Geoscience Australia Marine Data: Bathymetry and Sonar Surveys for MH370 Search

Marine geospatial data held by Geoscience Australia includes bathymetry, backscatter, and marine sediment grids. The service also contains 150 m and optimal resolution bathymetry, plus 5 m sidescan and synthetic aperture sonar data from phase 1 and 2 surveys for the search of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370. This web service allows exploration of seafloor topography compiled from multibeam sonar and other marine datasets.

Use Cases

• Modeling seafloor topography based on compiled multibeam sonar and bathymetry data.
• Analyzing backscatter and marine sediment layers for geological studies.
• Planning marine survey areas using bathymetry coverage and priority information.
• Investigating specific regions of the Indian Ocean surveyed during the MH370 search operation.

Strengths

• Includes data from specific, high-profile marine surveys for the MH370 search conducted by multiple governments.
• Contains multiple data products such as bathymetry grids, backscatter, sediment data, and derived layers.
• Offers data at multiple resolutions, including 150 m and optimal resolution bathymetry, and 5 m sonar data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Compilation of multibeam sonar and other marine datasets acquired, including specific surveys for MH370 search.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 03:13:59.987550; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Indian Ocean (specifically areas surveyed for MH370), and other marine areas covered by Geoscience Australia.