Joint Evaluation of Satellite-Derived Potential Field Data for the Delineation of Favourable Geothermal Areas in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Identifying favourable zones for geothermal exploration at the regional scale remains challenging, particularly in areas where conventional geophysical surveys are spatially limited or economically unfeasible. This study presents an integrated framework for delineating geothermal favourability across the Iberian Peninsula using global gravity and magnetic products combined with subsurface thermal information. EGM2008, WGM2012, EMAG2, and WDMAM2 were compared and harmonized through geostatistical modelling, anisotropic ordinary kriging, and common-grid processing. Potential-field transformations and spectral coherence analysis were used to derive a Geophysical Favourability Index (FI_geof). This index was integrated with temperature at 100 m depth using weighted fuzzy logic, applying FuzzyLinear and FuzzyLarge membership functions with a 60% FI_geof and 40% temperature weighting, to obtain the Geothermal Favourability Index (FI_geot). Quantitative comparison and cross-validation indicated that EGM2008 and EMAG2 were the most suitable primary reference products within their respective datasets, whereas WGM2012 and WDMAM2 provided complementary regional-scale information. The fuzzy integration identified the highest favourability mainly in Galicia and the Levante–Betic sector, where elevated FI_geot values coincide with heat-flow values of approximately 96–154 mW m−2 and comparatively high geothermal gradients. Around 20% of the study area was classified within the highest favourability category. The resulting FI_geot should be interpreted as a regional screening and prioritization tool rather than as direct evidence of an exploitable geothermal resource. Overall, the proposed methodology provides a reproducible approach for identifying priority areas for further geothermal investigation in large and incompletely characterized regions.