APPLICATION OF HYPERMEDIA AND EXPERT-SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY TO NAVY ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE IMAGE-ANALYSIS

The Naval Research Laboratory Marine Meteorology Division, over a peri od of more than 15 years, has developed a series of satellite imagery training documents called the Navy Tactical Applications Guides (NTAGs ). The NTAG materials are unique because of their innovative focus on operationally relevant meteorological and oceanographic phenomena of c oncern to naval forces throughout the world and the exceedingly high q uality of printed images. Advances in hypermedia and CD-ROM technology are enabling the enhancement and continued distribution of the NTAGs through the development of an electronic application called LaserTAG. CD-ROM technology provides large reproduction and storage capacity at a relatively low cost ($25 for LaserTAG discs versus $1000 for the 11- volume NTAG set). Hypermedia and electronic conversion supply the abil ity to 1) rapidly locate material through keyword searches and navigat e to those locations through hypermedia links, 2) read text and view g raphics simultaneously using multiple windows, and 3) create electroni c annotation and bookmark files. A second technology, expert systems, is further expanding potential uses of the information documented in t he NTAG series. The Satellite Image Analysis Meteorological Expert Sys tem (SIAMES) encapsulates important conclusions and rules of analysis. The SIAMES prototype described here leads the user through a hierarch y of image interpretation expertise derived from the NTAG series by qu erying the user about details appearing in the satellite imagery. The ultimate goal, particularly important when resident expertise is minim al or nonexistent, is to develop an automated method to deduce sensibl e weather parameters that affect navy operations. Applications of thes e technologies to environmental satellite image analysis provide new o pportunities for their use, not only in the operational community, but in training and research as well.