National Gravity Compilation 2019: Half-Derivative Bouguer Anomaly Grid for Australia

Nearly 1.8 million gravity observations, including ground stations and airborne surveys totaling 451,000 line km, underpin this 2019 national grid. The Australian Ocean Data Network released this processed dataset, which shows the half vertical derivative of complete Bouguer anomalies over Australia and its continental margins. Data acquisition spans from the 1940s to the present day, sourced from government, industry, and research organizations.

Use Cases

• Map subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly patterns.
• Model density variations in the Earth's crust for mineral exploration targeting.
• Integrate with other geophysical datasets (e.g., magnetic, seismic) for comprehensive geological interpretation.
• Study continental margin geology using combined onshore and offshore gravity data.

Strengths

• Derived from a substantial base of nearly 1.8 million gravity observations.
• Incorporates both ground data with station spacing as low as 1 km and over 450,000 line km of airborne surveys.
• Processed with terrain corrections using offshore bathymetry and onshore topography.
• Quality-checked by geophysicists from Geoscience Australia to be fit-for-purpose.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic or source bias inherent to the compilation from multiple entities over decades.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for some computational tasks.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, incorporating data from Geoscience Australia's National Gravity Database and global sources.

Collection Method

Ground and airborne gravity surveys processed via standard methods and FFT transformation to create a half vertical derivative grid.

Time Range

Data acquired from the 1940s to 2019, with the grid representing a 2019 compilation.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:48:05.183964; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.