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INTRODUCTION
The photogrammetry has been derived from three Greek words:
o Photos: means light
o Gramma: means something drawn or written
o Metron: means to measure
This definition, over the years, has been enhanced to include interpretation as well as measurement
with photographs.
DEFINITION
The art, science, and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the
environment through process of recording, measuring, and interpreting photographic images and patterns
of recorded radiant electromagnetic energy and phenomenon (American Society of Photogrammetry,
Slama).
Originally photogrammetry was considered as the science of analysing only photographs.
But now it also includes analysis of other records as well, such as radiated acoustical energy
patterns and magnetic phenomenon.
It involves making precise measurements from photos and other information source to determine, in
general, relative location of points. Most common application: preparation of plannimetric and
topographic maps.
(2) Interpretative:
It involves recognition and identification of objects and judging their significance through careful and
systematic analysis. It includes photographic interpretation which is the study of photographic images. It
also includes interpretation of images acquired in Remote Sensing using photographic images, MSS,
Infrared, TIR, SLAR etc.
Definitions
Aerial Photogrammetry
Photographs of terrain in an area are taken by a precision photogrammetric camera mounted in an aircraft
flying over an area.
Terrestrial Photogrammetry
Photographs of terrain in an area are taken from fixed and usually known position or near the ground and
with the camera axis horizontal or nearly so.
Photo-interpretation
Aerial/terrestrial photographs are used to evaluate, analyse, and classify and interpret images of objects
which can be seen on the photographs.
APPLICATIONS OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY
engineering geology
stratigraphics studies
general geologic applications
study of luminescence phenomenon
recording and analysis of catastrophic events
earthquakes, floods, and eruption.
(2) Forestry:
Timber inventories, cover maps, acreage studies
(3) Agriculture
Soil type, soil conservation, crop planting, crop disease, crop-acreage.
(4) Design and construction
Data needed for site and route studies specifically for alternate schemes for photogrammetry. Used in
design and construction of dams, bridges, transmission lines.
(5) Planning of cities and highways
New highway locations, detailed design of construction contracts, planning of civic improvements.
(6) Cadastre
Cadastral problems such as determination of land lines for assessment of taxes. Large scale cadastral maps
are prepared for reapportionment of land.
(7) Environmental Studies
Land-use studies.
(8) Exploration
To identify and zero down to areas for various exploratory jobs such as oil or mineral exploration.
(9) Military intelligence
Reconnaissance for deployment of forces, planning manoeuvres, assessing effects of operation, initiating
problems related to topography, terrain conditions or works.
(10) Medicine and surgery
Stereoscopic measurements on human body, X-ray photogrammetry in location of foreign material in
body and location and examinations of fractures and grooves, biostereometrics.
(11) Miscellaneous
Crime detection, traffic studies, oceanography, meteorological observation, Architectural and
archaeological surveys, contouring beef cattle for animal husbandry etc.
CATEGORIES OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY
Photogrammetry is divided into different categories according to the types of photographs or
sensing system used or the manner of their use as given below:
X-axis of photo
Line on photo between opposite collimation marks, which most nearly parallels the flight direction.
Y-axis
Line normal to x-axis and join opposite collimation marks.
Principal point (o)
The point where the perpendicular dropped from the front nodal point strikes the photograph or the point
in which camera axis pierces the image plane.
Camera axis
It is a ray of light incident at front nodal point in the object space and at right angles to the image plane.
Fiducial marks or collimation marks
Index marks usually four in number, rigidly connected with the camera lens through the camera body and
forming images on the photographs to which the position on the photograph can be referred.
Photographs center
The geometrical center of the photograph as defined by the intersection of the lines joining the fiducial
marks.
Format
It is the planar dimension of photograph (9" x 9", 7" x 7", 23 cm x 23 cm, 18 cm x 18 cm, 15 cm x 15 cm).
Photogram
Photograph taken with a photogrammetric camera having fixed distance between negative plane and lens
and equipped with fiducial or collimating marks. For photograms the bundle of rays on the object side at
the moment of exposure can be reproduced. To achieve this the following data known as the elements of
interior orientation must be known:
Calibrated focal length
Perspective Axis
Line CD where the two plane meet is called the perspective axis or horizontal trace.
