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A patchy record of DIY satellite imagery and weather notes since 2020. The open-weather public archive is open to everyone willing and able to contribute.

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Words for Climate

An evolving set of words chosen by contributors to reflect their experiences of the climate crisis.

hopeful,

sunny,

unseasonably warm,

INCREDIBLE,

VITAL,

ESSENTIALS,

Drizzling,

fluctuating,

temperate,

warming,

Unruly,

Agential,

debris,

canceled,

Bulbs blooming,

Peaceful,

honest,

climate whiplash,

changing,

Extraterrestrial,

high pressure,

Polyphonous,

Manifold,

Entangled,

early flowering,

misty,

early,

warmth,

rapid,

Finger pointing,

Ignition,

Rain,

physical,

unpredictable,

red warning,

un-weather,

Transatlantic,

Unwetter,

hollow,

ashen,

Haze,

angry,

confused,

failing,

moldering,

bone-chilling,

damp,

LA,

teleconnections,

snow,

Smoke,

Not a care,

Rollercoaster,

edging,

Santa Ana winds,

Palisades fire,

uncontained,

Evacuate,

Windstorm,

Fire weather,

invisible updrafts,

vultures soaring,

quiet,

Tract housing,

interference,

adaptation,

suspicion,

Sunken sailboats,

Idalia,

PM-2.5,

air quality alert,

inversion layer,

Future,

Unexpected,

Contrails,

new beginnings,

Polar vortex,

1.5°C,

chilling effect,

mossy,

sudden change,

rising,

cyclical,

loss,

fire,

climate reality,

huge,

bright,

underground,

hum of seeds,

Darragh,

elemental,

worms,

mulch,

conspiratorial,

passion,

Nebel,

brewing,

clamour,

forgery,

recycling,

repurposing,

concrete,

civil war,

common ground,

dialogue,

questions,

gloom,

weather,

numb,

grey,

Short-comings,

Uncertainty,

Fog,

wind,

Storm Bert,

Coming storms,

Flat earth,

Bomb cyclone,

indoor sunshine,

displaced,

Joke,

Chaos,

Irony,

temperature rising,

decay,

dirt,

soil,

what you know,

Resist,

Tribe,

Collective action,

Silver linings,

Searching,

harvesting,

Policy,

Climate denial,

Democracy,

Fossil record,

Geologic time,

Anthropocene,

betting on the future,

gambling,

risky business,

hope,

reality,

flooding,

Cognitive dissonance,

Crisis,

slowing current,

Atlantic cooling,

Amoc,

frustration,

anticipation,

troubling,

Troubled,

everything,

Anticipatory,

Serene,

remote,

ten foot surge,

1000 year storm,

warming Gulf,

Milton,

re-member-ing,

harvest,

mushrooms,

Palestine,

given names,

the wind singing,

a lifetime,

body,

overheat,

people,

noise,

moist,

fair,

local,

light,

hotter,

learn,

radiate,

weather balloon,

upside down,

floods,

Grief,

Relational,

Breath,

Lurking,

Medium Temperature,

a story,

greening,

darkening,

inter-relations,

immeasurable,

story,

xenomorphic,

lichenous,

trans-scalar,

saturated,

fractal,

multi-scalar,

circulated,

reflected,

emitted,

warning,

sensuous,

furry,

rainy,

cloudy,

wet,

memory,

calor,

coal,

sweat,

heat,

placid,

grounded,

calm,

clear,

breezy,

chilly,

windy,

differential,

hazy,

red-orange,

green,

gelatinous,

slimy,

deforested,

ominous,

sticky,

ponderous,

summer,

rushing,

sweaty,

silver,

veiled,

vruće,

sunčano,

suho,

energetic,

wavelike,

spectral,

ancient,

railway tracks,

rupture,

warm,

unstable,

cold,

sandy,

crowded,

scorching,

relief,

tubulent,

noisy,

humid,

bodily,

red,

dusty,

dry

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Ground Station Type

Automatic Ground Stations are local, semi-permanent stations that record and upload satellite transmissions automatically once per day. Manual ground stations are DIY and often mobile; operators manually record and upload satellite transmissions.

Automatic

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Satellite

The archive contains Automatic Picture Transmissions (APT) by US weather satellites NOAA-15, NOAA-18 and NOAA-19.

NOAA-15

NOAA-18

NOAA-19

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Collective earth-sensing events led by open-weather, co-produced by a network of contributors around the world.

