March 2004

• 2004 edition of Australian National Gravity Database
• New gravity data over Arnhem Land
• Australia's gazetteer has a growth spurt!

Gravity anomaly image of Australia
© Geoscience Australia

The 2004 edition of the Australian National Gravity Database contains approximately 192,000 more gravity stations than last year. Recent database acquisitions and surveys with expired embargo dates make up the extra data.

The Australian National Gravity Database contains over 1,200,000 point gravity observations from offshore and onshore Australia, collected since 1937. This repository of gravity information is a valuable national asset with importance to the mineral and petroleum exploration industries, geodesy and the international scientific community.

The database is part of Geoscience Australia's Minerals program which aims to improve Australia-wide coverage of gravity data. A cooperative effort between Geoscience Australia, State and Territory Geological Surveys, private companies, universities and other organisations, the Australian National Gravity Database is continually upgraded as new gravity data are added.

• Available for free download or to purchase on a CD-ROM from our Sales Centre. The CD also includes the airborne gravity data over West Arnhem Land.

Just released airborne gravity data, acquired over an area in West Arnhem Land in August and September 2003 as part of a joint project between Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey (NTGS), Cameco Australia Pty Ltd and Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd, will be of interest to the mineral exploration industry.

The survey to acquire 4,500 line kilometres of airborne gravity data was flown by Fugro Airborne Surveys Pty Ltd using the new Russian-developed, GT-1A airborne gravimeter, which is operated by Canadian Micro Gravity Pty Ltd. It was the first time the new technology has been used for an Australian geological survey, and provides vastly improved resolution over 11km-spaced ground data.

• Available for free download or to purchase on a CD-ROM from our Sales Centre. The CD also includes the 2004 Australian National Gravity Database.

2004 Gazetter of Australia CD cover
© Geoscience Australia

The Gazetteer of Australia, the authoritative source of Australian place names, has grown by nearly 13 000 records this year. The 2004 gazetteer now contains over 310 217 official place names within Australia.

The 2004 Gazetteer of Australia is the ultimate resource for any application that requires the names and location of Australian towns, natural features, built features and more.

The Gazetteer of Australia covers all of Australia and its offshore regions, and contains a listing of Australian place names and their geographic coordinates. Each place name record also includes attributes such as feature codes, postcodes and related 1:100 000 Map Sheet numbers.

The data comes from State, Territory and Commonwealth authorities responsible for geographic names. It is released annually on CD-ROM by Geoscience Australia and the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM).

To find out more about the Gazetteer, please contact the Sales Centre.