SUVI SUNS

SUVI SUNS, 2022-2023. Window installation, Foundations Lab, Pratt Institute, 26 digital prints of 41 suns installed in 8 window bays.

This installation is a part of Heidi Neilson – Art + Science Visting Artist Pratt Institute Foundations Lab, 2022-2023, including: a talk, DIY Art-based Earth Observations (18 October 2022), a workshop, Seeing through a satellite’s eyes: creating color images of our Earth and Sun (1 November 2022), and installation: SUVI SUNS.

SUVI SUNS color images were created as an exploration of how we can envision the sun beyond the limited spectral vision of our eyes. The NASA/NOAA weather satellite GOES-16 captures images of the sun with its SUVI instrument, and radio-transmits this data to Earth. Here GOES Radiotelescope (Heidi Neilson & Harry Dove-Robinson) receives GOES-16’s transmission at Wave Farm in Acra, NY, processes the data, converts SUVI data into images. There are 6 wavelength bands captured by the SUVI instrument which are converted to single greyscale images. These different bands from the ultraviolet wavelength range are assigned Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) to create unique color images.

 

 

Thanks to: SUVI Maker application by Harry Dove-Robinson, online SUVI combination tool by Tom Whittaker, CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Pratt Foundations Lab coordinators Eleanor King & Rebeca Acosta, and student assistants: Parker Ewen, Allan Felix, Katherine Gerakaris, Kora Gozdziak, Jason Raymond, Piper Turosak.