National Gravity Compilation 2019 includes airborne CSCBA 1VD image

A 2019 compilation integrates nearly 1.4 million ground gravity stations, 345,000 line km of airborne gravity, and 106,000 line km of airborne gravity gradiometry to map subsurface density variations across Australia. The grid, with a cell size of approximately 435 meters, is a first vertical derivative of the complete spherical cap Bouguer anomaly, processed by Geoscience Australia. Data sources include the Australian National Gravity Database, offshore global gravity data, and terrain corrections from bathymetry and topography.

Use Cases

• Map geological structures and basin architecture based on gravity anomaly patterns.
• Support mineral and resource exploration by identifying density contrasts in the subsurface.
• Integrate with other geophysical data (e.g., magnetic surveys) for joint inversion and interpretation.
• Model crustal thickness and tectonic features using regional gravity variations.

Strengths

• Integrates a large volume of observations: nearly 1.4 million ground stations and over 450,000 line km of airborne surveys.
• Includes data from multiple sources and vintages, from the 1940s to 2019, providing historical depth.
• Processing includes terrain corrections and a first vertical derivative transformation to enhance geological signal.
• Station spacing is detailed, ranging from 11 km down to less than 1 km in parts of the continent.

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 aggregated surveys.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data, incorporating data from Commonwealth, State/Territory Governments, industry, universities, and global sources.

Collection Method

Grid derived from ground, airborne, and offshore gravity observations, processed via standard methods and FFT transformation.

Time Range

1940s to 2019 (with database snapshot as of September 2019).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 13:14:39.169211; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.