The images are then printed on wet, chemically-treated thermal paper. The paper printouts are saved for archival purposes for a period of 30 days. The information is stored on tape and an entire day's worth of satellite pictures are sent at once. The computer transmits the signal over telephone lines to a transmitter at the Coast Guard station in Point Reyes, a coastal town 75 miles north of Redwood City. And yet another room full of equipment, where meteorologists buzz around interpreting the satellite photos and making forecasts.
Clouds swirl around the earth on huge video monitors.
Pettyplace demonstrates weather service photos on a screen controlled with a trackball. He flips the ball, and zooms in again and again for a closer view of a coastline. We watch a loop taken during the full moon. Pettyplace points out the moon's light reflecting off the Pacific Ocean at night. IBM microcomputers monitor the stations, deciphering hydrologic data, wind speed, air pressure and temperature.