At the same site, you can also find out hot to get all four annual issues of the magazine instead of just the summer and winter editions. The crew of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John F. Kennedy monitor the fragile peace in the Persian Gulf region with aerial digital photography that can be viewed on shipboard monitors. Cameras and aircraft have come a long way since someone first thought of taking a camera up in a hot air balloon. But until late 1999, reconnaissance photos could not be viewed until the plane had landed, the film was processed and the photos delivered to command center personnel. It is the first completely digitized system that displays transmitted images in real time.
Image compression reduces the amount of information that has to be transmitted.
The data is decompressed when the signal is received at the ground station. The new technology provides a tremendous advantage over former reconnaissance methods. Monitor operators can track troops and vehicles on the move, and commanders can ask pilots to give them another look at a certain building, road, vehicle or ship while the plane is still in the area. The first system has proven so successful that a second one will be installed on another aircraft carrier this year. Though pleased with their success, SDL engineers realize they'll have to be away from home for months at a time, living aboard the ship while they get the system up and running.