The Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), equipped with the advanced topographic laser altimeter system (ATLAS), is a new measurement strategy that includes a photon-counting technique. Employing such an advanced system facilitates highly accurate measurement of changes in the land surface of the Earth, as well as water depths, thereby providing a novel opportunity for nearshore bathymetry. The main problem in photon-counting bathymetry is the precise identification and separation of photons with different density distributions on the water surface and water-column. Further, automatic detection of the signal photon of the water surface and bottom from the noise photon presents a problem. To overcome such problems, we propose a novel, validated, adaptive variable ellipse filtering bathymetric method (AVEBM). This method can precisely identify and separate the photons in the above-water, water surface, and water-column regions. Filter parameters can be determined automatically by the density distribution of photons in different water environments and water depths, and the signal photons of the water surface and bottom can be detected precisely to conduct bathymetry. To ensure and improve the accuracy and reliability of the AVEBM, datasets of different photon densities were selected and employed in conducting experiments. Further, we used in situ data and remote sensing images to validate and estimate the detection accuracy of the signal photon and bathymetric accuracy. The experimental results indicated that bathymetric accuracy based on the AVEBM method reached 0.48 m of root mean square error (RMSE) when we employed three ATL03 datasets in combination for Qilianyu Islands. Moreover, the bathymetric accuracy reached 0.79 m of RMSE when comparing with the SDB result in Shanhu Island. Results showed that the proposed AVEBM method facilitated highly accurate signal photon detection and bathymetry.

配备有先进的地形激光高度计系统（ATLAS）的“冰，云和陆地高空卫星2（ICESat-2）”是一种新的测量策略，其中包括光子计数技术。采用这种先进的系统有助于高度准确地测量地球陆地表面的变化以及水深，从而为近海测深提供了新的机会。光子计数测深法的主要问题是精确识别和分离水表面和水柱上具有不同密度分布的光子。此外，从噪声光子自动检测水表面和水底的信号光子提出了一个问题。为了克服这些问题，我们提出了一种新颖的，经过验证的自适应可变椭圆滤波测深方法（AVEBM）。该方法可以精确地识别和分离水上，水面和水柱区域中的光子。可以根据不同水环境和水深中光子的密度分布自动确定过滤器参数，并可以精确检测水面和水底的信号光子以进行测深。为了确保和提高AVEBM的准确性和可靠性，选择了不同光子密度的数据集并用于进行实验。此外，我们使用原位数据和遥感图像来验证和估计信号光子的检测精度和测深精度。实验结果表明，基于AVEBM方法的测深精度为0。当我们结合祁连玉群岛的三个ATL03数据集使用48 m的均方根误差（RMSE）。此外，与山湖岛的SDB结果相比，测深精度达到了RMSE的0.79 m。结果表明，所提出的AVEBM方法有助于高精度的信号光子检测和测深。