6 Sep 2020

COP26

Weather Between Us

Year of Weather

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Additional Media

Weather Note

2024-02-03 13:29:01

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

Today I attempted to receive a satellite image from a pass that I assumed would be 'out of the sensible range' of my ground station. The maximum elevation of the pass was 13 degrees to the West, and I hadn't previously tried to receive anything under 30 degrees. Expecting to get nothing, I found a spot in the middle of Hackney Downs and held my antenna as high as possible to catch whatever radio waves could bend around the curve of the Earth as the satellite barely crested the horizon. Surprisingly, the signal was already visible at 13:28 and I had a reasonably strong signal by 13:30. As I watched the image load line by line, I realised I was seeing cloud patterns over Greenland and the north Atlantic, so far to the west that no coastlines of Europe were visible. Meanwhile in Hackney Downs a group of dogs played around me and the gray clouds hung low. There was something incredibly strange about seeing the North Atlantic so many kilometres to the west, while Saturday morning life kept unfolding in London.

2024-02-02 10:28:19

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

London is gray and cold today, with a haze that feels like a soft blanket. On my way to buy bread this morning, the air made street corners, cars and shops look a little fuzzy. Being inside a bakery, and back in my flat with a warm loaf of bread and a coffee, was deeply comforting. It feels like good weather to be tidying up the house, changing sheets and watering plants.

2024-02-01 11:30:57

Beside the round flowerbed in Augarten, Wien, Austria

Wet! I have just come back inside from the satellite pass, dripping. I stood in Augarten park, in the intensifying rain, my laptop inside a small bin bag tent. From the warmth of my shared studio, I decoded the image. A huge white arc of water sweeps across my screen from North from Spain to Norway. Is this what it feels like to be at sea – to orientate by waves of water and light? Sometimes Sasha and I joke that open-weather is a queer, feminist space agency. Right now, I feel less like an astronaut and more like an aquanaut.

2024-02-01 10:33:13

Sasha Engelmann

College Green, Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom

I met the Centre for Research Architecture students on the top of College Green at Goldsmiths University on a brilliantly sunny morning of the 1st of February. I introduced the DIY satellite ground station we would use to capture an image from NOAA-18, and immediately there were about a dozen questions. Melodie held the antenna first, tracking the satellite from the southern horizon to a maximum elevation of 43 degrees. Excited chatter was constant throughout, and laughter rang out as Melodie and later Penelope tried different poses and antenna orientations. The atmosphere was joyful and lively, but as the pass came to a close, the group was happy to return inside to warm up and look at the image in darker / calmer conditions.

2024-01-31 20:38:08

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

The weather of Hackney Downs park close to 9pm at night on a Wednesday was surprisingly calm. A whispy wind blew blades of grasses but didn't manage to move dry leaves on the ground. I caught the wrong satellite – I had intended to capture an image from NOAA-19, and tuned to NOAA-18 instead – and unexpectedly started recording a 30 degree eastward pass. This first felt inconvenient because a line of Victorian houses blocked my 'line of sight' to the east. But the signal came through anyway, and this accident meant that I captured a dramatic cyclone swirling over eastern Europe and Russia. Seeing the image startled me- a dramatic disconnect from my experience of mild weather in the park.

2024-01-31 11:45:19

Gefechtsturm Augarten, Wien, Austria

Open skies and bird song – almost spring like. I did not weather my thermal leggings under my trousers today! At first I thought that I'd made a mistake but quickly I warmed up and enjoyed the free feeling of air on my legs.

2024-01-30 21:46:34

Dornerplatz, Wien, Austria

I worked from home so didn't leave my flat until the evening. Today was dry, clear and cold, but not too cold – you could take your gloves off without your fingers hurting. The stars were bright.

2024-01-30 10:57:24

Sasha Engelmann

Lesoco Building, Goldsmiths University of London, United Kingdom

Low, gloomy clouds hung over London as we gathered in the middle of a green circular lawn outside of the LESOCO building in which Goldsmiths design students study for their masters degrees and work in their studios. Deptford creek gurgled just a few metres away, though it was closed for access by a tall metal fence. A highway overpass arced to our east and a six lane intersection around the corner made a constant soundscape of motorbikes and car engines. In this context we huddled around my turnstile radio antenna and attempted to orientate our bodies in relation to the satellite orbiting overhead and the series of urban infrastructures around us. A constant interference pattern caused audible distortion to the satellite signal and produced regular and oblique lines in the image, like counter-currents of wind or a graphical anti-pattern.

