The Search for Flight MH370 - Phase 2 Raw and Processed on the National Computational Infrastructure

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 to aid navigation during the underwater search. Prior to the Phase 1 bathymetric survey, very little was known about the sea floor in the MH370 search area, as few marine surveys have taken place in the area. Existing maps of the sea floor were coarse, having been derived from satellites and only providing a general indication of water depth. Before the underwater search for MH370 could begin, it was necessary to accurately map the sea floor to ensure that the search was undertaken safely and effectively. Survey vessels spent months at sea, scanning the sea floor with multibeam sonar and side scan sonar to gather detailed, high-resolution data.

This collation of datasets on the National Computational Infrastructure contains the high resolution raw and processed data acquired during Phase 2 of the search for MH370 as received by third party operators. The Phase 2 underwater search data was acquired by multiple vessels, including the Fugro Equator, Fugro Supporter, Fugro Discovery, Havila Harmony, Dong Hai Jiu 101 and Go Phoenix. Surveys were conducted using towed and autonomous underwater vehicles between September 2014 to January 2017, collecting over 121,000 square kilometres of high resolution data in the search area.

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 - Raw and processed. For additional assistance, please contact [e-mail].

We honour the memory of those who have lost their lives and acknowledge the enormous loss felt by their loved ones.