Fast 3D inversion of airborne gravity-gradiometry data using Lanczos bidiagonalization method

Abstract

We developed a new fast inversion method for to process and interpret airborne gravity gradiometry data, which was based on Lanczos bidiagonalization algorithm. Here, we describe the application of this new 3D gravity gradiometry inversion method to recover a subsurface density distribution model from the airborne measured gravity gradiometry anomalies. For this purpose, the survey area is divided into a large number of rectangular cells with each cell possessing a constant unknown density. It is well known that the solution of large linear gravity gradiometry is an ill-posed problem since using the smoothest inversion method is considerably time consuming. We demonstrate that the Lanczos bidiagonalization method can be an appropriate algorithm to solve a Tikhonov solver time cost function for resolving the large equations within a short time. Lanczos bidiagonalization is designed to make the very large gravity gradiometry forward modeling matrices to become low-rank, which will considerably reduce the running time of the inversion method. We also use a weighted generalized cross validation method to choose the appropriate Tikhonov parameter to improve inversion results. The inversion incorporates a model norm that allows us to attain the smoothing and depth of the solution; in addition, the model norm counteracts the natural decay of the kernels, which concentrate at shallow depths. The method is applied on noise-contaminated synthetic gravity gradiometry data to demonstrate its suitability for large 3D gravity gradiometry data inversion. The airborne gravity gradiometry data from the Vinton Salt Dome, USE, were considered as a case study. The validity of the new method on real data is discussed with reference to the Vinton Dome inversion result. The intermediate density values in the constructed model coincide well with previous results and geological information. This demonstrates the validity of the gravity gradiometry inversion method.