2024-01-29 20:20:46

Entrance of Augarden, Wien, Austria

It's clear and cold again, when I left for work this morning the rooftops were frosted white. Frost always takes me back to childhood. When there was a heavy or hoarfrost, I would go out before school to slide down the field opposite our house on a tray. Sledging on frost felt more risky, edgy, than on snow – the frozen ground could easily inflict bruises. It was also a sport no one else seemed interested in, so I had the field to myself – bold and alone.

2024-01-29 11:14:13

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

The weather of my body today is turbulent and choppy. Though I am usually able to remain calm on the surface, today is proving difficult. I am surprised when my bodily, emotional weather bursts out into the conversations I have with students and colleagues throughout the morning. I have begun to edit apology notes (probably unnecessary) to be sent later over text and email.

2024-01-28 20:35:07

Inside with the antenna strapped to a curtain rail, tied to my balcony in Wien, Austria

Beautifully sunny. The woods are free of snow and ice, and full of walkers. I went on a solo hike in the Wienerwald, stopping for lunch at Toiflhütte, and breathing plenty of Waldluft. The birds continue to sing. I heard blackbirds, crows, wood peckers, a jay, and small song birds. The temperature is a frosty 5 degrees centigrade, with no wind.

2024-01-28 11:20:46

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

Today is an unusually warm Sunday in London in January. Although the weather has been overcast, the clouds feel veil-like and thin, and the Sun either burns them up or pushes them away by midday. As I was due to make a Sunday lunch for some friends, I spent most of the pass alternating between looking up recipes on my phone and checking the satellite signal. By the end of the pass I had both a long WAV file and a list of ingredients.

2024-01-27 22:26:10

On my balcony, freezing my ass off, Austria

Cold, but only because I didn't expect to stand outside, so I didn't have my coat, hat and gloves on. More bird song today. I was around 7 Centigrade. Clear, clear skies. So many stars.

2024-01-27 11:34:33

Sasha Engelmann

Abney Park Cemetery, London, United Kingdom

Abney Park Cemetery was muddy, wet, and full of dog walkers and strollers on this Saturday Morning. The density of the winter trees and the humidity of the air created a mist that felt appropriate to the vine-covered tomb-stones, monuments and crosses. I thought of the way early radio enthusiasts heard 'something in the static' that spoke of other spaces and times of the past and future. I pointed my antenna at the moist ground, wondering if the static would pick up frequencies underneath.

2024-01-26 19:06:51

Augarten, near the gun towers, Wien, Austria

Today, the bird song was louder than the beep-beep of the satellite. Gardeners in the park were clearing the dead leaves into piles. I heard that it's better to leave them to decompose and return their nutrients to the trees from which they fell – they don't kill the grass. The temperature is mild and there is no wind, but there is a heavy blanket of cloud. Although it is nearly midday, the cars have their headlights on. This evening I willl go to the 'Defend democracy' protest outside the Austria Parliment.

2024-01-26 10:10:04

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

The sky is a deep cerulean blue today – cloudless, and slightly purple in hue. I spent part of the satellite pass lying on my back looking up. The grass was so wet and cold that I didn't stay on the ground long, but the feeling of being engulfed in a January blue has stayed with me.

2024-01-25 21:31:00

My bedroom, Wien, Austria

Silent migraine.

2024-01-25 10:21:30

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

Today the park was spontaneously drizzly and I hunched over my laptop to keep it dry for the ten minutes of the pass. As I was crouched so low to the ground for most of the time, I experienced the weather of the park at the height of a small child or animal.

2024-01-24 19:06:51

Augarten, Wiem, Austria

It almost feel warm today. In the afternoon, it rained but I was inside the studio so didn't notice until I saw the wet pavement. My body also feel springy-ier, the migraine and stiffness I've had since Saturday is receding.

2024-01-24 10:32:45

Sasha Engelmann

Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom

In comparison to the windy and wet weather of Storms Isha and Jocelyn over the last few days, today feels calm, even balmy. I walked to 'Founder's Field', the highest point on the university campus, to set up my spare V-Dipole and test a new dongle (RTL-SDR V4). The atmosphere of the university is also calm, as if the machines of departments, university managers and administrators are hibernating.

2024-01-23 21:33:09

On the North West corner of Diepold Park, Wien, Austria

I think heard a Great Tit calling this morning. It rained today and feels milder. I was meant to be on a night train to the Netherlands this evening but German train drivers have walked out. They will be on strike until Monday. I have cancelled my trip. Life feels turbulent at the moment.

