Sonification Techniques for Astronomical Data Exploration

Sonification Techniques for Astronomical Data Exploration

Paul Lunn BSc(Hons) MSc PCPD FHEA MIET

Supervised by Dr A Hunt (Department of Electronics, The University of York)SonificationThe transformation of data relations into perceived relations in an acoustic signal for the purposes of facilitating communication or interpretation (Kramer et al, 1999).

Examples of SonificationEveryday ExamplesPing of microwave ovenPlay video games without soundGeiger counter

Scientific applicationsSeismology ECG analysis DNA SequencingGeographical Information SystemsHelicopter engine telemetry analysis Higgs Boson simulation

Benefits of SonificationThe ear is better at detecting rapid or transient changes than the eye. We perceive several sounds simultaneously An eyes free interfaceWe dont have ear-lidsBack grounding

But alsoSound can be irritating!Hearing impediments/amusia(Kramer 1994)What my work is aboutCan sonification can speed up the analysis/exploration of very large scale data sets?

Labour intensive with visualization methods

The Data deluge caused by modern astronomical observations

An ideal candidate is The Search for Extra- Terrestrial Intelligence - SETIThe Drake equation and SETIN = R fp ne fl fi fc LN = number of advanced technological civilisationsR = number of new stars formed each yearfp = fraction of stars with planetsne = Number of planets that can support lifefl = fraction of planets which have lifefi = fraction of planets where life is intelligentfc = fraction of planets where life has developed ability to communicate over stellar distancesL = average lifetime of technological civilisation(SETI League, 2003)

It is estimated that there could be 100,000,000 intelligent civilisations within the Milky Way

We can observe radio waves from the earths surface - cheaply

reproduced from NASA (n.d)The Water Hole 1420 MHzCooper (2010)

Waterfall plots

Simulations

Noise + sine

Squiggle + noiseStatement of HypothesisApplying sonification techniques to SETI radio astronomy data can be an efficient tool for identifying intelligence patterns ReferencesCooper, P., (2010) SETI: the Water Hole available online at [Accessed 10/06/2012]

Kramer, G. (1994) An Introduction to Auditory Display, in Kramer G. (ed.) "Auditory Display: Sonification, Audification, and Auditory Interface", Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA

Kramer, G., Walker, B., Bonebright, T., Cook, P., Flowers, J., Miner, N., and Neuhoff, J., (1999 ) Sonification report: Status of the field and research agenda, Tech. Rep., International Community for Auditory Display

NASA, (n.d.), Atmospheric Opacity, image online at < http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atmospheric_electromagnetic_opacity.svg> [Accessed 21/12/10]

SETI League, (2003) What is the Drake Equation? available on line at [Accessed 10/06/2012]