PRECISE AERIAL IMAGE ORIENTATION USING SAR GROUND CONTROL POINTS FOR MAPPING OF URBAN LANDMARKS

• Published in: International archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences. Vol. XLII-2/W13; pp. 61 - 66
• Main Authors: Kurz, F., Krauß, T., Runge, H., Rosenbaum, D., d’Angelo, P.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Gottingen Copernicus GmbH 04-06-2019; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Accuracy; Archives & records; Autonomous cars; Cameras; Collision avoidance; Control; Experiments; Ground based control; Imagery; Mapping; Orientation; SAR (radar); Synthetic aperture radar
• ISSN: 2194-9034; 1682-1750; 2194-9034
• DOI: 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W13-61-2019

Highly precise ground control points, which are globally available, can be derived from the SAR satellite TerraSAR-X. This opens up many new applications like for example the precise aerial image orientation. In this paper, we propose a method for precise aerial image orientation using spaceborne geodetic Synthetic Aperture Radar Ground Control Points (SAR-GCPs). The precisely oriented aerial imagery can then be used e.g. for mapping of urban landmarks, which support the ego-positioning of autonomous cars. The method for precise image orientation was validated based on two aerial image data sets. SAR-GCPs were measured in images, then the image orientation has been improved by a bundle-adjustment. Results based on check points show, that the accuracy of the image orientation is better than 5 cm in X and Y coordinates.