National Gravity Compilation 2019: Airborne DGIR 0.5VD Grid for Australia

A gravity anomaly grid for Australia and its continental margins, derived from nearly 1.8 million ground and airborne observations. The grid, with a cell size of approximately 435 meters, shows the half vertical derivative of de-trended global isostatic residual anomalies. It was compiled by Geoscience Australia using data from the Australian National Gravity Database and global sources, incorporating measurements from the 1940s to 2019.

Use Cases

• Map subsurface geological structures based on gravity anomaly patterns.
• Enhance mineral exploration targeting by integrating gravity data with other geophysical surveys.
• Model continental crustal thickness and isostatic compensation based on the de-trended global isostatic residual.
• Improve resolution in areas with sparse ground data using the included airborne gravity and gradiometry surveys.

Strengths

• Integrates a large volume of data, including nearly 1.4 million ground stations and 451,000 line km of airborne surveys.
• Data quality is checked by GA geophysicists to ensure it is fit-for-purpose.
• Grid cell size of 0.00417 degrees (~435m) provides a standardized national-scale product.
• Combines decades of data from government, industry, and academic sources, providing historical depth.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Station spacing for ground observations is variable, ranging from 11 km to less than 1 km, which may affect local resolution.
• Last updated 2026-03-25 17:49:01.672401; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data, incorporating data from Commonwealth, State, Territory Governments, industry, universities, and global grids from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA, and NGA.

Collection Method

Processed from ground observations in the Australian National Gravity Database and airborne surveys, with standard geophysical corrections and a Fast Fourier Transform applied.

Time Range

1940s to 2019 (data acquisition period).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 17:49:01.672401

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.