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Description
Side Scan Sonar, Synthetic Aperture Sonar, and multibeam sonar backscatter data collected at 5-meter resolution during Phase 2 marine surveys for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Surveys were conducted by the Governments of Australia, Malaysia, and China between September 2014 and January 2017 using Kongsberg and Edgetech systems deployed from vessels including Fugro Supporter and Go Phoenix. Geoscience Australia provided expertise and support to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau-led search operations.
Use Cases
Create detailed maps of sea floor topography based on the 5 m resolution sonar data.
Analyze underwater search patterns and navigation aids based on the marine survey data.
Visualize backscatter data for geological or seabed feature identification.
Compare data acquisition methods based on the use of Side Scan Sonar, Synthetic Aperture Sonar, and multibeam sonar.
Strengths
Data resolution is specified as 5 meters.
Data collection period is defined as September 2014 to January 2017.
Specific acquisition systems are named: Echo Surveyor 7 (Kongsberg AUV Hugin 1000), Edgetech 2400 Deep Tow, and SLH PS-60 Synthetic Aperture Sonar Deep Tow.
Limitations
Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
Source
Australian Ocean Data Network, on behalf of the Governments of Australia, Malaysia, and China.
Collection Method
Marine surveys conducted using autonomous underwater vehicles and deep tow systems.
Time Range
September 2014 to January 2017
Freshness
Last updated 2026-05-05 04:26:25.382869; freshness should be verified.
Geography
Southern Indian Ocean
All material and data is subject to copyright; a Creative Commons copyright notice applies and re-use requires attribution.