Sonic Antarctica - a concert celebrating the diverse sounds of Antarctica
Antarctica contains some of the most unique and unusual sounds in the world. Sonic Antarctica draws attention to the diverse and wonderful natural and man-made symphony surrounding us.

_transport )))
1] C-130 Taking off to the Pole - Andrea Polli - 06:20
2] Helicopter to Taylor Glacier - Andrea Polli - 03:01

_town )))
The first three recordings were made during a ‘sound walkabout’ through town December 27, 2007
3] Walk through Town Lightly Snowing - Anne Dal Vera - 07:08
4] Beeps - Julie Katch - 00:46
5] SSC Interior - Julie Katch - 02:57
6] Highway 1 Kiosks - Tia Kramer - 2:03

_nature )))
7] Whistling Flags and Walking – Tia Kramer – 02:29
8] Canada Glacier Waterfalls - Andrea Polli - 00:41
9] Walking on Taylor Glacier - Andrea Polli - 03:13 The unusual sound at the end of this recording came from water moving below the surface of the glacier.
10] Emperors, Adelie Chicks and Elephant Seals - Doug Quin - 06:36 This series of recordings from 2000 presents emperor penguins at a dive hole near Cape Royds, adelie adults and chicks on Torgerson Island near Palmer Station and elephant seals hauled out near Old Palmer Station.
11] Skua Attack - Andrea Polli - 00:24 Recorded at Cape Royds.
12] Series of three Adelie Greetings at Nest - Jean Pennycook - 01:57 Adelie chicks can recognize their parents by the sound of their greetings, these three were recorded for students to listen and try to tell the difference.

_science )))
13] Ozone Balloon Data at South Pole - Andrea Polli - 01:06 This recording presents NOAA ozone measurement specialist Andy Clarke at the South Pole after launching a balloon sounding to measure ozone concentrations in the stratosphere.  He explains the sound of the balloon data as it is sent to the computer in real time.
14] LDB Balloon Fill - Andrea Polli - 03:10 This is a recording of Phil Austin explaining what will happen right before the last LDB balloon launch this season and the (very loud) filling of the balloon.
15] Iceberg B15A ‘breaking up’ - Dr. Douglas MacAyeal - 01:18 The sound of Iceberg B15A ‘breaking up’ off Cape Adare, 27 October, 2005…it’s really a seismometer record that’s been ’sped up’ by a factor of 1000.
16] Seismic Tremors on Mt. Erebus - Dr. Rick Aster - 01:45 After 20 years of seismic observations on Mt. Erebus with only rare incidences of sustained tremors being recorded, tremors became conspicuous around June 2000. More than 310 episodes were recorded through 2004. These episodes show a variety of waveforms, from chaotic to highly harmonic, with up to 28 harmonics.  For more information see: www.ees.nmt.edu/Geop/mevo/seismic/tremor.html
17] Radarsat - Jason Seehafer - 02:54
18] Radarsat Mix - Andrea Polli - 02:40 Made entirely from recordings inside Radarsat 

_introduction and closing sounds )))
19] Macops HF Radio – Tia Kramer – 16:54
20] Rare earthquake in Antarctica (near the coastal Australian Station Casey) – Bob Smalley -  20:10
Data recorded at QSPY at the South Pole Remote Earth Science Observatory SPRESO. The sound uses band-passed seismogram data as amplitude modulation of 3 frequency ranges in real time.
_presenter bios )))
Andrea Polli is a digital media artist living in New York City.  She is Director of the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program and Associate Professor of Media at Hunter College.  She currently works in collaboration with scientists to develop systems for understanding storm and climate through sound (called sonification).  Recent projects include: spatialized sonifications of detailed models of storms that devastated the New York area; a series of sonifications of climate in Central Park; and a real-time multi-channel sonification and visualization of weather in the Arctic.  Her current project is 90 degrees south, a sound, sonification and visual investigation into weather and climate in Antarctica. For more information see www.90degreessouth.org and www.andreapolli.com

Anne Dal Vera spends her summers listening to cascading creeks, the wind in ponderosa pines and aspens, and the birds of the Weminuche Wilderness.  She skied to the South Pole in 1992-93, listening to the flap-flap of tents in the wind and the sheeeeeeeeevoosh of snowquakes!  Now she works at LDB, helping fill helium balloons occasionally.

This is Julie Katch's first season in Antarctica and first time recording sound.  Usually, she reacts to someone else's sound with movement as a contemporary dancer.  Julie lives in Portland, Oregon and is slowly trying to leave the architecture desk job life.    

Tia Ann Kramer is a multi-media artist whose work draws attention to overseen details of everyday life.  She integrates text, interactive performance and digital media to make subtlety palpable.  Tia studied material and time based art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  On the ice, her job is to listen; she spends her days and nights in MacOps. For more information visit her work in progress website: www.tiakramer.blogspot.com

Douglas Quin, Ph.D., is a world-renowned sound designer, naturalist, public radio commentator, and music composer. He has traveled widely documenting the natural soundscape—from Antarctic ice to Arctic tundra and from African savannah to Amazon rainforest. Quin's recordings of endangered and disappearing habitats represent one of the most unique and extensive collections anywhere. His pioneering work has received recognition and support from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information see: www.dqmedia.com

Jean Pennycook has been a science teacher for 20 years. In that time she has served to promote science education and excellence at all levels encouraging students to continue a higher education and pursue science related careers. Her first trip to Antarctica was in 1999 when she joined a team from New Mexico Institute of Technology and Mines doing research on Mt Erebus, the only active volcano in Antarctica. In addition to being an active part of the research team, Jean connected what the scientists were doing over the Internet to classrooms across the country.  She is currently in the field at Cape Royds.

Dr. Douglas MacAyeal is a Professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago.  His field efforts in Antarctica (on the Ross Ice Shelf and in the Ross Sea for 10 field seasons) yield a range of physical models concerning the dynamics of large ice masses, and his current research passion involves the break-up of ice shelves and the subsequent transport of icebergs into the surrounding ocean. 

Dr. Richard Aster is a professor of Geophysics, Geophysics Program Coordinator and Associate Chair of the Earth & Environmental Science Department at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He is co-principal investigator on the Mount Erebus Volcanic Observatory.  MEVO, funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, performs geophysical and geochemical research on the active Erebus Volcano from McMurdo Station, Antarctica.  He is also a co-P.I. on the POLENET project, and an avid musician whose instrument is the guitar.

Jason Seehafer has a BS degree in Construction Management from Auburn Universtiy and an MA degree from Brooks Institute of Photography.  Over the last ten years he has trekked some 12,000 miles.  Since he spends a lot of time outdoors, most people think his photography would follow suit, but it is quite the opposite. Most of his 4”X5” studio images are what he calls "dynamic sculpture" that usually involve multiple exposures that can last several minutes.  These sculptures can not exist in reality, often adding, removing, or hiding items in the scene and combining the organic with the inorganic, such as vegetables, steel hardware, flesh, etc. His latest project in development is to create real life 3D images from parallel "planes" of transparent photographs.  

Dr. Robert Smalley of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, The University of Memphis uses measurements of motions of the surface of the earth made with GPS and seismology to study geodynamic and tectonic processes associated with plate motions, plate boundary deformation, mountain building, glacial isostatic adjustment, crustal response to loading, and the earthquake cycle. He is also interested in developing interesting presentations of science and scientific ideas – such as listening to seismograms and is currently participating in the POLENET fieldwork associated with installation of continuous GPS and seismic stations in Transantarctic Mountains and West Antarctica.