From Australian Oceans Data Network
JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

The Search for Flight MH370 – Phase 2 5 m resolution sonar images for data visualisation

Created 23/01/2026

Updated 23/01/2026

JSON format icon JSON RDF format icon RDF ISO19115-3 XML

On behalf of Australia, and in support of the Malaysian accident investigation, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) led search operations for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean. Geoscience Australia provided advice, expertise and support to the ATSB to facilitate marine surveys, which were undertaken to provide a detailed map of the sea floor topography and to aid navigation during the underwater search.

This dataset comprises Side Scan Sonar (SSS), Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) and multibeam sonar backscatter data at 5 m resolution. Data was collected during Phase 2 marine surveys conducted by the Governments of Australia, Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China between September 2014 to January 2017. The data was acquired by Echo Surveyor 7 (Kongsberg AUV Hugin 1000), Edgetech 2400 Deep Tow and SLH PS-60 Synthetic Aperture Sonar Deep Tow deployed from the following vessels: Fugro Supporter, Fugro Equator, Fugro Discovery, Havila Harmony, Dong Hai Jiu 101 and Go Phoenix.

All material and data from this access point is subject to copyright. Please note the creative commons copyright notice and relating to the re-use of this material. Geoscience Australia's preference is that you attribute the datasets (and any material sourced from it) using the following wording: Source: Governments of Australia, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China, 2018. MH370 Phase 2 data. We honour the memory of those who have lost their lives and acknowledge the enormous loss felt by their loved ones.

Files and APIs

Tags

Additional Info

Field Value
Title The Search for Flight MH370 – Phase 2 5 m resolution sonar images for data visualisation
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/7010e033-b5f4-47a3-88f7-7c8efd3fd21b
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 01/09/2014 - 31/01/2017
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        80.0,
        -45.0
      ],
      [
        100.0,
        -45.0
      ],
      [
        100.0,
        -25.0
      ],
      [
        80.0,
        -25.0
      ],
      [
        80.0,
        -45.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "The Search for Flight MH370 – Phase 2 5 m resolution sonar images for data visualisation". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/the-search-for-flight-mh370-phase-2-5-m-resolution-sonar-images-for-data-visualisation3