field data sets. Especially we encourage colleagues to apply our latest
developments for the detection of strike directions. This can be considered in addition to other
interesting applications of wavelets on filtering (e.g. Leblanc et al., 1998; Fedi and Quarta, 1998;
Ridsdill-Smith and Dentith, 1999; Boschetti et al., 2004) or inversion (Fedi and Rappola, 1999; Li and
Oldenburg, 2003; Mukherjee et al. 2004).

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EGM 2007 International Workshop

Innovation in EM, Grav and Mag Methods:a new Perspective for Exploration
Capri, Italy, April 15 18, 2007