MH370 Phase 1 Bathymetry: 150m Resolution Seafloor Maps

710,000 square kilometres of bathymetric data were collected from June 2014 to February 2017 in the Southern Indian Ocean. Geoscience Australia provided this data to support the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's underwater search for missing flight MH370. The dataset includes a hillshade overlay created from the 150m resolution bathymetry.

Use Cases

• Analyze seafloor topography and geomorphology based on the 150m resolution bathymetry data.
• Model underwater terrain for navigation planning based on the detailed map of sea floor topography.
• Study bathymetric survey techniques based on data acquired by multibeam sonar mounted on vessel hulls.
• Visualize ocean floor features using the hillshade overlay created with specific illumination parameters.

Strengths

• 710,000 square kilometres of data provides a large spatial coverage.
• Data collection spanned nearly three years, from June 2014 to February 2017.
• Hillshade overlay enhances visualization of the 150m resolution bathymetry.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, provided to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Collection Method

Bathymetric data acquired by multibeam sonar mounted on the hull of multiple vessels.

Time Range

June 2014 to February 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 17:55:13.238512; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean, specifically the MH370 search area and transit lines.