Chapter 2 Potential field signals and models

Abstract

Publisher SummaryThis chapter describes the properties of a potential field signal caused by different distributions of mass and magnetization; both deterministic and stochastic models are considered. It also discusses some basic properties of the potential field in the frequency or Fourier domain. The frequency domain approach is preferred for two reasons. (1) Most digital signal processing (dsp) tools are easy to understand and easy to implement in the frequency domain, particularly when a large amount of data is required to be processed. (2) The Fourier domain characterization of the potential field signals caused by a large variety of source models is easy and concise. The chapter presents the analysis of many signal models, both deterministic and stochastic, in the Fourier domain. The chapter also deals with the potential field in source-free space and source-filled space. Under stochastic models, it considers a model of a random interface separating two otherwise homogeneous media and next, it considers a model where the density or the magnetization in a medium varies randomly. The main result that emerges from the stochastic analysis is an analytical relationship between the spectrum of the potential field and the spectrum of the source.