STEREO Space Weather Sonification

The launch of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) satellites in Fall 2006 sets the stage to better understand the origin and consequences of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME's). Two spacecrafts will orbit the Sun with instruments imaging the Sun and instruments measuring in-situ particles and fields. In order to share the particle and fields data with educators and the public, we created software to convert this space weather data into sound, a process known as sonification. Our goal is that many non-scientists use the software and data to listen to STEREO data, inspiring them to learn about the STEREO mission and its science. We will present sounds using STEREO data from tests of the particle instruments and data from the electric fields instrument. There are many ways in which these sounds can be used to share the excitement about the STEREO science mission. Several personnel from popular articles and a radio station have interviewed us about these sounds, sharing the STEREO mission and our project with hundreds if not thousands of readers and listeners. Together with the STEREO sounds, we will share and discuss how we use these sounds for education and outreach as well as the difficulties encountered by such a project. This project is part of the Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) component of the two instrument suites STEREO In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT) and STEREO/waves (SWAVES).