Stability analysis of low‐cost digital cameras for aerial mapping using different georeferencing techniques

Abstract

Increasing resolution and lower cost of off‐the‐shelf digital cameras are giving rise to their use in traditional and new photogrammetric activities such as aerial mapping, transportation and surveillance as well as archaeological, industrial and medical applications. For most, if not all, photogrammetric applications, the interior orientation parameters (IOP) of the camera need to be determined and analysed. The derivation of these parameters is usually achieved through a bundle adjustment with self‐calibration procedure. Prior to using a camera in photogrammetric applications, the IOP should be estimated and their stability should be checked. Camera stability has been rarely addressed when dealing with analogue metric cameras since they have been carefully designed and built to assure the utmost stability of their internal characteristics. However, the stability of low‐cost digital cameras needs to be investigated since these cameras are not built with photogrammetric applications in mind. This paper introduces three quantitative methods for testing camera stability, where the degree of similarity between reconstructed bundles from two sets of IOP is evaluated. Each of these methods limits the position and orientation of the bundles in a different way. Hence, each method is applicable for a specific georeferencing methodology depending on similar constraints imposed by the stability measures and different georeferencing techniques. The paper will test this hypothesis on the basis of reconstruction results obtained from the use of a low‐cost digital camera in an aerial mapping project.

Calibração em serviço de câmara digital de baixo custo com o uso de pontos de apoio altimétrico

“…Processos fotogramétricos utilizando POE advindos do georreferenciamento direto possuem ligação direta com a estabilidade da câmara (HABIB et al, 2006). Os vetores de distância entre a câmara e o INS podem ser medidos diretamente por técnicas geodésicas e/ou topográficas, mas as diferenças angulares entre a câmara e o INS não podem ser determinadas diretamente.…”

Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Digital Imaging System to Derive a 3D Point Cloud for Landslide Scarp Recognition

“…This is achieved first through mission planning and data collection using a UAV equipped with an off-the-shelf large-field-of-view (LFOV) camera. The camera calibration and stability analysis performed for this step can be expressed through the analysis approach proposed by Habib et al [78,79]. After calibration 3D surface reconstruction was completed using the SGM approach to generate dense image-based point cloud [80,81].…”

System Considerations and Challendes in 3d Mapping and Modeling Using Low-Cost Uav Systems

“…This stability analysis can be either performed based on statistical testing of the estimated calibration parameters from different epochs (Shortis and Beyer, 1997;Habib and Morgan, 2005;Lichti et al, 2009) or implemented based on quantitative evaluation of the impact of deviations in the temporal system parameters on the final mapping products (Habib et al, 2006;Rieke-Zapp et al, 2009;Habib et al, 2014). The advantage of the second group of stability analysis techniques is providing helpful insights for decision making regarding the suitability of the utilized sensors for intended applications.…”