Amrom H. Katz; Expert in Photographic Reconnaissance

Amrom H. Katz, 81, internationally recognized expert in photographic reconnaissance. A native of Chicago who was educated at the University of Wisconsin, Katz began his career in 1941 at the photographic laboratory of Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. During his 13 years there, Katz developed aerial reconnaissance equipment used during World War II, organized the photographic recording of the atom bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1946, and went to Korea to locate a suitable landing site at Inchon for invasion forces. Among other innovations, he devised a photographic method of determining the height of tides, a key factor in timing the invasion at Inchon. In 1954, Katz moved to Santa Monica, where he became a photo intelligence expert for the Rand Corp. At Rand, he advocated peacetime overflights of the Soviet Union to monitor compliance with treaties and arms control. Katz served two years as assistant director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Nixon administration. On Sunday in Santa Monica.