Every note is computed from the data by rules we chose. FluidSynth pre-rendered audio.
Current playing bar is highlighted in real time.
| Bar |
Dates |
Days |
p95 Spd |
Norm |
Sector |
Ageo Mag |
Held? |
Chord |
Drums |
Melody |
Vel |
How Data Becomes Sound
Deterministic mapping from physical ocean parameters to acoustic structures
| Physical Feature |
Scientific Parameter |
Acoustic Rule |
| Period Mean Speed |
Mean 95th-percentile surface speed over period |
Key transposition k = round(6 * (mean_speed - lo) / (hi - lo)) semitones above D. Clamped 0..6. Last bar resolves to tonic minor. |
| Ageostrophic Flow |
Non-geostrophic wind-driven flow vector decomposed into 4 quadrants |
Harmonic chord progression: North (i), East (VI), South (iv), West (VII). Peak section introduces III lift; Calm section introduces v. |
| Ageostrophic Magnitude |
Current shear energy threshold (< 0.013 m/s) |
Harmonic Hold: When energy drops below threshold, previous chord is sustained to prevent artificial churn during slack water. |
| Block Speed (p95) |
Current speed normalized over bounds [0, 1] |
Dynamics & Drums: Velocity scaling (0.65..1.05) and drum groove tier switching (Low < 0.35, Mid 0.35..0.70, High > 0.70). |
| Calendar Block |
7-day aggregated blocks (yearly) or 1-day increments (monthly) |
1 block = 1 musical bar at 72 BPM (4 beats per bar, 3.333s per block). |
| Period SHA-256 Hash |
Digest of period label ("2025" or "2025-01") |
Melodic Seed: Deterministic melody contour. Beats 1 and 3 remain strict chord tones. |
Honest Limits & Boundaries
Explicit scientific boundaries and deliberate modeling choices
"Every note is computed from the data by rules we chose."
- Data Encoding, Not Underwater Audio: This music sonifies numerical physical values derived from satellite data. It is not an audio recording of ocean waves, underwater hydrophones, or marine life.
- Gulf Stream Bounding Box Only: The sonification pipeline is calibrated exclusively for the North Atlantic Gulf Stream region (lat 30°-40°N, lon 280°-300°E / 60°-80°W). Clicking outside this box reports that no soundscape is built yet.
- 2026 Temporal Coverage: Satellite ocean current data for 2026 ends on 16 Jan. Subsequent periods are awaiting satellite processing and calibration.
- Excluded Earth Domains: Terrestrial vegetation, atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and meteorological wind speeds are not coupled into this sonification engine.
Data Sources & AI Credits
Provenance, data providers, and system attributions
NASA PO.DAAC OSCAR Data
Ocean Surface Current Analysis Real-time (OSCAR_L4_OC_FINAL_V2.0), 0.25° daily resolution. Derived from satellite altimetry and scatterometry.
DOI:
10.5067/OSCAR-25F20
NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS)
SVS 3912 ("Perpetual Ocean", ECCO2 surface current flow model by Horace Mitchell). NASA Earth Information Center (EIC) integration.
AI Use & Audio Credits
- Algorithmic sonification architecture and rule engine designed with Antigravity AI.
- Oceanographic context and briefings supported by Google Gemini API.
- Audio rendering powered by FluidSynth with the open-source FluidR3_GM SoundFont.