Principal lines
A line UP drawn perpendicular to the perspective axis along the photograph plane. This projects as
Up on ground plane (CDEF) and is also perpendicular to perspective axis. These lines are called
the photo and ground principal lines respectively.
Principal plane
A plane containing P, V, and S is called the principal plane. Photo principal line (VP) and ground
principal lines (vp) are contained in this plane.
This shows that the scale along plate parallel through isocentre of a tilted photo is same as that over the
whole surface of a vertical photo if ground surface is plane. For any other plate parallel, scale will depend
on the tilt angle. Also, the scale along any plate parallel is constant.
Ground co-ordinates for vertical photographs
In figure 3, X and Y are ground co-ordinates with respect to a set of axes whose directions are parallel with
the photographic axes and whose origin is directly below the exposure station, x and y indicate x and y
photo coordinates with respect to the photo coordinate system with origin at o axes as shown. Using similar
triangles, we can write the following relations:
Direct Method
In this method, if the ground coordinates of two points, A and B are given (XA, YA ) and (XB, YB ), then a
quadratic equation can be formed to derive the flying height as given below:
Indirect Method
In this method, one can find the flying height by an iterative approach. For this one can use equations (1)
and (2) where hAB = average elevation of points A, B, H app is approximate height and AB = known ground
distance
Get H app by equation
Numerical problems
1. The distance on a map between two road intersections in flat terrain measures 12.78 cm. The
distance between the same two points is 9.25 cm on vertical photograph. If the scale of the map is
1: 24,000, what is the scale of the photograph?
2. Fifteen photographs were taken in a strip each covering an area equal to 25.75 sq. km. If the
longitudinal overlap is 60%, find the total ground area covered by the strip.
3. A aircraft takes photographs at a scale of 1:10,000. Photo size is 23x23 cm. Overlaps are:
longitudinal 65% and lateral 30%. The photography consists of 5 strips of 21 photographs each.
Calculate: (a) Ground area covered by a single photograph. (b) Ground area covered by the first
strip. (c) Ground area covered by the whole photography.
4. A vertical photograph was taken with H above datum = 2400 m and f = 210 mm. The highest,
lowest, and average elevation of terrain appearing in the photograph is 1330, 617, and 960 m
respectively. Calculate minimum, maximum, and average photographic scale.
5. An aircraft flying at an altitude of 4600 m above MSL photographs 5 strips of 20 photographs each
of a terrain having h avg = 300 m above MSL. If f = 205.53 mm, find the scale of photograph and
Answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
7.
Construct line wk perpendicular to line Ln. This is a horizontal line (because Ln is a vertical line).
Since wp is perpendicular to the principal line, it is also a horizontal line. Therefore, plane kwp is a
horizontal plane.
Also, PP' = WW' = NN' = hp(from construction) and therefore, plane nwp is also horizontal. In
Δs Lkp and LNP
But kp/NP = scale for a point lying in a plane kwp. Since p lies on this plane
Where
St scale of a tilted photograph at a point whose elevation is h.
f focal length.
t tilt angle
H flying height above datum.
y' y -co-ordinate of the point with respect to a set of axes whose origin is at the nadir point and whose y'
axis
coincides with the principal line.
Ground co-ordinates on tilted photograph
Referring to figure 1, the coordinates can be derived by assuming the following situation:
1. Get photo-coordinates of the end points of control line with respect to axes defined by the
collimation marks.
2. Photographic length of line is scaled directly.
3. Use ratio of photographic length to known ground length to get first approximation as
where,
f - focal length
h AB - Avg. elevation of A and B
AB - ground length.
ab - scaled photo length.
By using Happ, together with other scale data, one can solve the following equations
1. On a tilted photo relief displacement (a'a) are radial from nadir point (n).
2. The amount of relief displacement depends upon: (i) Flying height (ii) distance from nadir point to
image (iii) elevation of ground point (iv) position of point with respect to principal line and to the
axis of the tilt.
