National Gravity Compilation 2019: Airborne and Ground Gravity Anomaly Grid for Australia

Australia and its continental margins are covered by this gravity anomaly grid, which has a cell size of approximately 435 meters. The grid integrates nearly 1.4 million ground gravity stations, 345,000 line km of airborne gravity data, and 106,000 line km of airborne gravity gradiometry, compiled from data collected from the 1940s to September 2019. It was processed by Geoscience Australia (GA) and derived from the 2019 Australian National Gravity Grids B series, incorporating offshore data from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA, and NGA.

Use Cases

• Map subsurface geological structures based on density variations revealed by gravity anomalies.
• Enhance mineral exploration targeting by integrating gravity data with other geophysical surveys.
• Model continental crustal thickness and tectonic features using the processed Bouguer anomaly grid.
• Assess regional geological basin architecture for resource potential based on gravity-derived features.

Strengths

• Integrates a large volume of observations, including nearly 1.4 million ground stations and over 450,000 line km of airborne surveys.
• Data quality was checked by GA geophysicists to ensure it is fit-for-purpose.
• Grid resolution is detailed with a cell size of approximately 435 meters and variable station spacing down to less than 1 km in parts.
• Includes terrain corrections calculated 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 for specific analytical methods.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Grid derived from ground and airborne gravity observations, processed via standard methods and FFT to calculate a half vertical derivative of complete Bouguer anomalies.

Time Range

1940s to September 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 09:44:07.997956; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins