The countrywide historical gravity dataset of Lithuanian territory

Abstract

The historical gravity dataset of Lithuania consists of two files based on measurements carried out between 1951 and 1962: data of second and third order gravimetric network as well as data from gravity surveys. Raw data were collected by digitising the paper catalogues of gravimetric network stations and sheets of gravimetric map at a scale 1:200000. The gravity data set covers the entire territory of Lithuania (65 000 km2). Raw data were collected by digitising the paper catalogues of gravimetric network stations and sheets of gravimetric map at a scale 1:200000. Initially the gravity data were in Potsdam gravity system, geodetic coordinates of the gravity points-in the coordinate reference system Pulkovo 1942 (EPSG: 2499), and the heights of gravity points-in the Baltic normal height system of 1977 (EPSG code 5705). In the final countrywide set the gravity data are in the International Gravity Standardization Net of 1971 gravity system, geodetic coordinates-in European Terrestrial Reference System of 1989 coordinate reference system (EPSG:4258), and geodetic heights-in the European Vertical Reference System of 2007 (EPSG:5215). The total number of gravimetric network stations is 123, and the total number of gravity survey points is 10 660. The data were recorded into files applying DBF (Data Base Format) format. The historical gravity data set could be used for quasi-geoid modelling, for development of Earth geopotential models and for geological interpretation. Researchers will benefit in the process of evaluation and accuracy estimation of the developed products using high precision data of gravity network stations. Dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15090241 (Šlikas et al., 2025).