MH370 Phase 2: 5 m Resolution Sonar Images of Southern Indian Ocean Seafloor

Side Scan Sonar, Synthetic Aperture Sonar, and multibeam sonar backscatter data at 5-meter resolution, collected during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Geoscience Australia provided expertise for marine surveys led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau between September 2014 and January 2017. The data was acquired by autonomous and towed sonar systems from vessels including Fugro Supporter, Go Phoenix, and Dong Hai Jiu 101.

Use Cases

• Generate detailed seafloor topography maps based on the 5 m resolution sonar backscatter data.
• Analyze underwater search patterns and navigation aids based on the described marine survey methodology.
• Train or test image segmentation models for underwater object detection based on the sonar imagery.
• Conduct geological studies of the Southern Indian Ocean seafloor based on the high-resolution survey data.

Strengths

• Data collected at a high 5-meter resolution for detailed analysis.
• Surveys conducted over a multi-year period from September 2014 to January 2017.
• Involves multiple advanced sonar systems (SSS, SAS, multibeam) and deployment platforms.

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

Governments of Australia, Malaysia, and the People's Republic of China, via Geoscience Australia.

Collection Method

Marine surveys using Echo Surveyor 7 (Kongsberg AUV Hugin 1000), Edgetech 2400 Deep Tow, and SLH PS-60 Synthetic Aperture Sonar Deep Tow.

Time Range

September 2014 to January 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 01:28:05.594415; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean (search area for flight MH370)