N. is an artistic visualization and sonification (direct translation of data to sound) of near real-time Arctic data. N. is an ongoing, evolving composition.

A dramatic warming trend has been experienced by the Arctic over the last decade that may accelerate global climate change. The N. installation expresses the isolation and environmental extremes of this remote region and addresses the importance of the region to the global ecosystem. Data and images for N. have been provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Arctic research program. A portion of the raw sound material used in N. comes from live sferics (short for atmospherics), electromagnetic transmissions of lightning from the INSPIRE VLF (very low frequency) receiver at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. N. also makes use of a custom, open source object for Max / MSP called Datareader created by Andrea Polli and Kurt Ralske.

Artistic Collaborators:

Joe Gilmore is a sound artist living in the North of England. He is co-founder of rand()% a net radio station which streams real-time generative music. His music has been released on various labels including Line, Melange and Alku.

Andrea Polli is a digital media artist living in New York City. She works with city planners, environmental and atmospheric scientists and other experts to look at the impact of climate on the future of life both locally and globally. Her most recent work, Atmospherics/Weather Works focuses on understanding storms through sound.

Scientific Collaborator:

Dr. Patrick Market is an assistant professor in the Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Missouri. His areas of interest are in Synoptic and Mesoscale Dynamics. He is currently funded by the National Science Foundation to develop a forecasting procedure for convective snow events in the central United States.