JPEG2000 evaluation for the transmission of remote sensing images on the CCSDS packet telemetry channel

Abstract

Scientific images collected by a remote platform are preferably transmitted to the ground station in lossless compressed form. However, the data rate to be transmitted has been rapidly increasing due to the developments in sensor technology; the available downlink bandwidth has not increased accordingly, thus often imposing to resort to lossy compression. In particular, this paper deals with the evaluation of the new JPEG2000 standard for the transmission of scientific images to the ground station. We focus on a particular type of system, namely the packet telemetry channel standardized by the CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems), which can be used for the transmission of both application data (e.g. images) and telecommand and control data. A performance evaluation is presented, in terms of error resilience and lossy compression performance, comparing the results achieved by JPEG2000 and the classical JPEG algorithm. The simulation of the transmission aspects, including the complete channel model, is performed by means of the TOPSIM IV simulator of communication systems.