ASPRS

PE&RS July 2002

VOLUME 68, NUMBER 7
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING

Peer-Reviewed Articles

705 3D Reconstruction Methods Based on the Rational Function Model
C. Vincent Tao and Yong Hu

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The rational function model (RFM) is an alternative sensor model allowing users to perform photogrammetric processing. The RFM has been used as a replacement sensor model in some commercial photogrammetric systems due to its capability of maintaining the accuracy of the physical sensor models and its generic characteristic of supporting sensor-independent photogrammetric processing. With RFM parameters provided, end users are able to perform photogrammetric processing including ortho-rectification, 3D reconstruction, and DEM generation with an absence of the physical sensor model. In this research, we investigate two methods for RFM-based 3D reconstruction, the inverse RFM method and the forward RFM method. Detailed derivations of the algorithmic procedure are described. The emphasis is placed on the comparison of these two reconstruction methods. Experimental results show that the forward RFM can achieve a better reconstruction accuracy. Finally, real Ikonos stereo pairs were employed to verify the applicability and the performance of the reconstruction method.

715 Updating Solutions of the Rational Function Model Using Additional Control Information
Yong Hu and C. Vincent Tao

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The rational function model (RFM) is a sensor model that allows users to perform ortho-rectification and 3D feature extraction from imagery without knowledge of the physical sensor model. It is a fact that the RFM is determined by the vendor using a proprietary physical sensor model. The accuracy of the RFM solutions is dependent on the availability and the usage of ground control points (GCPs). In order to obtain a more accurate RFM solution, the user may be asked to supply GCPs to the data vendor. However, control information may not be available at the time of data processing or cannot be supplied due to some reasons (e.g., politics or confidentiality). This paper addresses a means to update or improve the existing RFM solutions when additional GCPs are available, without knowing the physical sensor model. From a linear estimation perspective, the above issue can be tackled using a phased estimation theory. In this paper, two methods are proposed: a batch iterative least-squares (BILS) method and an incremental discrete Kalman filtering (IDKF) method. Detailed descriptions of both methods are given. The feasibility of these two methods is validated and their performances are evaluated. Some results concerning the updating of Ikonos imagery are also discussed.

725 Satellite Monitoring of Urban Spatial Growth in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area
Xiaojun Yang

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Monitoring growth and change along the metropolitan periphery is of critical concern both to those who study metropolitan dynamics and those who must manage resources and provide services in these rapidly changing environments. This research has been directed to assess urban spatial growth and land change along the outskirts of Atlanta, one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States in the past three decades. A time series of satellite images was used to trace the development of urban land uses for the period of 1973 to the present. An image processing and GIS-based method was developed to achieve the research goal. Results reveal that every week, more than one-hundred acres of forest, green space, and farmland in the Atlanta region were converted into urban uses. Between 1973 and 1999, the urban territorial extent has expanded by 247 percent for 13 metro counties while the population increased by 96 percent. The rate of urban growth was much higher in outer suburban counties. Concomitant with this high rate of urban growth was a far-reaching evolution in Atlanta's urban spatial form. The growth of high-density urban use (mainly commercial, transportation, industrial, and high-rise residential) is found to experience a clear transition from linearly concentrated form towards a multinucleated pattern. The spread of low-density urban use (mainly residential) exhibited a widely dispersed pattern, thus indicating a major feature of the suburbanization. In addition, Atlanta has few physical barriers to urban development; this growth in urban physical extent seems to be unlimited as the population and business continue to grow, particularly in the outer suburbs.

735 Using GIS to Assess and Manage the Conservation Reserve Program in Finney County, Kansas
J. Wu, M.D. Ransom, M.D. Nellis, G.J. Kluitenberg, H.L. Seyler, and B.C. Rundquist

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The 1985 U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was modified in the 1996 Farm Bill, which authorized a total enrollment of up to 14.8 million ha, an early termination of certain CRP contracts, and additional new enrollments. This study used soil, land-use, groundwater, and other environmental layers from currently available sources of information for Finney County, Kansas. By using a geographic information system (GIS), we found that aquifer thickness, coinciding with gas or oil fields, was closely associated with the distribution of CRP land while other factors such as soil, aquifer depth, physiography, or slope had little effect on the CRP. We generated a map that outlined those CRP lands eligible for early termination. By using the state soil geographic database to designate the conservation priority areas and soil erosion index as the criterion to rank potential CRP lands, we created another map showing areas best suited for new CRP bids.

745 Underwater Digital Stereo-Obesrvation Technique for Red Hydrocoral Study
A.K. Chong and P. Stratford

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A linear regression model is used to determine the size of correction required for stereophotogrammetric measurement from photographs taken in an underwater environment. The model utilizes the stereophotogrammetric distance measurement of an object from a set of object-space control points. A correction factor is applied to the stereophotogrammetric measurement to obtain the corrected measurement. The technique was used to study the growth of an endemic species of hydrozoan coral, Errina novaezelandiae, in Doubtful Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. The results show that the technique has a measurement accuracy of ±1.2 mm at the 95 percent confidence level. We found that these hydrozoan corals have a high erosion rate, presumably due to grazing, which was not reported previously.

753 A Rigorous Technique for Forensic Measurement of Surveillance Video Footage
A.K. Chong

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A technique using a mono-view video frame to make accurate measurement of physical features of a crime suspect is discussed. The technique uses a portable control frame to calibrate the surveillance video cameras lens in situ. The control frame is also used to provide object-space control for the computation of exterior orientation parameters of the photography. The technique removes lens distortion, x-tilt, y-tilt, and PPA offset from the video frame coordinates. Surveillance video camera lens calibration and the laboratory testing of the technique are discussed in detail. In addition, an argument is provided to examine the uncertainties in the forensic measurement using mono-view video footage. A case study involving a short clip of bank surveillance video footage is used to demonstrate the use of this technique in a photogrammetrically unfriendly situation. Trials show that height measurement accuracy using this technique exceeds the police specification of 30 mm for a suspect standing upright.

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