Community map
We are developing Planetnik Cloud as a clear place where the planned pilot, observations, sky images and storm activity can eventually meet on one map.
Planetnik Cloud · we keep building
Planetnik is growing. Take a moment.
Planetnik Cloud is still taking shape. We are working on the community map, the planned pilot, the StormNode network and the next data layers. In the meantime, if you feel like it, you can pause here and listen to a real storm.
This space plays real field recordings of rain and thunder. The sound continues while you remain on the page. Lightning is random, and the speaker icon lets you mute everything instantly.
The Storm Room tries to start the sound immediately. If your browser blocks autoplay, one click is enough.
Enable storm soundsYour browser is waiting for the first interaction.
real field recordingsrain · thunder · space
Planetnik Cloud is taking shape
We keep building. You can slow down for a moment.
The Storm Room is a small resting place beside the platform we are developing. While we work on the next parts of Planetnik, you can stay here for a few minutes — no dashboards, no notifications and nothing you need to accomplish.
Planetnik Network
We are building a network and community around local weather observation, so individual points can gradually become a shared view of what is happening above us.
StormNode
At the same time we are developing the observation devices, their software and a secure path for data from the sensor to Planetnik's community layer.
In the meantime…
You do not need to follow every development step. You can simply listen to the rain, wait for a distant roll of thunder and return to Planetnik whenever you feel like it.
Psychology of sound
Why can a natural soundscape feel restorative?
Research does not say that thunder is a universal calming stimulus. It does show that natural acoustic environments can support recovery after stress and may improve some physiological and attentional outcomes. Individual responses vary.
Coming down from arousal
Experiments have found faster recovery of some stress responses during natural sounds than during urban noise. More recent reviews also report benefits for some measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and respiration, although findings are not identical across outcomes.
Stress-recovery study ↗Attention without a task
Natural soundscapes can hold attention without constantly asking for a response. Studies have reported better performance on directed-attention tasks after natural rather than urban soundscapes.
Attention study ↗Not silence — an environment
A soundscape is more than decibels. It includes how an acoustic environment is perceived in context. For some listeners, rain and distant thunder form a coherent layer that feels easier to inhabit than fragmented background noise.
Soundscape review ↗An important distinction
Most research concerns nature sounds in general — water, birds, forests and natural soundscapes — rather than thunder alone. The Storm Room is therefore an experience and reflection space, not a therapeutic promise. If a storm makes you more tense rather than calmer, mute it with one click.
Renewal
You do not have to achieve anything here.
You can simply stay. Listen. Watch a flash. Let thoughts move without forcing them into order.
1 minuteclose your eyes and notice only the layers of rain
3 minutesnotice where the thunder seems to come from and how long it decays
no timerstay for as long as it feels comfortable
Real recordings
Where does this storm come from?
We do not synthesize the thunder. We play real field recordings hosted by Wikimedia Commons and marked on their file pages as Public Domain.
Rain and thunder (1)ezwa / PDSounds · Public DomainWikimedia Commons ↗Rain and thunderUser:Caesar · Sweden · Public DomainWikimedia Commons ↗Thunder and rain on a verandaezwa / PDSounds · Public DomainWikimedia Commons ↗Rain on a veranda and thunderezwa / PDSounds · Public DomainWikimedia Commons ↗Storm, Thunderboltsstephan / PDSounds · Public DomainWikimedia Commons ↗
Why can we use them?
The source pages state that the recordings were released into the public domain. PDSounds contributors agreed to a public-domain dedication, and the Commons descriptions state that the works can be used for any purpose. Planetnik does not claim copyright in the source recordings; we keep author and source details as a transparency practice.
The Storm Room attempts to fetch and start audio from Wikimedia infrastructure immediately on entry. If the browser blocks autoplay, fetching and playback continue after the first interaction. That means the browser connects directly to Wikimedia servers. See our privacy policy for details.
Research
If you want to read further
This page is not a diagnosis or therapy. These are the studies behind our brief notes on natural soundscapes.
Fan & Baharum, 2024Systematic review & meta-analysis — natural sounds and stress reductionBuxton et al., 2021Health benefits of natural sounds — systematic review and meta-analysisAlvarsson et al., 2010Stress recovery during exposure to nature sound and environmental noiseVan Hedger et al., 2019Nature sounds and cognitive performance
Sound is also part of being together.
Weather and sky are among the most shared environmental experiences we have. Soundscapes have a social dimension too: field studies in public spaces suggest that positive natural sounds can affect how people experience a place and how they interact or linger within it.
Those studies focus mainly on birdsong and water rather than storms. Still, they offer a useful idea: the acoustic environment is not merely background — it helps shape the experience of a place and the people within it.
Study on community sound and social interaction ↗