GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION STORAGE, TRANSMISSION AND DISPLAY SYSTEM

摘要

A system is disclosed in which a geographic area of interest can be selecte d, and information corresponding to the selected area can be downloaded and displayed by a user in an efficient and timely manner. The geographic area of interest may initially be selected by various input means such as a map, longitude/latitude coordinate s, a global positioning system (GPS), and the like. Once the particular geographic area has been selected, geographic information corresponding to the selected area is downloaded to the user. The geographic information may include photographic images, radar, radio transmission, cell phone transmission, time sequenced images, ground moving target information, air moving target information, maritime moving target information, red or blue force identification and/or potential hazard areas information. The geographic information may be stored in a suitable data storage system such as a server. Alternatively, the geographic information may be generated real time and downloaded to the user. In one embodiment, the geographic information includes photographic images and a relatively low resolution ima ge of a large geographic area is initially displayed to the user. The user can then select a limited region of the photographic image for closer viewing. The limited region of thephotogra phic image may then be downloaded to the user in a higher resolution format, thereby reducing the amount of high resolution data that must be transmitted to the user. Various display devices may be used, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, desktop computers, vehicle-mounted computers, tablets, cell phones and the like. The display device may also be used as the input device to both select the geographic area of interest and display the photographic images or other geographic information of the selected area.