The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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ESA’s Earth Explorer Aeolus satellite was launched in August 2018 on a trailblazing mission to show how profiling Earth’s winds from space can improve weather forecasts and climate models. Data from its pioneering wind-mapping laser, which at one stage was thought a nigh-impossible feat of engineering, has been used by leading weather forecasting services throughout Europe.
Marking the end of Aeolus’ remarkable mission, ESA worked with composer Jamie Perera to create a woodwind piece from data that spans the lifetime of the satellite’s life in orbit around Earth.
In the resulting orchestral piece, every second is a day in the life of Aeolus, with data represented by the following instruments:
Piccolo: Rayleigh Top Altitude (the tops of clouds)
Flute: Rayleigh Observation Type (density of clouds)
Oboe: Rayleigh Reference Temperature (wind temperature)
Clarinet 1: Rayleigh Wind Velocity (wind velocity)
Clarinet 2: Rayleigh Wind Reference Pressure (air pressure)
Bassoon/Bass Clarinet: Rayleigh Bottom Altitude (Earth’s surface)
Ambient Synth: Validity Flag 0 (Aeolus downtime)
You can also hear landmark events such as volcanic eruptions represented by drums, hurricanes represented by wind sound effects, and the Coronavirus pandemic represented by a pulsing synth.
The full guide to the performance is also available to download in PDF
Read full story: The sound of Aeolus will blow you away
Credits: Credits: E. Trometer (sonification & music: J. Perera),