The Eclipse Soundscapes Project
The Eclipse Soundscapes Project (2021-2025) is a NASA Citizen Science project funded by NASA Science Activation that studied how solar eclipses affect life on Earth during the October 14, 2023 annular solar eclipse and the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. Eclipse Soundscapes (ES) revisits an eclipse study from almost 100 years ago that showed that animals and insects are affected by solar eclipses. Like this study from 100 years ago, ES asked for the public’s help. ES volunteers used modern technology to continue to study how solar eclipses affect life on Earth.
Audio Data Collection During Eclipse Week
Volunteer Scientists, known as ES Data Collectors, used AudioMoth recording devices to record audio data, known as soundscapes, over a 5-day period during the eclipse week: 2 days before the eclipse, the day of the eclipse, and 2 days after. This community includes the collected raw audio data, the location in latitude and longitude for each recording site, and the relevant eclipse-related timing data for each of those sites.
AudioMoth Recording Device Information
AudioMoth is a low-cost, full-spectrum acoustic logger, based on the Gecko processor range from Silicon Labs. Just like its namesake the moth, AudioMoth can listen at audible frequencies, well into ultrasonic frequencies. It is capable of recording uncompressed audio to microSD card at rates from 8,000 to 384,000 samples per second and can be converted into a full-spectrum USB microphone.
- EFM32 Gecko processor
- Capable of recording at sample rates up to 384kHz
- Records uncompressed WAV files to microSD card
- Can be converted into a full-spectrum USB microphone
- Powered by 3 x AA batteries
- Analog MEMS microphone
- Analog pre-amplifier with adjustable gain
- Measures just 58 x 48 x 15 mm
- Configurable USB interface
- Onboard real-time clock keeps track of time in UTC
- Exposed header for 3.5mm jack mic from version 1.2.0 onwards
A manual containing all AudioMoth information for offline use is available here.
References:
Open Acoustic Devices. (n.d.). AudioMoth. https://www.openacousticdevices.info/audiomoth
Wheeler, William Morton . et al. “Observations on the Behavior of Animals during the Total Solar Eclipse of August 31, 1932.” (1935).