The Study Experiment for the Application of the Digital Image Compression Technique in Astronomy

In this paper, the principle, classification and method of the digital image compression technique as well as its application in astronomy are discussed. Through the analysis and comparison a feasible plan for the compression of astronomical hages is proposed according to the characteristics and needs of astronomical observation. By means of the experiments of compression and programing the corresponding results are obtained. Four techniques are used in the compression of digital astronomical images: Huffman ceding, bit plane ceding that belong to lossless ceding compresson, DCT ceding and mixture coding that belong to loss coding compression. The compression ratios can be reached to 2-4.5 (lossless coding)and 10-30 (lossy coding) respectively. Th time to be needed by the compression of the images is different when different computers are used. The experimental results obtained from the compression methods are listed in detail and the brief summary for this research is also given.