National Gravity Compilation 2019: Bouguer Anomaly Image 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 gravity anomaly grid. The image shows complete Bouguer anomalies over Australia and its continental margins, derived from the 2019 Australian National Gravity Grids B series. The data were compiled by Geoscience Australia, incorporating ground data from the 1940s onward and offshore data from global sources.

Use Cases

• Model subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly data.
• Support mineral exploration and resource assessment based on density variations in rocks.
• Integrate with other geophysical datasets for regional geological studies based on the continental coverage.
• Calculate terrain corrections for gravity surveys based on the described use of bathymetry and topography data.

Strengths

• Incorporates approximately 1.8 million gravity observations from multiple sources.
• Grid has a cell size of 0.00417 degrees (approximately 435m), providing a specific spatial resolution.
• Data quality was checked by GA geophysicists, as stated in the description.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified; the last metadata update is 2026-05-05.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network / Geoscience Australia

Collection Method

Processed from ground observations in the Australian National Gravity Database and airborne surveys, supplemented by global gravity grids.

Time Range

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

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.