Automatic P phase picking using maximum kurtosis and κ-statistics criteria

The identification problem of P seismic phase onset has been addressed, based on the maximum-kurtosis assumption, κ-statistics, and the Chebyshev inequality. Depending on two statistical decision criteria, the proposed approach provides either a single P onset peak or an interval in which the P onset exists, both with a confidence percentage. Results on real seismic data evaluated using a performance index justify the contribution of the proposed method toward an accurate and fully automated P onset identification.