Product catalogue
The Search for Flight MH370 - Phase 2 Raw and Processed Data
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 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 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.
We honour the memory of those who have lost their lives and acknowledge the enormous loss felt by their loved ones.
Simple
Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2018-06-25T00:00:00
- Date (Publication)
- 2018-09-17T05:31:43
- Date (Revision)
- 2019-04-09T01:08:51
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/120962
- Citation identifier
- Digital Object Identifier/http://dx.doi.org/10.4225/25/5b0cd2b84a2dc
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- Purpose
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The data collected during phase 2 of the operational search for MH370 was used for the purposes of locating an aircraft debris field on the sea floor.
The data collected in the search for MH370 during Phase 1 and 2 will contribute to a better understanding of the formation of the southern Indian Ocean. This data could provide new insights for scientists in particular related to:
continental margin geology
plate tectonic history
seabed processes
identifying unusual sea floor features
the direction of future survey expeditions to investigate these features
Bathymetry data can also be used as a baseline product in the creation of hydrodynamic models to understand ocean currents, oceanographic connectivity (biological or physical) between different areas of the ocean, and short and long term trends in environmental variables, such as climate. Biological and physical connectivity (dispersal rates) can be affected by geographic barriers (land mass, spatial scale, varying seascapes and drastic environmental gradients).
The depth of the ocean is a major factor in defining the habitat for flora and fauna. Pressure, light and temperature are all reliant on the depth of the ocean, and these conditions affect the suitability of the habitat for individual organisms. Understanding the bathymetry of the sea floor may help scientists identify areas where there may be unique flora and fauna.
- Point of contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- Spatial representation type
Spatial resolution
- Level of detail
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varied
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Extent
Temporal extent
- Time period
- 2014-09-01 2017-01-31
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Not planned
- Keywords
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bathymetry
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marine
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MH370
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sidescan sonar
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- Product
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
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CC-BY
- Edition
-
4.0
- Access constraints
- License
- Use constraints
- License
Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
- Distribution format
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html
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- OnLine resource
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Explore and download the data via Ausseabed Marine Data Portal
Explore and download the data via Ausseabed Marine Data Portal
- OnLine resource
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Explore GA’s ArcGIS Story Map
Explore GA’s ArcGIS Story Map
Resource lineage
- Statement
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This is the collation of datasets, containing the raw and processed data acquired during Phase 2 of the search for MH370 as received by third party operators. No additional processing or edits have been made to the data by Geoscience Australia, except for folder restructuring.
- Hierarchy level
- Collection
Metadata constraints
- Title
-
Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
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urn:uuid/11759ecd-b6ea-4e98-95fd-b966cd5735b3
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Custodian Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Collection
- Name
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MH370 Phase 2 Data - Raw and Processed
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/120962
- Date info (Creation)
- 2025-03-06T03:55:16.873Z
- Date info (Creation)
- 2018-05-22T22:49:31
- Date info (Revision)
- 2025-03-06T03:58:21.771Z
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Edition date
- 2015-07-01T00:00:00
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551