MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
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QUESTION
Briefly explain the following aerial triangulation (AT) method:
1. Aeropolygon using multi projector plotter for a short strip.
2. Aeropolygon using multi projector plotter for a long strip.
3. Aeropolygon using universal plotter for a short strip.
4. Aeropolygon using universal plotter for a long strip.
5. Aeropolygon using dual projector plotter for a short strip.
6. Aeropolygon using multi projector plotter for a small block (4 model/strip-4strips).
7. Independent Model Triangulation (IMT).
8. Cantilever IMT by simultaneous approach for a block of models.
9. Fully analytical AT by simultaneous bundle adjustment for a block of photo.
10. Digital AT by simultaneous bundle adjustment for a block of photo.
11. Integration of AT with GPS/INS with GCP.
12. Integration of AT with GCP/INS without GCP.
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Page 1 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ANSWER
1. Aeropolygon using a multi projectors plotter for a short strip.
This is an analogue method which uses a multi projectors plotter for a short strip of
model.
This method use the concept of Direct Optical Projection Stereoplotter, which diapositive
of a stereopair are placed in projectors and being illuminated from above.
The instrument should be operated in a dark room and capable to make a rotational and
translational movement.
This Aeropolygon – method process is being setup on a scheme and the adjustments
are being made on a system.
The Absolute Orientation was suitable to be process in a graphical method.
The operation is done without computations and the ground coordinates (X, Y, Z) for the
Pass Points and Omega (Tilt), Phi (Tip), Kappa (Rotation) for the adjusted model were
obtained directly.
2. Aeropolygon using multi projectors plotter for a long strip.
This analogue method uses a multi projectors plotter for a long strip of model.
This method uses the concept of Direct Optical Projection Stereoplotter where a
diapositive of a stereopair is placed in projectors and being illuminated from the above.
The instrument is operated in dark room and it should have rotational and
translational movement capabilities.
The processing is based on Aeroplygon - method where all being setup on the
scheme and the adjustments were being made on the system.
The determination of coordinate is being done by Polynomial method. For a long
strip it is need to take the effect of curvature of the earth.
The Absolute Orientation is done using Numerical method where the equation of
transformation formula is determined.
The operation is done without computations and it creates a long striped model
from which coordinates of pass points could be read directly. The Omega (Tilt), Phi (Tip),
Kappa (Rotation) for the adjusted model also can be obtained.
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MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Aeropolygon using universal plotter for a short strip.
This analogue method of aerial triangulation is using a universal plotter for a short strip
of models.
The process is repeated for each new projector. The new model which has been brought
to scale cross tilting is checked, and the forward carry over point and past point are
selected and measured.
After instrumentation complete, the base sheet is generally oriented in a correct direction
referred to the control point. Then the strip model position of all control points is being
plotted on the base sheet.
This instrument used space rods instead of the complex mechanical system. The
instrument should have Base In and Base Out availability. It also should have the
processes of changing the optical path which is functioned to allow the operator to view
the left photograph with the right eye and the right photograph with the left eye.
The photographs were moved in X and Y tracks for the measurement process. It is
needed to apply a conformal method because for the short strip requirement, the earth
curvature effect is being neglected.
This method will produce an accurate coordinates (X, Y, Z) for the position of the image
when the model are properly oriented and calibrated.
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Page 3 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Aeropolygon using universal plotter for a long strip.
This is another analogue method which using a universal plotter in preparation for a long
strip of models. The Relative Orientation now performed in order to form a stereomodel.
The model is scaled and leveled.
When the model has been completely oriented, the past points were read to determine
their instrument coordinate. The physical orientation of space rod and optical trains in first
model are shown schematically. Left eye views left diapositive 1. Right eye views right
diapositive 2.
Now suppose that diapositive 1 is replaced with
diapositive 3. Space rod move upward as shown in
figure (Base-Out). Left eye views right diapositive
and right eye view left diapositive. Diapositive 3
effectively positioned to the right diapositive 2.
Diapositive 2 replaced by diapositive 4. Space rod
moved two Base-In positions. Left eye views left
diapositive and right eye views right diapositive.
Following the Relative Orientation of each new
model, scaling of the new model is performed by
changing the base component. It is to make an
elevation reading of the carry-over point agreed with
its reading in the previous model. This means that
the Z-counter must not be reindexed throughout the
strip.
The instrument should have Base-In and Base-Out
availability. It should consist the process to change the optical path which allows the
operator to view the left photograph with the right eye and right photograph with the left
eye. This instrument used space rods instead of the complex mechanical system.
To determine the coordinates, the use of conformal method will involved a calculation. So
the most suitable is by using polynomial method. And this will take on the effect of earth
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Page 4 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
curvature and are much simpler compared to the conformal method. This method will
produce accurate coordinates (X, Y, Z) for the position in the image when the model are
properly oriented and calibrated.
