Speaker
Description
The Earth’s magnetic field is invisible and cannot be sensed by the human body. Yet, it plays a crucial role in sustaining life on the planet shielding us from harmful solar and cosmic radiation. Auroras are shaped by the magnetic field and are thus not only spectacles of immense beauty, but also concrete reminders of this important shield.
Auroras themselves need no help grabbing the attention of the general public. Instead they can act as an effective way of spreading knowledge about the magnetic field and space weather which to many non-scientists is uncharted and abstract grounds.
Building on previous experience in engaging audiences through outreach projects (see references below), I find that the combined audio-visual format provides an intuitive, corporeal, and immersive experience – one that to a far better extent than text and graphs can capture the attention of the general public.
In my poster I will present a method for sonifying all-sky footage of auroras. To accompany the printed poster, I will bring a computer with two headsets to demonstrate the technique. The result will be similar to this example, however with all-sky footage from the IRF observatory in Kiruna, Sweden, for a more local experience:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBfwbKVMGgZ/ (sound on)
The technique employs a video-to-audio algorithm which generates a static, hissing output aligned with the movements of the aurora in the footage. This output is combined with a musical element which is controlled by data from corresponding magnetic field measurements.
References
Nielsen, K., Panovska, S., & Schanner, M. (2025) Visualisation and sonification of the Matuyama-Bruhnes reversal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_blivWRpp80 (37K views)
Nielsen, K., & Hayes, L. (2025) The Sun, https://www.instagram.com/p/DEZqSqANIjN/?img_index=1 (228K views)
Nielsen, K., Schanner, M., & Kervalishvili, G. (2024) Visualisation and sonification of the Laschamp event, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tc7XI0iUYU (964K views)
Nielsen, K., Linden-Vörnle, N., & Kloss, C. (2022) The scary sound of Earth’s magnetic field, https://soundcloud.com/esa/the-scary-sound-of-earths-magnetic-field (1.16M plays)
