Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014. Although several expeditions have searched potential areas based on satellite data, no wreck, as yet, has been found. Many pieces of debris from MH370 have been found in the western Indian Ocean, as was predicted by drift models.
Oceanographers have been using drift modelling for different applications such as the design of ports and harbours, search and rescue efforts, treating oil spills and studying larval connectivity. In this presentation, oceanographic aspects of the pathways of MH370 debris will be presented.
BIO
Professor Pattiaratchi holds Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Wales, UK. He has been at UWA for over 30 years and currently holds the Professor of Coastal Oceanography. Professor Pattiaratchi has supervised over 60 PhD students and 150 honours students and has published over 300 articles/reports on coastal oceanography, which include over 150 in peer-reviewed international journals. His research interests are in coastal physical oceanography and coastal sediment transport, with emphasis on field experiments and numerical modelling. He has played an active role in examining climate change effects in coastal regions of Western Australia and particularly in terms ocean currents, wind and wave climate, sea level variability, coastal flooding and beach stability.