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

Approximately 1.8 million gravity observations, including nearly 1.4 million ground stations and airborne surveys totaling 451,000 line km, were used to generate this grid. The data were compiled by Geoscience Australia and partners, integrating ground observations from the 1940s onward with offshore data from global sources. This 2019 compilation provides a half vertical derivative of complete Bouguer anomalies at a cell size of approximately 435 meters over Australia and its continental margins.

Use Cases

• Modeling subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly data.
• Integrating gravity data with other geophysical surveys for mineral exploration.
• Conducting regional-scale geophysical analysis based on the 435-meter resolution grid.
• Studying crustal density variations across Australia and its margins.

Strengths

• Integrates approximately 1.8 million observations from multiple sources, including ground, airborne, and offshore data.
• Data quality was checked by GA geophysicists to ensure it is fit-for-purpose.
• Grid has a defined spatial resolution of 0.00417 degrees (approximately 435 meters).
• Terrain corrections were applied using both offshore bathymetry and onshore topography data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic or temporal bias inherent to the compilation of historical surveys.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, Geoscience Australia (GA), Commonwealth/State/Territory Governments, mining industry, universities, and global sources (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA, NGA).

Collection Method

Ground and airborne gravity surveys processed via standard methods and FFT to create a spherical cap Bouguer anomaly grid.

Time Range

Ground data collected from the 1940s to September 2019.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 07:12:43.562634; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.