2024-01-22 20:08:39

Leaning out of the Northeast facing window of my flat, Wien, Austria

I have been inside most of today. The weather inside is stuffy.

2024-01-22 10:57:26

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

Wind has changed the surface of the park and neighbourhood overnight, leaving large piles of torn leaves, knocking down branches, ripping coverings off parked motorcycles and bending 'for rent' signs on their axes. Whistles and howls echo through the streets and across the downs, joined by the sirens of ambulances and fire trucks. On local radio this morning there was mention of wifi and phone service cuts. This is London in the aftermath of Storm Isha, which has swept across the southeast overnight. Its long arm is dramatically visible in the satellite image I captured today – curving over France, Germany and the continent, and spiralling toward Sweden and Norway.

2024-01-21 20:19:49

The balcony of my flat, Wien, Austria

Frosty, slowly defrosting. This morning, I woke to a blackbird singing. There is still snow on the ground in the woods. Sasha and I have been receiving NOAA satellite imagery everyday for one month!

2024-01-21 11:08:40

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

Storm Isha has been sweeping across the UK this weekend, with amber weather warnings issued by the Met Office in many parts of Wales, Scotland and Western England. Though the conditions weren't that bad in London, I stayed in the back garden of our flat to keep sheltered from wind. A curious cat named Dylan came padding quietly up behind me to check out what I was doing.

2024-01-20 20:32:35

Inside my bedroom! Wien, Austria

It's clear but cold. I'm still feeling unwell (again!) that I think it feels colder to me than it actually is. I stayed inside during the satellite pass.

2024-01-20 11:20:08

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

It was a gray blustery morning in Hackney Downs. A man with a dog stopped nearby and asked 'what's that mate?' to which I replied 'a radio antenna, I'm trying to catch the signal of a weather satellite'. He gave a thumbs up and said 'so it's a weather thing? a weather thing?' I nodded, and he walked off without further questions. I had apparently given a satisfactory answer. Yet I wondered what kind of 'weather thing' he was convinced I was operating.

2024-01-19 11:32:55

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

I was in between two meetings on Microsoft Teams – one finishing and another one starting at 11:30. NOAA-18 was due to start its orbit over London at 11:31. I wondered – was there time for the weather? I tried to 'create time' by writing a 'I'm five minutes late' message to the person I was due to meet, and took my laptop to the bedroom to the nearest possible window to receive the satellite pass. As I was counting the minutes of the pass I was also counting how late I would be. I wished I could stay in the 'weather' of the bedroom and sunny back garden, and avoid the 'weather' of the Teams meeting room!

2024-01-18 11:44:26

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

The weather was bright and gusty, and bitingly cold. Hackney Downs was wide open and clear, so clear it made me wonder what it was before there was London. There were so many dogs being walked in Hackney Downs – I saw one person holding eight dogs – and a short-haired Australian Shepherd ran up to my laptop during the satellite pass. I stopped to pet her, and I wondered if her energy was having an influence on the satellite image.

2024-01-18 09:26:57

The balcony of my flat, Wien, Austria

I tried the loop antenna again, this time squashing it into a folded dipole. The result was not good. Despite the near overhead position of the satellite, I could barely hear its transmission. I experimented with orientating the antenna vertically and horizontally. The temperature feels a warm 2–5 degrees this morning. It is raining lightly. Over WhatsApp, my brother sent a photo of the sun rise off the coast of Cornwall. In return, my mum shared a photo of her frosty garden. In both photos, the sky was clear. Yet an hour later my sister’s partner sent a video of large snow flakes falling in Truro. The weather in the UK is so much more changeable than in Austria. Here we have steady, continental weather. British weather is sea weather.

2024-01-18 08:13:21

The balcony of my flat, Wien, Austria

So icy underfoot! My body felt sluggish this morning from a lack of sunlight and and my period. I ventured outside only to grip the v-dipole antenna to the balcony railing and then stayed inside for the duration of the satellite pass.

2024-01-17 21:49:09

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

I had finally made it home after a fourteen hour day at work at the university and on many commuting trains. It's been so cold in the UK with a current of Arctic air reaching down across northern Europe this week, but it has also been very clear and bright- I could see the stars as I reached my antenna off the kitchen windowsill.

