ASPRS

PE&RS July 1999

VOLUME 65, NUMBER 7
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING

Peer Reviewed Articles

769 Mapping by Dragging and Fitting of Wire-Frame Models
George Vosselman and Henri Veldhuis

Abstract
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Semi-automatic measurement of objects with regular shapes can be performed efficiently in three steps: (1) selection of an object model and approximate alignment of its wire frame by an image analyst, (2) precise alignment to the image by a fitting algorithm, and (3) correction of fitting errors, again by the image analyst. This paper presents a new approach to perform these three steps using the same principle in all three steps. The developed approach allows the image analyst to drag both points and lines of the projected wire frame, including curved edges and contour edges, in order to align these features with the image contents. Using the described algorithm, there is no need for the image analyst to specify which parameters of the object models are to be adapted in order to improve the alignment. The performance of the fitting step is analyzed and compared with an alternative approach.

777 Automatic Road Extraction Based on Multi-Scale, Grouping, and Context
Albert Baumgartner, Carsten Steger, Helmut Mayer, Wolfgang Eckstein, and Heinrich Ebner

Abstract
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An approach for the automatic extraction of roads from digital aerial imagery is proposed. It makes use of several versions of the same aerial image with different resolutions. Roads are modeled as a network of intersections and links between these intersections, and are found by a grouping process. The context of roads is hierarchically structured into a global and a local level, The automatic segmentation of the aerial image into different global contexts, i.e., rural, forest. and urban area, is used to focus the extraction to the most promising regions. For the actual extraction of the roads, edges are extracted in the original high resolution image (0.2 to 0.5 m) and lines are extracted in an image of reduced resolution. Using both resolution levels and explicit knowledge about roads, hypotheses for road segments are generated. They are grouped iteratively into larger segments. In addition to the grouping algorithms, knowledge about the local context, e.g., shadows cast by a tree onto a road segment, is used to bridge gaps. To construct the road network, finally intersections are extracted. Examples and results of an evaluation based on manually plotted reference data are given, indicating the potential of the approach.

787 Virtual City Models from Laser Altimeter and 2D Map Data
Norbert Haala and Claus Brenner

Abstract
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Virtual reality applications in the context of urban planning presume the acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) urban models. Photo realism can be achieved only if the geometry of buildings is represented by a detailed and accurate CAD model and if artificial texture or real world imagery is mapped to the faces and roofs of the buildings. In the approach presented in this paper, height data provided by airborne loser scanning and existing ground plans of buildings are combined in order to enable on automatic 3D data capture. On demand, automatic building reconstruction can be visually controlled and refined by an interactive tool. Virtual reality city models are generated in the find step by mapping terrestrial images to the facades of the reconstructed buildings. Thus, the rapid acquisition of a 3D urban GIS is feasible.

797 Objects with Fuzzy Spatial Extent
Tao Cheng and Martien Molenaar

Abstract
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The determination of the spatial extent of geo-objects is generally approached through their boundaries or, more precisely, through the positions of their boundary points. The analysis of the geometric uncertainty of the objects is therefore often based on accuracy models for the coordinates of these points. In many survey disciplines objects are mapped, however, that are not crisp well defined. In that case, the geometric uncertainty is not only a matter of coordinate accuracy, but also a problem of object definition and thematic vagueness. The spatial uncertainty of such objects cannot be handled by a geometric approach alone, such as the epsilon band method. This paper investigates the reasons for the fuzzy spatial extent of objects and proposes an approach to map the spatial extent of objects and their uncertainties when objects are extracted from field observation data. The relationship of uncertainties between thematic aspects and geometric aspects is investigated. A practical example of a coastal geomorphology study is discussed to illustrate the approach.

803 Automatic Matching of Buildings and Corners
Han-Wen Hsiao and Kam W. Wong

Abstract
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To update a portion of an existing cartographic database, the common practice is to relate a new data file to an existing file by means of survey control points that are included in both files. In the absence of such survey control points, well-defined points such as building corners can be used. This paper presents an algorithm to perform matching of common buildings and building corners in vector data files. The algorithm starts with a Fourier-based initial matching. A sequence of validity checks combined with robust estimation provides a complete recognition of common buildings. Matching of individual corner points is performed by using a similarity parameter, followed by a series of checks and validations. The two maps may have different scales. different coordinate system, and-no identifying cartographic labels. Experimental results have demonstrated the robustness of the algorithm.

811 Knowledge-Based Interpretation of Remote Sensing Images Using Semantic Nets
R. Tönjes, S. Growe, J. Bückner, and C.-E. Liedtke

Abstract
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The increasing amount of remotely sensed imagery requires efficient analysis techniques. The leading idea of the presented work is to automate the interpretation of aerial images by the use of common a priori knowledge about landscape scenes. In addition, the system uses specific map knowledge of a GIS. The a priori knowledge about landscape scenes, the aerial images, and the image forming sensors is represented explicitly by a semantic net. The definition of a network language allows the exploition of the knowledge base by a set of application-independent rules which provide data and model-driven control strategies. Competing interpretations are stored in a search tree and judged considering their uncertainty and imprecision. An A*-algorithm selects the most promising interpretation for further analysis. Results are shown for the extraction of roads and complex objects, such as purification plants, from multisensor imagery.

823 Extracting 3D Information Using Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Aerial Image Sequences
Guoqing Zhou

Abstract
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To overcome depth discontinuities end occlusion problems in three-dimensional (3D) surface information extraction using traditional stereophotogrammetric matching, a new approach called spatio-temporal analysis of aerial image sequences is proposed. In the proposed methad, a set of spatio-temporal solid data is first formed from a sufficiently dense sequence of images taken by a camera moving along a straight-line path. Second, the set of spatio-temporal solid of data is sliced along a temporal dimension in to epipolar-plane images (EPIs), and features in these slices are extracted and described. Finally, three-dimensional coordinates in a ground coordinate system are computed for the features in the EPIs. This method is fairly radically different from traditional two view stereophotogrammetric matching; therefore, we discuss in detail the estimation accuracy, error resources, and sensitivities to occlusion and depth discontinuities. The experimental results from three test fields in Berlin, Germany show that the method is a useful tool for solving the problems of depth discontinuities and occlusion with which photogrammetrists have been wrestling for a decade.
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