Wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) is an approach to surveillance, reconnaissance, and intelligence-gathering that employs specialized software and a powerful camera system—usually airborne, and for extended periods of time—to detect and track hundreds of people and vehicles moving out in the open, over a city-sized area, kilometers in diameter.
Users can select different video streams pulled from the WAMI system's vast field of view[13] and, with the help of advanced data compression techniques, watch them live on their computer screens or handheld devices.
[17] The very first WAMI system was developed in the early 2000s by a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team led by John Marion, as part of the Sonoma Persistent Surveillance Program.
In 2005, the sensor transitioned to the U.S. Department of Defense,[18] and in 2006, the Army sent the system—dubbed Constant Hawk—to Iraq on Short 360-300 turboprop aircraft as part of a Quick Reaction Capability.
[22][23] The history of WAMI systems initially in the US military and subsequently in domestic US law enforcement and commercial applications is covered in Arthur Holland Michel's 2019 book Eyes in the Sky: The Secret Rise of Gorgon Stare and How It Will Watch Us All.