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I haven't seen any explanation of the statement that the plane's location was thought to be within one of two "corridors" in completely different places -- a no

I haven't seen any explanation of the statement that the plane's location was thought to be within one of two "corridors" in completely different places -- a northern one extending to Kazakhstan and a southern one extending into the southern Indian Ocean. Is this indeterminacy expected? Is it the result of some sort of geometrical symmetry? I imagine someone here knows?

hga 13y ago
It's based on the reception of the pings at the IMMARSAT geosync satellite. Look at a picture, e.g., here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MH370_last_ping_corridors.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MH370_last_ping_corridors.... The "corridors" are actually geometrically symmetrical arcs as you suspect, somewhere around which it's believed the plane traveled until the pings stopped, presumably because the engines stopped running.
- hga 13y ago
  The map I directed to you was apparantly an enhanced one from the NYT; here's one with many more details figured in: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?hp http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/malaysia-airlin... although I wouldn't treat those boundaries as gospel, there's likely more slop in the real estimates derived from the satellite.
- Myrmornis 13y ago
  Thanks! According to sources [1, 2] there was a period of time during which it was pinging multiple satellites. Surely this symmetry doesn't persist in a dataset comprising pings at different times to different satellites (which themselves are moving)? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370 [2] http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=ias_c1 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlin...
  - hga 13y ago
    They're in geosynchronous orbit, so they rotate with the earth, are always over the same spot on earth at the equator. Don't know which satellite series is used for this service, but the Inmarsat constellations aren't particularly large: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat#Satellites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat#Satellites, so it could be they only got solid data---and it's not very specific---from one satellite. I also wouldn't put much confidence in mass media reports saying "satellites", and the Wikipedia plural use is probably based on them.

hga 13y ago

It's based on the reception of the pings at the IMMARSAT geosync satellite. Look at a picture, e.g., here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MH370_last_ping_corridors.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MH370_last_ping_corridors.... The "corridors" are actually geometrically symmetrical arcs as you suspect, somewhere around which it's believed the plane traveled until the pings stopped, presumably because the engines stopped running.

hga 13y ago
The map I directed to you was apparantly an enhanced one from the NYT; here's one with many more details figured in: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?hp http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/world/asia/malaysia-airlin... although I wouldn't treat those boundaries as gospel, there's likely more slop in the real estimates derived from the satellite.
Myrmornis 13y ago
Thanks! According to sources [1, 2] there was a period of time during which it was pinging multiple satellites. Surely this symmetry doesn't persist in a dataset comprising pings at different times to different satellites (which themselves are moving)? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370 [2] http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/index.html?hpt=ias_c1 http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/asia/malaysia-airlin...
- hga 13y ago
  They're in geosynchronous orbit, so they rotate with the earth, are always over the same spot on earth at the equator. Don't know which satellite series is used for this service, but the Inmarsat constellations aren't particularly large: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat#Satellites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inmarsat#Satellites, so it could be they only got solid data---and it's not very specific---from one satellite. I also wouldn't put much confidence in mass media reports saying "satellites", and the Wikipedia plural use is probably based on them.