#remote sensing

"Human touch is typically understood as a proximal sense, limited to what we physically touch.

However, recent findings in animal sensory systems have challenged this view.

Certain shorebirds, such as sandpipers and plovers, use a form of remote touch to detect prey hidden beneath the sand.

Remote touch allows the detection of objects buried under granular materials through subtle mechanical cues transmitted through the medium, when a moving pressure is applied nearby.

In the new research, Dr. Elisabetta Versace from Queen Mary University of London and her colleagues investigated whether humans share a similar capability.

The participants moved their fingers gently through sand to locate a hidden cube before physically touching it.

Remarkably, the results revealed a comparable ability to that seen in shorebirds, despite humans lacking the specialized beak structures that enable this sense in birds.

By modeling the physical aspects of the phenomenon, the researchers found that human hands are remarkably sensitive, detecting the presence of buried objects by perceiving minute displacements in the sand surrounding them.

This sensitivity approaches the theoretical physical threshold of what can be detected from mechanical ‘reflections’ in granular material, when there is a sand movement that is ‘reflected’ on a stable surface (the hidden object)."

"“It’s the first time that remote touch has been studied in humans and it changes our conception of the perceptual world (what is called the ‘receptive field’) in living beings, including humans,” Dr. Versace said."

(The findings were presented in September at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) in Prague, Czech Republic.)

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗔𝗡 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 + 𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗤𝗚𝗜𝗦

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟭: 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮

Go to 𝗨𝗦𝗚𝗦 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿.

Search for your area of interest.

Download 𝗦𝗥𝗧𝗠 𝟭 𝗔𝗿𝗰-𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗘𝗠 tiles covering your region.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟮: 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗘𝗠 𝗧𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 (𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹)

If you downloaded multiple tiles:

Open QGIS.

Go to 𝗥𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 → 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 → 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 (𝗩𝗥𝗧).

Select all DEM tiles.

Click 𝗥𝘂𝗻.

You now have a single seamless DEM.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟯: 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗘𝗠 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆

Open 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗯𝗼𝘅.

Search for 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗥𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿.

Input layer → Your DEM (or VRT).

Mask layer → Your district/region boundary.

Click 𝗥𝘂𝗻.

Now you have a clean elevation map for your area.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟰: 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗛𝘆𝗽𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗶𝗻𝘁)

Right-click the clipped DEM → 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 → 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆.

Choose 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗱𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿.

Select a color ramp (e.g., green → yellow → brown).

Click 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗳𝘆 → Apply → OK.

This creates the elevation color variati

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟱: 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲

Open 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗯𝗼𝘅.

Search for 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲.

Input layer → Your clipped DEM.

Click 𝗥𝘂𝗻.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟲: 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Right-click the hillshade layer → 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀.

Under 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, change 𝗕𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲 to 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝘆.

Click 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 → OK.

Now you have realistic terrain relief.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟳: 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

Create a new 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 layer.

Digitize straight lines across areas of interest.

Style them:

Red color

Dashed or dott

Slightly thicker width

These will be your cross-section lines.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟴: 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀

Go to 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 → 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲.

In the Elevation Profile window:

Click 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 → Add your DEM.

Click 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲 → Click along one of your profile lines.

Under 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, set 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘀 = 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Your elevation graph will appear.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟵: 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁

Open 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 → 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Add your main map.

Click 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 (bottom-left tools).

Draw the profile frame.

In the right panel → Click 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲.

Repeat for all cross-section lines.

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣 𝟭𝟬: 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀

In the Layout, add:

Grid (with coordinates)

North arrow

Scale bar

Legend

Title

Data source

Credits

good morning!! I‘m reading reading reading, but I’ve already learned a lot during my first 2 weeks of the internship!

The pitch, length and loudness of musical notes were created by transforming a variety of Aeolus’ data types into musical parameters, mapped onto the ranges of different wind instruments.

You can also hear landmark events, such as volcanic eruptions, represented by drums, hurricanes represented by wind sound effects, and the Covid pandemic represented by a pulsing synth.

Aeolus captured data from space 2018-2023, and it helped improve weather forecasts, especially during the pandemic, as a lot of commercial flights that would usually measure data on wind vectors didn't happen during that time period.

Each instrument in the orchestral arrangement of the Aeolus sonification represents a different type of data: the highest, the piccolo, corresponds to data collected from the tops of clouds using the satellites lasers. The lower instruments, bassoon and bass clarinet, represent data collected much lower close to Earth's surface. Everything in between — clarinets, flutes and oboes — represent variables such as cloud density, air pressure, air temperature and wind velocity.

I just think it's super cool to create art from science and in a way to give this satellite's life another meaning. Also, as the composer said, it provides an accessible way for the visually impaired to interact with science data. I wish they did this for every dying satellite.

Here you can find more info, about the sonification process and there's a video about the music piece and Aeolus which is really nice.

And if you play clarinet, flute or oboe, the ESA has made a part of the sheet music available!!