Collaborative Research: Immersive Audio-visualization of Seismic Wave Fields in the Earth (EarthScope Education & Outreach)

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The core of this project is the development of a methodology (softwareand hardware) to produce synchronized visual and sonic representationsof seismic wave fields in the Earth. Coupling these senses enablespeople, from the general public to seasoned seismologists, toappreciate and perceive an enormous richness in the patterns ofseismic wave fields. The aim is not to simulate the experience of anearthquake, but to render the physics of wave propagation in the globeand the nature of earthquake physics into a completely tactileexperience, unlike anything anyone has ever perceived. The workinggroup is comprised of earth scientists, astrophysicists, sound andgraphics engineers and educators, from the Lamont Doherty EarthObservatory (LDEO), Princeton University, and the American Museum ofNatural History (AMNH).The images and sounds are generated from both USArray and GSN data, aswell as from simulations generated with the spectral element method(SEM), using the SPECFEM3D software. Sounds are generated by shiftingthe frequency of the seismic signal into the range of human hearing,and are filtered and stretched in time to optimize the coupled visualand sonic effects. Once the methodology is in place, it will take twogeneral forms:First, a web-based format that allows people to choose earthquakes andseismic data to listen to, with images produced by either a densearray of seismometers (i.e. the ground motion visualizations (GMVs)produced by IRIS of the Transportable Array data) or a simulation ofthe seismic wave field (i.e. by SPECFEM3D). This format will be usefulfor classroom and laboratory purposes, and interactive museumexhibits, as well as for exploratory observation of raw data byseismologists.Second, a version will be developed for the Hayden Planetarium at theAmerican Museum of Natural History, in New York City. The images,projected on the planetarium dome, will include the surface of theEarth rendered as a membrane and also a volumetric rendering in whichthe observer will see 3D wave fronts propagating throughout the globe.The sounds will be tuned to the large speaker array in thePlanetarium. Within the context of this project, several PublicPrograms will occur in the Planetarium, in which the immersiveexperience of listening to the Earth will be guided by the productionteam. These Public Programs are the essential first step towardsdeveloping a full planetarium show on the dynamics of the Earth atAMNH.