A control scheme is devised for taming the dynamics of convectively un
stable extended systems exhibiting chaotic behavior. We show how compl
ex spatiotemporal phenomena can be eliminated in arrays of coupled cha
otic elements, in favor of a coherent state in which all elements are
synchronized to a prescribed periodic orbit of the uncoupled system. T
he propagation of the synchronizing front and the resulting steady sta
te properties of the array are analyzed in the presence of noise.