MH370 Phase 2 Search: High-Resolution Sea Floor Bathymetry Data

Geoscience Australia collated raw and processed marine survey data from the Phase 2 underwater search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The data covers over 121,000 square kilometres of the Southern Indian Ocean sea floor, collected by multiple vessels using multibeam and side-scan sonar between September 2014 and January 2017. This high-resolution bathymetric mapping was conducted to support the Australian Transport Safety Bureau-led investigation.

Use Cases

• Modeling sea floor topography based on high-resolution bathymetric data.
• Analyzing sonar survey coverage and patterns for search area planning.
• Studying geological features in a previously unmapped region of the Southern Indian Ocean.
• Supporting maritime safety and navigation planning with detailed depth charts.

Strengths

• Covers over 121,000 square kilometres, providing a substantial mapping area.
• Data is high-resolution, derived from multibeam and side-scan sonar, offering detailed sea floor topography.
• Involves data from multiple survey vessels (e.g., Fugro Equator, Go Phoenix) over a sustained period from 2014 to 2017.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Data acquired by third-party operators using towed and autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with multibeam and side-scan sonar.

Time Range

September 2014 to January 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-04 23:36:40.830538; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean, specifically the MH370 search area.