Java Advanced Imaging In Action -- Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system. In addition to its work for NASA, JPL conducts tasks for a variety of other federal agencies. JPL also manages the worldwide Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from locations around the world.

JPL's Multimission Image Processing Lab (MIPL) gathers a variety of images and data from NASA and JPL sources - including planetary spacecraft, satellites and antennae - and formats and standardizes the information for display and analysis by JPL's science teams. For example, when images and telemetry from NASA's Galileo mission come to JPL's MIPL, technicians use imaging software to refine the data and make it uniform, helping the science team to manipulate, analyze and compare the information more easily. Currently, the MIPL is using a program called XVD, which is based on the C++ programming language, for image display. While XVD is effective, it is limited in its ability to display images on multiple platforms and for easy Web viewing.

The MIPL is developing JADE, a new Java technology-based software, to meet JPL's need for a more powerful, platform-independent and Web-enabled imaging solution. Specifically, JPL needs an application that will allow it to display complex images as large as 2 gigabytes each. Most of these images incorporate what JPL calls "metadata," or background about the data or images built directly into the images themselves. For example, images from NASA spacecraft might contain data about where the camera is pointing and where the sun is in relation to the camera.

JADE, which is in the prototype stage, incorporates the Java Advanced Imaging API'sfeatures to meet several of JPL`s needs. For example, when dealing with huge images and data sets, the Java Advanced Imaging API's tiling feature allows technicians to view smaller pieces of the entire image, increasing efficiency and decreasing demands on computing resources. The MIPL anticipates increasing its use of the Java Advanced Imaging API as JADE develops beyond the prototype stage.

" We needed to solve a wide range of problems with our JADE software, and developing it on the Java platform clearly made sense. Then when we saw an early access version of the Java Advanced Imaging API, we said, Here is someone who has already done a lot of the programming work for us!. We envision JADE as the first step toward ultimately converting to an entirely Java technology-based imaging platform, and the Java Advanced Imaging API's technology is a definite factor in that decision. "

Bob Deen
Senior Member of the Technical Staff
Information Systems
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Multimission Image Processing Lab

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, California 91109
(818) 354-4321