2024-01-17 09:39:48

The balcony of my flat, Wien, Austria

Cold, small, icy snow flakes. I had to keep my laptop inside. I used the loop antenna, elevated by a curtain pole to 1.5 metres. The antenna was highly directional, and so was challenging to keep tuned to the satellite. There is still pockets of snow on the rooftops. It feels around –3C outside. It wasn't forecast to snow today but the clouds are a pale white-grey and city has the deadened acoustic quality of a snow day. The light level is low.

2024-01-16 12:09:16

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

The weather today is gorgeous – bright blue skies and golden sunlight. All morning the DJs on NTS radio have been remarking on the beautiful (if cold) weather conditions. To soak up the weather as much as I could, I found a spot in the middle of the widest field in Hackney Downs and set up my ground station. I was exposed in other ways too- many people stared and pointed at me from a distance, but none came near.

2024-01-16 11:29:29

Augarten, Wien, Austria

A piercingly clear day. Fresh. Chilly! I was glad to feel the sun on my face.

2024-01-15 21:29:44

Cold, dark, damp. I feel "under the weather". Today, I stayed home and experimented with the loop antenna. To adapt the antenna to receive Very High Frequency transmissions, I squashed it into folded dipole. Despite what the online instructions recommended, this seemed to make things worse. I reverted to the open loop – the circumference of which is just under a half wavelength of 137 MHz. It okay but was highly directional. I will try again soon.

2024-01-15 10:41:52

Sasha Engelmann

Clapton Pond, London, United Kingdom

Half of Clapton Pond was frozen on the surface, the other half (receiving the sun over the tops of buildings) was not. Pigeons stayed out of the shade, milling about the edge of the pond and periodically bursting into the sky. In the decoded satellite image, I noticed that the mainland UK appears sandwiched between two bodies of east-moving cloud, receiving its own intermittent winter sun.

2024-01-14 20:03:14

I wore too many wooly layers! It was milder than I expected, around zero Celsius. My ground station was between the bins and the Austrian Post Academie. A few stars were visible between the clouds and light pollution. People hurried past: a dog walker, a parent and child, a runner. I have felt restless today. I asked Nicola about the weather: he says people are ice skating on the nearby pond in Türkenschanzpark.

2024-01-14 11:02:15

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

I stayed almost entirely inside during this satellite pass, in sweatpants, slippers and an oversized jumper I had found in a vintage store in Buenos Aires. Even before I stuck my arm outside the kitchen window to catch the last half of the satellite pass, the antenna was picking up NOAA-18 inside the flat. This made me wonder about the porousness of our flat to the 'weather' of radio. Nicola took a look at my satellite image, he pointed out a cluster of white pixels where Mt Etna should be: the volcano is snow covered!

2024-01-13 18:50:29

Cold but clear. I enjoyed being in the weather because I have a new coat and I have been inside all day. Amazingly, the snow on the balcony is the same as when I left a week ago. I take pleasure in this stability because I am feeling disorientated: I did not sleep on the night train and I stayed in bed all today.

2024-01-13 17:53:11

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

I assembled my antenna on a bench in a dim pool of lamplight after sunset in the local park. I had just come back from the march for Palestine and still had my placard with me. As I was already so cold and tired from being out at the march all day, and the park was even colder than the streets, I struggled to concentrate, almost dropping my antenna and laptop.

2024-01-12 19:22:06

Between Amsterdam and 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

The Netherlands

I am on the night train. The weather inside is controlled by a continuous cold draft from an overhead ventilation duct. I rigged my v-dipole antenna to the ladder for the beds, and tuned to NOAA-15 mid-pass. As the train sped between lit buildings, I could see the satellite dip in and out of reception. I finish the recording just before we reach the next station. I am thinking about how the current political climate renders some lives disposible, ungrievable. "An ungrievable life is one that cannot be mourned because it has never lived, that is, it has never counted as a life at all", wrote Judith Butler. Is this fascism? Golrokh messaged from Tehran. There is so much weather between us. At 's-Hertogenbosch, a woman paediatrician boards the train. She is wearing a blue surgical mask and says that she’s got the flu (later, she corrects, she thinks that she has Covid). Our shared compartment feels tense as we exchange gases, aerosols, and possibly virus. She is going on a skiing holiday.

2024-01-12 11:26:31

Sasha Engelmann

Downs Road, London, United Kingdom

I tried to stay away from the weather today as my asthma had kept me up the previous night and I was worried about too much time in the cold. I leaned out my second story window to catch the segment of the satellite pass that managed to creep in between the Victorian buildings on my street.

