Abstract：This paper presents a new approach to downward continuation of potential fields using Taylor series and iteration method.First we change downward continuation factor in wave number domain into Taylor series expansion.Then we process the wave spectrum of potential fields using the sum of the first N terms in series instead of the downward continuation response factor.Finally,calculated value gradually approximates to the truth value of downward continuation using iteration method,and the procedure of iteration is repeated until the difference between the measured value and the calculated value of iteration m times in the observation plane is adequately small.Hence we deduce the general formula of Taylor series iteration method for downward continuation of potential fields.Moreover,we prove the convergence of this iteration method,and analyze convergence speed,and point out that the result consists with the continuation pattern in literature when the term N equals zero.Comparative analyses of model tests indicate that the iteration method of N=1 has very fewer iteration times and better preserves amplitude than N=0 when the depth of downward continuation is large and the continuation error of the term N=1 equals N=0.
