MH370 Phase 2: 5 m Resolution Sonar Images from Southern Indian Ocean Search

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau led Phase 2 search operations for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean. This dataset comprises Side Scan Sonar, Synthetic Aperture Sonar, and multibeam sonar backscatter data at 5 m resolution, collected by vessels Fugro Supporter, Fugro Equator, Fugro Discovery, Havila Harmony, Dong Hai Jiu 101, and Go Phoenix between September 2014 and January 2017. Geoscience Australia provided advice and support for the marine surveys to map sea floor topography.

Use Cases

• Detect underwater objects based on high-resolution sonar backscatter data.
• Map sea floor topography for navigation and geological analysis.
• Analyze sonar image patterns for anomaly detection in marine environments.
• Train machine learning models for automated sonar image interpretation.
• Visualize search area coverage and data density from the multi-vessel operation.

Strengths

• Data resolution is explicitly stated as 5 meters.
• Collection period is clearly defined from September 2014 to January 2017.
• Data was acquired by specific, named vessels and sonar systems (e.g., Kongsberg AUV Hugin 1000).
• Dataset is associated with a formal, multi-government investigation led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the specific search operation.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, on behalf of the Governments of Australia, Malaysia, and the People's Republic of China.

Collection Method

Marine surveys conducted using Side Scan Sonar, Synthetic Aperture Sonar, and multibeam sonar systems deployed from vessels.

Time Range

September 2014 to January 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 14:53:30.305170; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean (MH370 search area)