2024-01-11 10:46:05

Eline Vere Park, Den Haag, The Netherlands

The Netherlands

"GLOBAL SOLIDARITY CALL WITH SOUTH AFRICA. JUSTICE FOR GAZA, MANIFESTATION AND LIVESTREAM OF COURT HEARING. Bring banners and signs with text: 'No genocide, No ethnic cleansing, Anywhere', 'Justice for the Palestinians', IsraelOnTrial for its #GazaGenocide'" @free.palestine.nl Today, I am unable to organise my experience of the weather into the coherent report. At lunch, I stood in the park behind the ICJ and watched a live stream of South Africa's lawyers argue that Israel is intended to commit genocide. Outside it is still below freezing. A street away, the students are build antennas: Ice-tennas, Tree branch-tennas, Finger-tennas.

2024-01-11 09:51:05

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

I wanted to catch the satellite pass in my back garden, but the gate was so cold the lock had frozen or stuck, and I couldn't open it. I hurried to Hackney Downs and found a spot very close to the entrance in the long shadows of the plane trees. As I was listening to the satellite a woman with bright pink gloves came up behind me and asked what I was doing. When I told her about the satellite and my radio antenna, she immediately asked – are you a creative? This is the second time a person in Hackney Downs has asked me whether I am a 'creative' while I am holding my antenna. She kindly took the photo I uploaded.

2024-01-10 10:02:11

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

The grass crunched with frost this morning, and the air was so cold that my hands felt clumsy while assembling the antenna. Midway through the pass, a beautiful Italian greyhound in a pink sweater came over to investigate.

2024-01-10 08:48:00

Carnegieplein, Peace Palace, The Netherlands

The Netherlands

Lizzie and I stood outside the Peace Palace. Its public square was the closest the open space to our apartment. But we had also retuned out of curiosity to record the atmosphere before tomorrow’s court hearing. “The world will be watching The Hague,” several Dutch people had told me. On arrived, the square was empty except for people going to work or walking dogs. At the palace gates, security guards were using LED-lit mirrors to check the underbellies of vehicles. Perhaps this level of caution at the Court was normal? Lizzie and I assembled the antenna and tuned to the satellite's frequency. At first, a security man walked over and asked us to leave. We negotiated 10 more minutes. Annoyingly, we had not yet picked up a signal. I was about to begin troubleshooting when the a police car pulled-up. A police man asked for our IDs and took them into the patrol car, while his colleague stood, leaning on its open door. Still no satellite signal. Lizzie experimented with the position of the antenna, when she rotated it, I was sure that I briefly saw the telltale lines of the transmission. Cold, we gave-up, packed down, and waited for our IDs to be returned. Lizzie lamented having not pressing record: at least then we would have documented radio environment. As it was, we left twitchy from police check and without an image. From inside a nearby cafe, I tuned to the tension in my muscles and their alertness. Perhaps we hadn’t needed the radio antenna. Our bodies had picked up a tension in the air that I had failed to see.

2024-01-09 11:56:24

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

I made a poor choice not to bring a hat and gloves when I went out for the pass today, as Hackney Downs was sunny but extremely cold and windy. Even the dogs running in the park had sweaters and multicoloured outfits on. A man stopped and asked what I was doing, and a woman and a dog happily took some photos of me.

2024-01-09 11:13:34

Malieveld, Den Haag, The Netherlands

The Netherlands

It’s bloody freezing! Today’s image is from the workshop demonstration. I am too brain-fried from teaching to write more.

2024-01-08 19:18:03

Peace Palace, Den Haag, The Netherlands

The Netherlands

Brrrr. It is bitterly cold! I almost stopped the recording early because I couldn't feel my fingers despite my gloves. The sky was icy clear so I tried to spot NOAA-15, without luck I arrived in the Netherlands this morning after taking the the night train from Wien. I woke to thick snow flakes floating outside the train window. Inside the weather was toasty. It's no long snowing, but a wide current of cold air, coming down from Russia, is chilling Central and Western the Europe to the bone! Tomorrow I will wear my thermal leggings.

2024-01-08 12:08:23

Sasha Engelmann

Hackney Downs, London, United Kingdom

Snowflakes started to fall on my laptop during the satellite pass. They were very small and fragile, fluttery fragments of crystalline ice, not heavy like hail or water.

