Making the atmosphere visible - from scientific data to own exploration

In the project, the researchers want to process the huge amounts of data about the atmosphere that come from the research facility EISCAT_3D and make these available through tools for visualization. In this way, they want to contribute to increased interest and knowledge about science and technology.

The research facility EISCAT_3D is being built at three different locations at the Cap of the North, in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The facility will collect data from the atmosphere to gain a better understanding of what is happening in the atmosphere and how the earth and the sun interact with each other.

Many processes take place in the atmosphere, which is a source of astonishing scientific stories: Meteors are captured by the earth's gravity and drawn into the atmosphere. The interaction between the sun's particles and the earth's magnetic field causes space weather and the northern lights. The atmosphere means that we get a greenhouse effect on earth so that it becomes warm and habitable, but if the distribution between gases and particles changes, the conditions on earth change.

EISCAT_3D creates a window into what is happening in the atmosphere. The researchers want to use that information and make it available at the science center to stimulate interest and knowledge about science and technology.

One way to discover and investigate the atmosphere is by making trips in the authentic amounts of data in the dome theater at Curiosum at Umeå University, a theater with a screen in 360 degrees that encloses the visitor and provides a unique experience. Through a guided performance, the visitor can be guided through different stories in the atmosphere as in a planetarium. There, different issues can be explored and different phenomena and processes can be investigated. Another way is to let the visitor examine the amounts of data themselves based on the visitor's own interests and personal circumstances, which creates a commitment to know and understand more.

The researchers will also examine what happens to the visitor, what emotions are stimulated, what knowledge becomes available and what ideas about science exist. The results will be used to improve the methods of making authentic amounts of data available to a wide audience in order to be able to find more ways to make science and technology visible.