Definition
Information represented as discrete numerical values, typically as a sequence of binary digits (0s and 1s), rather than as a continuously varying signal. In avionics, digital data is the format used by modern computer-based systems to store, transmit, and process information such as navigation positions, engine parameters, and communications.
Plain English
Information stored or sent as numbers — usually strings of 1s and 0s — instead of as a smooth, continuously changing signal. It's the format computers use to handle information.
Context Anchor
Seen in avionics, electronic flight displays, engine monitors, navigation equipment, and aircraft systems that send information between electronic units.
Derivation
From Latin 'digitus,' meaning 'finger' — the same root as 'digit,' because people first counted on their fingers. 'Digital' came to mean anything expressed in discrete numbers (digits), as opposed to a smooth continuous flow. So digital data is literally 'data expressed in numbers.'
Why Pilots Care
Modern aircraft use digital data for precise navigation, engine monitoring, and automated systems that improve accuracy and reduce pilot workload.
Analogy
Think of a light switch versus a dimmer. A dimmer slides smoothly through every brightness level — that's analog. A switch is either on or off, and a digital signal is a fast string of those on/off states used to represent numbers.
Intuition Check
Digital does not just mean modern or electronic here. It means the information is represented in separate values that a system can process.
Example Sentence 1
The GPS receiver converts satellite signals into digital data that the navigation computer uses to calculate the aircraft's position.
Example Sentence 2
Technicians download digital data from the flight data recorder after a maintenance check.