2024-01-07 08:21:24

White-grey sky. Not too cold. It began to snow just before the satellite pass, so I had to change plans and stay on my balcony, where my laptop could stay dry, instead of going to the park. I used a stretchy piece of plastic to weatherise my dongle.

2024-01-06 20:00:00

Cold. It's been raining all day. I held my antenna out of the window.

2024-01-06 11:26:55

Sasha Engelmann

The Bluffs at Pacific Palisades, California, USA

From the 'point on the bluffs' in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, I could see as far as Palos Verdes and Catalina Island. It was a bright, warm day, and many people were out walking. The satellite 'set' over the Pacific Ocean- I felt I could hear it for much longer than I normally can from a place in the city, as there was only air between me and the horizon.

2024-01-05 20:16:07

Chilly and noisy (cars, mopeds, buses)

2024-01-05 09:59:43

Sasha Engelmann

Heather Village, Fox Hills, California, USA

Standing in an elevated parking lot attached to the Heather Village condominium complex in Culver City, Los Angeles, I could hear engines starting and wheels tentatively moving as commuters started their day. The nearby 405 Freeway made a constant whoosh-hum, and airplanes took off and landed at LAX.

2024-01-04 08:26:26

Sasha Engelmann

Yucca Valley, California, USA

A pack of coyotes howled in the distance as I captured this satellite image. I was on the edge of Yucca Valley bordering Joshua Tree National Park, and while the air was cold, the sun was very strong, reaching into the crevices of the hills and boulders. The wind whistled among the Joshua Trees and Cholla Cacti. I felt very 'close' to the satellite too- there was so little radio noise, the moment I picked up my antenna, the satellite signal came through clearly, even though it had barely crested the northern horizon. I didn't need to look at the compass on my phone because the north star had shone so brightly the previous evening and it was easy to remember where 'north' was.

2024-01-04 07:54:36

Chilly, damp morning air. It is misty on the lagoon. Cloudy, soft light, pastel colours. There is lots of radio frequency noise. The satellite's signal is weak, perhaps because of the noise or because my turnstile antenna is missing a pole.

2024-01-03 20:34:37

Fondamente Nove, Venice, Italy

It is a beautifully still night on the Venice lagoon; overcast, but with good visibility. I captured the image from a floating pontoon on the Fondamente Nove. As the satellite passed overhead, the pontoon was rocked by passing Vaporetti. I made a sound recording of water and radio waves mixing with the and clinking metal of the pontoon and a man singing.

2024-01-03 07:51:57

Sasha Engelmann

Heather Village, Fox Hills, California, USA

A storm has passed through southern California overnight, and there are still impressive clouds in the sky. The air is brisk and full of water. I captured an image from NOAA-15 which turned out without glitches but unusually dark – as if the satellite was somehow sensing the atmosphere on the ground.

2024-01-02 22:17:00

Fondamente Nove, Venice, Italy

Damp cold, overcast and dark. My second failed satellite pass! Nicola was helping but dropped one of my antenna poles onto the marble of Fondamente Nove, crushing the screw thread. I also for my USB adapter. I am very tired.

2024-01-02 10:35:18

Sasha Engelmann

Heather Village, Culver City, California, USA

I experienced the weather of a private children's playground on a bright morning in January in LA. I could hear small children's voices echoing out of the Montessori School nearby, and the creaking of the playground equipment as swings and ladders moved.

2024-01-01 11:15:10

There was heavy snowfall yesterday afternoon and overnight. This morning it is sunny and clear with no wind. I was able to take my winter coat off.

2024-01-01 10:48:44

Sasha Engelmann

Regent Street, Culver City, California, USA

I was on a palm tree-lined neighbourhood street in Culver City, around the corner from the Diorama-Museum of Bhagavad-gita, where I had booked a tour for the morning of January 1st. I balanced my laptop on the hood of my brother's car and held the antenna to the clear blue sky. The weather was bucolic, as if even the light had slowed down.

2023-12-31 11:38:40

Very cold, a few snowflakes in the air. I failed to press record!

2023-12-31 11:02:00

Sasha Engelmann

Fox Hills, Culver City, California, USA

The air is so clean today- the rain has washed and blown away the particles that caused the air pollution spike at the end of last week.

2023-12-30 11:46:17

Lago Inferiore, Mantova, Italy

Still, damp air, mild. Beautifully misty. Mottled sky.

