National Gravity Compilation 2019: Half-Vertical Derivative Grid of Australia

A gravity anomaly grid derived from approximately 1.8 million ground and airborne gravity observations across Australia and its continental margins. The grid, with a cell size of approximately 435 meters, shows a half vertical derivative of complete Bouguer anomalies, processed by Geoscience Australia and supplemented with global offshore data. Data collection spans from the 1940s to September 2019, incorporating contributions from government, industry, and research organizations.

Use Cases

• Model subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly patterns.
• Support mineral and resource exploration by identifying density contrasts in the crust.
• Integrate with other geophysical datasets for regional geological interpretation.
• Calculate terrain corrections for gravity surveys using the described bathymetry and topography data.

Strengths

• Integrates nearly 1.4 million ground stations and over 450,000 line km of airborne gravity and gradiometry surveys.
• Data collection spans over 70 years, from the 1940s to 2019, providing historical depth.
• Processed with standard methods and quality-checked by GA geophysicists to be fit-for-purpose.
• Combines national ground data with a global offshore gravity grid from Scripps, NOAA, and NGA.

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.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (GA), Australian National Gravity Database (ANGD), and global data from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA, and NGA.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1940s to September 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 14:56:08.906234; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins