Sonification of Ace Level 2 Solar Wind Data

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Date
2010-06Author
Alexander, Robert
Zurbuchen, Thomas H.
Gilbert, Jason
Lepri, Susan
Raines, Jim
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Show full item recordAbstract
This paper provides a brief overview of the sonification
research conducted by the Solar and Heliospheric Research
Group at the University of Michigan. The team collaborated
with composer and multimedia artist Robert Alexander to gain
a new perspective of the underlying patterns behind recurring
solar wind phenomena. This sonification effort was one in
which a high level of creative freedom was provided to the
composer, while scientific accuracy was maintained through
adherence to the original data set. An interface was constructed
in Max/MSP that allowed ACE-SWICS Level 2 solar wind data
to be graphed visually and represented aurally through both
acoustic and synthesized timbres. This document will explore
the sonification methods behind iteration 1.1, which is a
sonification of solar wind activity from 2003.