Bathymetry data are usually obtained via single-beam or multibeam sounding; however, these methods exhibit low efficiency and coverage and are dependent on various parameters, including the condition of the vessel and sea state. To overcome these limitations, we propose a method for marine bathymetry inversion based on the satellite altimetry gravity anomaly data as a modification of the gravity-geologic method (GGM), which is a conventional terrain inversion method based on gravity data. In accordance with its principle, the modified method adopts a rectangular prism model for modeling the short-wavelength gravity anomaly and the Tikhonov regularization method to integrate the geophysical constraints, including the a priori water depth data and characteristics of the sea bottom relief. The a priori water depth data can be obtained based on the measurement data obtained from a ship, borehole information, etc., and the existing bathymetry/terrain model can be considered as the initial model. Marquardt’s method is used during the inversion process, and the regularization parameter can be adaptively determined. The model test and application to the West Philippine Basin indicate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results indicate the capability of the proposed method to improve the overall accuracy of the water depth data. Then, the proposed method can be used to conduct a preliminary study of the ocean depths. Additionally, the results show that in the improved GGM, the density difference parameter has lost its original physical meaning, and it will not have a great impact on the inversion process. Based on the boundedness of the study area, the inversion result may exhibit a lower confidence level near the margin than that near the center. Furthermore, the modified GGM is time- and memory-intensive when compared with the conventional GGM.

测深数据通常通过单波束或多波束测深获得。然而，这些方法显示出低效率和覆盖范围，并且取决于各种参数，包括船只的状况和海况。为了克服这些局限性，我们提出了一种基于卫星测高重力异常数据的海洋测深法反演方法，作为对重力地质方法（GGM）的修改，GGM是基于重力数据的常规地形反演方法。根据其原理，改进的方法采用直角棱镜模型对短波重力异常进行建模，并采用Tikhonov正则化方法来整合地球物理约束，包括先验水深数据和海底浮雕特征。可以基于从船舶获得的测量数据，井眼信息等来获得先验水深数据，并且可以将现有的测深/地形模型视为初始模型。在反演过程中使用Marquardt方法，可以自适应确定正则化参数。模型测试和在西菲律宾盆地的应用表明了该方法的可行性和有效性。结果表明，该方法具有提高水深数据整体精度的能力。然后，所提出的方法可用于进行海洋深度的初步研究。此外，结果表明，在改进的GGM中，密度差参数已经失去了其原始的物理意义，并且不会对反演过程产生很大的影响。根据研究区域的有界性，反演结果在边缘附近的置信度可能比在中心附近的置信度低。此外，与常规GGM相比，修改后的GGM占用大量时间和内存。