MH370 Phase 2 High-Resolution Seafloor Survey Data

Geoscience Australia collated raw and processed high-resolution data from the Phase 2 underwater search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The dataset covers over 121,000 square kilometres of the Southern Indian Ocean seafloor, collected by multiple vessels between September 2014 and January 2017. It was created to support the official accident investigation led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

Use Cases

• Generate bathymetric maps from multibeam sonar and side scan sonar point-cloud data.
• Analyze seafloor terrain features like ridges and canyons for navigational safety assessments.
• Model acoustic backscatter data from side scan sonar to identify potential man-made objects.
• Correlate survey data from different vessels (e.g., Fugro Equator, Go Phoenix) for area-wide consistency checks.

Strengths

• Covers a vast search area of over 121,000 square kilometres.
• Provides high-resolution data where prior maps were derived from coarse satellite sources.
• Data was collected by multiple specialized vessels over a sustained period from 2014 to 2017.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and data formats are not described in the available metadata.
• The dataset is temporally static, covering a concluded search operation with no ongoing updates.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the specific MH370 search area in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, collating data from Geoscience Australia and third-party operators.

Collection Method

Collected via towed and autonomous underwater vehicles using multibeam sonar and side scan sonar.

Time Range

September 2014 to January 2017

Freshness

null

Geography

Southern Indian Ocean, within the designated MH370 search area.