These data are about low-altitude wind and surface ocean currents. Models based on those things are part of the toolkit being used as a matter of course in such searches, but unless MH370 spent months floating at the surface of the ocean, these models can't find it per se, though they can offer indirect hints.
Models of surface wind and currents were used to both predict, and trace back the possible origins of flotsam and debris from the crash that washed ashore[0][1] around the rim of the Indian Ocean in the following months and years.
As a side note, the Friendly Floatees event occurred in the Pacific, with drift around the Pacific, Arctic, and far north Atlantic oceans. MH370 was lost over the Indian Ocean.
[1] Part of my sources include personal knowledge, as I lived in Canberra and knew employees at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau during the early months of the search.
