Smart System for Distant Measurement of the Conditions on Sea Surface

A system for automatic distant measurement of the conditions on sea surface is proposed. The measured parameters are height and length of waves and their direction of motion. The system is placed on an air- or spacecraft board and consists of the optic image recording apparatus and of the programmed hardware, automatically performing the image processing in real-time scale. The photothermoplastic recording method ensures registration of selected sea sections on a photothermoplastic film. The reproducing system consecutively forms images, keeps their samples in memory and ensures their entrance in a special processor. The processor performs the mathematical processing under elaborated algorithm and carries out the searching parameters. These functions of processor are simulated on the computer, performing numerical analysis of the gray scale intensity distribution. The mathematical processing includes 2D smoothing of sample data, forming waves one-dimensional profile and calculating its Fourier transform. Introducing the scale factors, resulting from the optical system space situation relatively to sea surface, it makes possible to obtain certain data on the mentioned waves characteristics. These data demonstrate the possibility of proposed smart system of remote measurements to compress the bidimensional information to some numerical values, characterizing the rough sea instead and to transmit these values through the communication channels.