Data Sonification: The Sound of Space
The Anglia Ruskin academic department performed live data beamed back from the DSCOVR satellite. Two unique performances of the “Sound of the Earth” were staged in Austin, Texas, on 16th and 17th November 2015.
Taking place in the NASA booth at the SC15 supercomputing conference, Dr Domenico Vicinanza from Anglia Ruskin University and GÉANT in Cambridge, UK, translated space data into music, in real time, which was later performed live.
Dr Vicinanza, physicist, classical composer and Director of Anglia Ruskin University’s Sound And Game Engineering (SAGE) research group, converted images of the Earth, beamed back from the NASA/NOAA satellite called DSCOVR, using a process called data sonification –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndLkP-bNL1s
DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) was launched in February this year from Cape Canaveral in Florida and has NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board. Together with Anglia Ruskin University researcher Genevieve Williams, Dr Vicinanza has designed algorithms so that each EPIC image sent back from the satellite is given a specific pitch and melody.
