MH370 Phase 2: High-Resolution Seafloor Sonar Data from Search Operations

High-resolution raw and processed sonar data was collected during Phase 2 of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Multiple vessels surveyed over 121,000 square kilometres of the Southern Indian Ocean seafloor between September 2014 and January 2017. The data was collated by Geoscience Australia on behalf of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Use Cases

• Train bathymetric mapping models based on high-resolution multibeam and side scan sonar data.
• Analyze seafloor topography for geological research based on detailed marine survey data.
• Develop navigation safety models for underwater vehicles based on mapped seafloor features.
• Study data fusion techniques based on collated datasets from multiple third-party survey vessels.

Strengths

• Covers over 121,000 square kilometres of previously unmapped seafloor.
• Data was acquired using high-resolution multibeam and side scan sonar.
• Surveys were conducted by multiple vessels over a period from September 2014 to January 2017.

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, Geoscience Australia, Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

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 2026-06-16 19:59:10.633018; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean, within the MH370 search area.