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. Marking the end of Aeolus’ remarkable mission, ESA worked with composer Jamie Perera to create a woodwind piece from data that spanned 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. 

Read the full story:
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Aeolus/The_sound_of_Aeolus_will_blow_you_away

Download the full performance guide:
https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/EarthObservation/Life-of-Aeolus-Performance-Guide.pdf

Credits: @jamieperera (2023). Used by permission. Data and guidance provided by Daniel Santillan; sonification programming by Adrian Lewis

The sound of the wind from space

Composer & music producer of electronic, ambient, piano, EDM, and Jazz amalgamations. Music as spiritual gateway.

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