ProcessingGeoEye1GeoStereoImageryinLPS

ImentionedlastweekthatIwouldoutlinetheworkflowstepsinLPSforcreatingterrain,
orthophotos,and3DvectordatafromGeoEye1GeoStereoimagery.

GeoEye1hasbothpanchromatic(0.41meterresolution)andmultispectral(1.65meter
resolution)sensors,andIperformedtheprocessingwiththepanchromaticdatabecauseitis
higherresolution.ForthisparticularprojectIhaveRPCimagery(asinglestereopair)alongwith
surveyedgroundcontrolpoints.Althoughtheimageryislowerresolutionthanmostairborne
photography,oneofthebigbenefitsisthattheimagefootprintismuchbiggerthiscan
dramaticallydecreasetimeandeffortforcertainpartsoftheworkflow(e.g.mosaicseamediting).

InLPStheprocessingisstraightforward:setuptheproject>measuregroundcontrolpoints>run
automaticpointmeasurement>performthebundleadjustment>generateandeditterrain>
performorthorectification.3Dfeatureextractioncancomeanytimeafterthebundleadjustmentis
performed.Whatfollowsisanoverviewoftheworkflow.Iwon'tgointotheminutedetailsbut
willcoverthemajorworkflowsteps.

Block(project)setupiseasy:justchoosethemodel(GeoEyeRPC)andthenaddtheimagesin
theLPSProjectManager.Atthispointprocesseslikeimagepyramidgenerationcanbe
performedaswell.

AGeoEye1projectintheLPSProjectManager

Aftertheblockissetup,thenextstepistousepointmeasurementineitherstereoormonomode
tomeasurethegroundcontrolpoints.Thisiswherewerelatefile/pixelcoordinateswithreal
worldXYZcoordinatesfromtheGCPs.TypicallythiscanbeatimeconsumingstepbutLPShas
an"automaticXYdrive"capabilitythatputsyouintheapproximateareawhenyou'rereadyto
measureapoint.AftertheGCPsaremeasuredautomatictiepointmeasurementcanberun,
whichwillgeneratetiepoints.Usershavefullcontroloverthetiepointpatternsothereisahigh
degreeofflexibility.Aftergeneratingtiepoints,bundleadjustmentcanbeperformedinLPS
Core.Iwon'tdelveintotoomuchdetailhere,butthisprocessinvolvesrunninganadjustment,
reviewingtheresults,refiningifnecessary,andthenacceptingtheresultsoncetheyaresuitable.
Thisisacriticalstep,becauseaftertriangulationwehaveourfirstdataproduct:astereopair.
Stereopairsarecrucialfor3Dproductgeneration,becauseXYZmeasurementscanbemade
fromthem.Thatmeans3Dterrainproductsandvectorlayerscannowbegenerated.
 Viewingacontrolpointinstereo

Thenextstepistogenerateaterrainlayerthatcanbeusedasasourceduringorthorectification,
andmayalsobeusedasaproductinit'sownright.TheAutomaticTerrainExtractiontoolinLPS
cangenerateasurfaceandallowahighdegreeofcontrolwithregardstopostspacing,filtering,
smoothing,andmore.InthisexampleIusedittogeneratea5meterIMGgrid,displayedbelow.

TerraindisplayedinERDASTITAN

AfterperformingterraineditingtocreateabareearthDEM,Icreatedanorthophotofromoneof
the0.5meterpanchromaticGeoEyeimages.Terrainediting(instereo)isimportantbecause
surfaceobjectssuchasmultistorybuildingscanintroduceerrorintoorthophotosiftheyare
includedintheterrainsource.Theorthophotoisdisplayedbelow.
 DigitalorthophotoinERDASTITAN

Witha0.5meterresolution,itisalsopossibletoextract3Dfeaturessuchasbuildings.Icollected
afewinPRO600andthenexportedthemtoKMLfordisplayinGoogleEarth.

DKMLBuildingsinGE
Notethatothertools(inthiscaseStereoAnalystforERDASIMAGINE)canalsobeusedfor3D
featureextraction.Hereisabuildingcollectedasa3Dshapefilewithtextureapplied.Notethat
thisisnotgenerictexture,butrathertheactualtexturefromthepanGeoEye1imagery.Whileit
doesn'tcoverallfacades,itdoesaddalevelofrealismthataddstoa3Dscene.
 Insummary,theprocessforcreatedvalueaddedgeospatialdataproductsfromGeoEye1
GeoStereoimagerycanbeaccomplishedbyfollowingthestepsidentifiedabove.Inarelatively
shortperiodoftime,anarrayof3Dproductscanbederivedthathavevalueinanumberof
differentapplications.ItwillbeexcitingtoseewhatkindsofapplicationscomeoutofGeoEye1
stereoimageryinfuturemonthsandyears!

Reference
http://fiducialmark.blogspot.com/2009/03/processing-geoeye-1-geostereo-
imagery.html