Australian Gravity Anomaly Grid With Airborne Tilt Image

Gravity anomaly data reveals subsurface geological structure across Australia. The compilation integrates approximately 1.8 million ground observations, 345,000 line km of airborne gravity, and 106,000 line km of airborne gravity gradiometry. Data was compiled by Geoscience Australia and partners, using observations from the 1940s to September 2019.

Use Cases

• Model subsurface density variations by interpreting the complete Bouguer anomaly grid.
• Identify geological structures and basin edges using the tilt filter image derived from the gravity grid.
• Assess data coverage and resolution for survey planning using the 0.00417-degree cell size and described station/line spacing.
• Combine offshore and onshore geological analysis using data integrated from the Global Gravity grid and Australian National Gravity Database.

Strengths

• Integrates approximately 1.8 million gravity observations from multiple sources.
• Grid cell size of 0.00417 degrees provides regional detail.
• Includes airborne surveys totaling 451,000 line km to improve resolution in data-poor areas.

Limitations

• Ground station spacing is variable, ranging from 11 km to less than 1 km, which may create uneven resolution.
• The core observational data is current only to September 2019, with no stated update plan.
• Specific data quality metrics or error estimates for individual observations are not provided in the description.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (GA), Australian National Gravity Database (ANGD), and global sources including Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Collection Method

Data acquired from ground, airborne, and marine surveys, processed with standard methods and terrain corrections, and compiled into a national grid.

Time Range

Observations from the 1940s to September 2019.

Freshness

Grid compilation is current to September 2019; metadata was last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Australia and its continental margins.