MH370 Phase 2 Sonar Imagery of Southern Indian Ocean Seafloor

5-meter resolution sonar images document the seafloor topography of the Southern Indian Ocean search area for missing flight MH370. The data was collected by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Geoscience Australia using multiple autonomous and towed sonar systems. Surveys were conducted from September 2014 to January 2017 by the governments of Australia, Malaysia, and China.

Use Cases

• Generate detailed bathymetric maps from Side Scan Sonar and multibeam backscatter data for oceanographic research.
• Analyze Synthetic Aperture Sonar imagery for underwater object detection and feature identification.
• Train computer vision models on 5 m resolution sonar backscatter patterns to classify seafloor substrates.
• Fuse data from Echo Surveyor 7, Edgetech 2400, and SLH PS-60 systems to create a composite seafloor model.

Strengths

• Data collected at a high 5-meter resolution for detailed seafloor analysis.
• Surveys conducted over a 28-month period from September 2014 to January 2017.
• Multiple advanced sonar systems used, including Side Scan Sonar and Synthetic Aperture Sonar.
• Data sourced from a formal multinational investigation led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column structure, and file sizes are not provided in the metadata.
• Primary format listed is HTML, which may not be directly usable for geospatial analysis without conversion.
• Data is temporally static, covering a concluded search operation from 2014-2017.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, on behalf of the governments of Australia, Malaysia, and the People's Republic of China.

Collection Method

Marine surveys using Echo Surveyor 7 (AUV), Edgetech 2400 Deep Tow, and SLH PS-60 Synthetic Aperture Sonar Deep Tow systems.

Time Range

September 2014 to January 2017.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in March 2026, but the underlying data collection ended in January 2017.

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean, specific to the Phase 2 search area for flight MH370.