2023-12-30 09:32:43

Sasha Engelmann

Fox Hills, Culver City, California, USA

On my way to LAX airport to drop off my brother this morning, the air was so misty and wet, and the rain was so "strong", that people were driving at almost half the normal speed limit- a sign that the rain is affecting how people feel in LA. I didn't think the same would be true of people or drivers in the Pacific Northwest or Europe. By the time I caught the satellite pass, the clouds had parted and the sun was hot on the balcony.

2023-12-29 11:51:45

Near Mantova, Italy

Low, thick cloud cover. The air was warm and moist. Low light despite it being nearly midday. Standing between the fields, there were no obstructions other than telegraph and electricity pylons. It was amazing to as “see” the southern boarder of Algeria.

2023-12-29 09:43:41

Sasha Engelmann

Fox Hills, Culver City, California, USA

The air has been warm but the visibility is low- a light fog has settled over the Los Angeles basin. Throughout the day the fog became more dense, and was likely trapped by the marine layer of cold air coming in from the Pacific.

2023-12-28 19:00:15

It is my second night in Bergamo at same location but with my v-dipole antenna instead of the turnstile. Yesterday I learned that that the radio environment was noisy, however I was still surprising to receive no image. During the day Nicola and I observed an opaque haze hugging the alluvial plains of Lombardy. At dusk, a narrow slip of sky, frame by the haze below and clouds above, glowed blood red. Having heard how the Alps trap air pollution from the small factories on the plain, the red glow felt menacing.

2023-12-28 09:58:30

Sasha Engelmann

Heather Village, Culver City, California, USA

A very warm, bright balcony

2023-12-27 22:05:20

Hazy, damp cold. First night in Bergamo.

2023-12-27 10:08:41

Sasha Engelmann

Culver City, California, USA

It is a sunny and bright morning. As many people are working today after a few days holiday break, the air is filled with sounds of vacuum cleaners, washer/dryers, leaf blowers and home DIY equipment.

2023-12-26 18:10:44

2023-12-26 10:20:51

Sasha Engelmann

Culver City, California, USA

The humidity is unusually high today- around 88% The local park was very vibrant and active, with a young soccer team and a group of people throwing frisbees. On my way back home I noticed several policemen checking parked cars along Green Valley Circle. One group had what looked like a kit with a brush- I wondered if this was for fingerprints. Had the humidity of the air affected which fingerprints could be lifted off car doors, handles and windows?

2023-12-25 10:36:26

Sasha Engelmann

Culver City, California, USA

There is a soft light today, like the air is filled with small reflecting particles, whether water droplets or dust.

2023-12-25 09:20:08

Grey and so warm. It's Christmas (and my birthday). The horrors being reported from Gaza seem to be worsening: Heavy weather, lethal weather. Clouds maps are always moving. Clouds make visible our shared breath.

2023-12-24 10:46:10

Sasha Engelmann

Culver City, California, USA

The sun was very bright and the air so warm today, I ended up in a t-shirt while capturing the satellite pass. The park was lively as a soccer team started warming up and a group of walking womxn did laps on the sand trail. I was on a video call during the whole satellite pass, and this made me reflect on the ways the signal from my phone was relaying through a nearby cell tower and onward to the other side of the planet, while the NOAA satellite above me sent radio waves to the ground – I wondered, did the signals touch?

2023-12-24 09:29:15

windy, mild, a small amount of blue sky, it's Christmas eve!

2023-12-23 21:14:06

Mild, very windy, raining

2023-12-23 09:12:47

Sasha Engelmann

Culver City, California, USA

Today the light is a pale yellow and the air shimmers with leftover water evaporating from puddles and storm drains in LA. The city smells more intensely, as if all the materials on concrete surfaces, roads and sprawling buildings have sublimated. Throughout the satellite pass, the roar of airplanes taking off from runways at nearby LAX was palpable, though the misty clouds meant none of the planes could be seen.

2023-12-22 09:53:21

clear skies after a storm, solstice sun, strong warm wind, wet wood of the balcony

2023-12-22 09:25:50

Sasha Engelmann

Culver City, California, USA

There were flood risks in Southern California over the last few days as the region received storm cell bursts. I recorded my image during a clear break in the rain, though the air, ground, trees and sidewalks were still soggy. A woman was throwing a branch to her Australian Shepherd in the park while I was recording the image. The dog was kicking up so much mud its multicoloured fur was completely mud-coloured after a few minutes. As I returned inside after the satellite pass, another burst of rain began pounding the roof of my Mom's condo.

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