5. Aeropolygon using dual projector plotter for a short strip.
This analogue method of Aerotriangulation is using a dual projector plotter for a short
strip of models.
To complete the system it needs a double projector, which offered a direct viewing of the
projected images.
In order to have a sharp focus when the negative and easel (positive) planes are not
parallel, the negative plane, easel plane and lens plane (plane perpendicular to the optical
axis) must intersect along one line.
The adjustment for the model involved the Relative and Absolute orientation. It is
necessity of redundant rays to recreate the proper geometry.
The adjustment is done using the conformal method. Conformal are used normally for
image that are less than 4. Conformal consist of multiplying each of the original coordinate
of points by scale factor.
This method will produce an accurate coordinates (X, Y, Z) for the position in the image
when the model are properly oriented and calibrated.
6. Aeropolygon using multi projector plotter for a small block (4 model/strip-
4strips).
Model coordinate; stereoplotter measurement.
Derive coordinates of the perspective center.
Transformation using 3D conformal.
Linear equation where the unknown parameter transformation only the correction the
parameter.
Derive initial value for the transformation for unknown parameters.
Forming observed using Least Square Equation.
Correction will get to apply for initial value.
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Page 5 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Independent Model Triangulation (IMT).
i. IMT by a sequential method for a short strip of models;
Each stereopair of a strip is relatively oriented in a stereoplotter.
Adjustment using 3D conformal coordinate transformation and the coordinate system
of each model being independent of the others.
2 horizontal control point and 3 vertical control point.
Adjustment to transfer coordinates from model to the ground.
4 models
ii. IMT by a sequential method for a long strip of models;
More than 4 models.
3D conformal adjustment to transform model coordinates to the ground coordinate
system.
Most of 3D conformal in use of adjusting strips formed by aerotriangulation are
variations of the order equations.
8. Cantilever IMT by simultaneous approach for a block of models.
This approach avoids the accumulation of errors inherent in the sequential strip
forming process and thus requires no polynomial error modeling.
The basis of simultaneous independent model aerotriangulation is the 3D conformal
coordinates transformation.
All models in a strip or block are joined and adjusted to ground control in a single step,
much like the simultaneous transformation technique.
A more robust method for performing independent model aero triangulation is to
employ simultaneous transformation rather than sequential.
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Page 6 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Fully analytical AT by simultaneous bundle adjustment for a block of photo.
Simultaneous Bundle Adjustment is a principle that is used to adjust all photogrammetric
measurements to ground control values in a single solution.
The process is named because of many light rays that pass through each lens position
constituting a bundle of rays.
The bundles of ray from all photos were then adjusted simultaneously so that the
corresponding light rays intersect at positions of the pass and control points on the
ground.
The process is an extension of the principles of analytical photogrammetry was applied
to an unlimited number of overlapping photographs.
Fully analytical aerotriangulation must be adjusted by a weighted least square
adjustment method.
Adjustment software must be form the collinearity conditions equations for the entire
photo coordinate observation the black and solve for all photo orientation and ground point
coordinates in each iteration until the solution converges.
The exterior coordinate system used for the adjustment should be a local rectangular
coordinate system.
This coordinate system contains no earth curvature or map projection distortions.
These effects may be judged to be negligible for small project areas and low flying
heights, but they are significant factors for large projects areas and high flying heights.
The least square adjustment results should be examined to check the consistency of the
photo coordinate measurements and the ground control fit.
Residuals on the photo coordinates should be examined to see that they are
representative of the random error expected from the instrument used to measure them.
Residuals should be randomly plus or minus and have uniform magnitude. The residual
should be checked carefully for outliers and systematic trends.
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Page 7 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The standard deviation of unit weight computed from the weight adjusted residuals
should not be more than 1.5 times the reference standard deviation used to computed the
weights for the adjustment.
10. Digital AT by simultaneous bundle adjustment for a block of photo.
With the development of digital photogrammetric workstations - sometimes called
softcopy workstations - and high resolution image scanners, which both are offered at a
highly operational level, aerial triangulation should be automated.
The benefit working in a digital environment is its automation potential.
As far as digital aerotriangulation is concerned this is restricted only to the identification
of ground control points and signalized tie points, as well as the measurement of image
coordinates of these classes of points.
The difficulty of detecting (signalized) ground control points when working in a digital
image of reasonable resolution - let us assume 15 - 30µm pixel size - is the pixel width of
the point signal.
In order to be reliable more than 3 - 5 pixel should be used in any template matching
process, otherwise the matching algorithm is not able to match the template with its
image.
One solution to overcome this problem would be a pointwise improved resolution of the
scanning process, what means the scanner should automatically driven to points with
signals.
