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

A 2019 compilation of approximately 1.8 million gravity observations, including nearly 1.4 million ground stations and extensive airborne surveys, used to generate a geophysical grid for Australia. The grid is derived from the Australian National Gravity Database and offshore data from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA, and NGA. It shows the half vertical derivative of complete Bouguer anomalies with a cell size of approximately 435 meters.

Use Cases

• Modeling subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly data.
• Mineral and resource exploration targeting based on density variations in the crust.
• Integrating gravity data with other geophysical datasets for regional tectonic studies.
• Calculating terrain corrections for gravity surveys using the described bathymetry and topography data.

Strengths

• Integrates approximately 1.8 million observations from ground, airborne gravity (345,000 line km), and airborne gravity graiometry (106,000 line km) sources.
• Data quality is checked by Geoscience Australia geophysicists to be fit-for-purpose.
• Station spacing varies from 11 km to less than 1 km, with major parts of the continent covered at 2.5 to 7 km intervals.
• Combines a long temporal range of ground data from the 1940s to present with contemporary offshore data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical methods.
• Data may reflect geographic or source bias inherent to the compilation of multiple government and industry surveys.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data, incorporating data from Commonwealth, State, Territory Governments, industry, universities, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography/NOAA/NGA.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Ground data from the 1940s to present, compiled as of September 2019.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 13:51:15.740417; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.