As a consequence the scanning software should include already template matching
algorithms to be autonomous in this respect.
The task of digital aerotriangulation is the complete process of aerial triangulation
including block adjustment, on the basis of digital imagery resp. scanned analogue images
by semi- and/or fully automated procedures.
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Page 8 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Integration of AT with GPS/INS with GCP.
Aerotriangulation is essentially an interpolation tool, capable of extending control points to
areas between ground survey control points using several contiguous uncontrolled
stereomodels.
An aerotriangulation solution should never be extended or cantilevered beyond the ground
control. Ground control should be located at the ends of single strips and along the
perimeter of block configurations.
Within a strip or block, ground control is added at intervals of several stereomodels to limit
error propagation in the adjusted pass point coordinates. Extending control by
aerotriangulation methods is often referred to as bridging since the spatial image ray
triangulation spans the gap between ground controls.
Ground control accuracy for aerotriangulation should be more stringent than for a project
fully controlled by field survey points. The aerotriangulation solution will contribute to the
propagated error in the pass point ground control values. Since the pass point coordinates
should meet the accuracy required for photo control, the photo identifiable ground control
points used to control the aerotriangulation should be more typical of the accuracy of the
basic control survey.
AREA AT WITH GCP INS – AT WITHOUT GCP
Position Height Position Height
RMS RMS RMS RMS
1 5cm 2cm 8cm 20cm
2 7cm 10cm 12cm 20cm
3 7cm 2cm 26cm 28cm
Comparison of a traditional aerotriangulation with ground control points (GCP) versus an AT
without GCPs based only on the DGPS and INS data.
Well designed blocks with good overlap and opposite flight lines can deliver sufficient
results, for low and mid level accuracies actually without GCPs.
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Page 9 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The geo referencing is poor checked without any GCPs. Inaccuracies among the images
direction dependent errors can be avoided using the AT with sufficient tie points,
systematic errors of the whole block can not be finally excepted. This kind of problems can
be solved by using just 1 or 2 GCPs.
The situation is much more complicated in single lines without cross track overlap. Some
test delivered results in an accuracy level of single images. If in anyway possible
additional overlap of the separate lines is recommended.
Whereas in usual AT the accuracy of the ground points (GCPs and tie points) are in the
center of attention, in the AT for boresight calibration the accuracy of the rotation angles is
the primary target. Some special requirements have to be considered:
a. A very good DGPS solution is necessary. All ambiguities have to be solved.
b. The offset of the antenna has to be measured with geodetic methods.
c. A simultaneous camera calibration has to be avoided. The calibration of the camera
has to be fixed.
d. The use of additional parameters has to be restrictive.
e. No shift or drift parameters for the separate lines can be used.
f. Overall shift parameters may be used, but no rotations.
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Page 10 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Integration of AT with GCP/INS without GCP.
Aerial triangulation controlled by GPS observations in the aircraft has been established as
a precise method of photogrammetric point determination without the need of ground
control. New developments of kinematic GPS processing yield accurate exposure
locations instantaneously.
Aerial triangulation can be carried out without any ground control points provided that
GPS observations are available for blocks of aerial photos. Unfortunately, this method
cannot be applied to single flight lines, since the GPS observations do not recover the roll
angle of the aircraft. Therefore, ground control is mandatory for GPS controlled strip
triangulation.
GPS aerotriangulation can be accomplished in two steps: relative and absolute
orientations. The relative orientation can be performed by measuring at least five tie points
in each stereo-pair. The resulting models can be joined together for the whole block or
strip, yielding one model in a local coordinate system. Performing this task does not
require any ground control.
On the other hand, in order to perform the absolute orientation, control is mandatory.
The minimum control requirement for the absolute orientation is three control points that
must not be collinear.
For GPS controlled block triangulation this condition is satisfied because the GPS
observations at the perspective centers, our control, are well distributed over the whole
block. On the other hand this condition is not satisfied for strip triangulation since the GPS
observations of the exposure stations are almost collinear. In that case, the roll angle
(around the flight direction) cannot be recovered, and ground control points are necessary
for solving the absolute orientation.
Basically, the following procedure is executed:
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Page 11 of 12
MARA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY JACK RUZAINI
BACHELOR OF GEOMATIC AND SURVEYING SCIENCE (AP220) jacketphisher@yahoo.com
ADVANCED PHOTOGRAMMETRY (SUG541) Aerial Triangulation Method
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
a. Measure image coordinates of a number of points along the linear feature in the
captured images; this can be done monoscopically.
b. Fit an analytical function through these points in the image. Each image has an
individual function representing the linear feature.
c. As constraint of the adjustment, the ground feature is projected into image space
and must belong to the corresponding function in the image; this serves as a
constraint in the least squares adjustment.
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Page 12 of 12