3. Compared with an equivalent relief displacement on vertical photo, the RD on a tilted photo will
be
o less on the half of the photograph upward from the axis of the tilt,
o identical for points lying on the axis of the tilt and
o greater on downward half of the photo.
4. Image displacement due to the tilt (explained later) tends to compensate relief displacement on the
upward half and will be added to RD on the downward half.
α is obtained by measuring the distance to the point from a line through the principal point and parallel
with the axis of the tilt. When point lies on principal line, as does the point C, the distance is measured
from principal point itself to the image point. This distance is then divided by focal length to obtain tan α.
The following observations should also be noted for the tilt displacement:
Figure 5 Tilt displacement with respect to an equivalent vertical photograph ( Wolf and Dewitt, 2000 )
Using figure 5, the following derivation can be accomplished for TD given as d.
TD is maximum when α = 0, i.e. point lies along principal line, minimum when point lies along isometric
parallel.
Depth perception
Monoscopic viewing provides only rough depth impression which is based on the following clues:
o Relative size of objects
o Hidden objects
o Shadows
o Differences in focussing of eye required for viewing objects at varying distances.
For stereoscopic depth perception usually two clues are involved
Paul Macharia CEng MICE P a g e 24 | 46
Chartered Civil Engineer
o Double image phenomenon.
o Relative convergence of optical axis of two eyes.
The human eye functions in a similar manner to a camera. The lens of the eye is biconvex in shape
and is composed of refractive transparent medium. The separation between eyes is fixed (called
eye base). Therefore, in order to satisfy the lens formula for varying object distance, the focal
length of eye lens changes. For example, when a distant object is seen, the lens muscle relax,
causing the spherical surface of the lens to become flatter. This increases the focal length to satisfy
the lens formula and accommodate the long object distance. When close objects are viewed, a
reverse phenomenon happens. The eye's ability to focus varying object distance is called
accommodation.
The figure shows two situations where eyes separated by eye base (b) are focussing on two objects
A and B located at two distances dA and dB respectively.
In binocular vision, there is convergence of axes of eyes when focusing at point A and B. The
corresponding angles are φ1 and φ2. Angle φ1 tells the mind that object A is distance dA. Similarly
for point B. These angle are called parallactic angles for points. The nearer the object, the greater
the parallactic angle and vice versa. Difference ( φ1 - φ2 ) tells the mind that the distance (depth)
between two points is e = d B - d A.
For average separation of eye and distinct vision of about 10 inch, the limiting upper value of Φ ≈
16°. Lower limiting value of φ ranges from 10 to 20 seconds and represents a distance of about
1700 to 1500 ft for average eye separation. It is called stereoscopic acuity of the person.
Stereoscope
If two photographs taken from two exposure stations L1 and L2 are laid on table so that
left photograph is seen by left eye and the right photo is seen with right eye, a 3D-model
is obtained. However, viewing in this arrangement is quite difficult due to following
reasons:
o Eye strain and focusing difficulty due to close range.
o There is disparity in viewing. The eyes are focused at short range on photos lying
on table where as the brain perceives parallactic angles which tends to form the
stereoscopic model at some depth below the table.
By using stereoscope, these problems can be alleviated. Different types of stereoscopes
are available for different purposes - from pocket (inexpensive) for viewing small area to
mirror (expensive) for viewing larger area.
Figure 4: Principle of stereoscope (Wolf and Dewitt, 2000) (a) pocket (b) mirror
Conditions of good stereo viewing
1. The two images must be obtained from two different positions of the camera.
2. The left photo and right photo should be presented to the left and right eye in the same
order.
3. Photographs of the object should be obtained from nearly the same distance, i.e. scales of
the two adjacent photographs should be nearly same. Normal eye can accommodate 5 to
15% variations in scale of photograph.
4. During stereovision, keep the area under vision in near vertical epipolar planes as far as
possible. The plane containing optical centers for eyes (S1 S2), object point A and
corresponding images a and a' on left and right photographs respectively is called the
epipolar plane. Thus camera axes should be approximately in one plane, though the eyes
Absolute Parallax:
Absolute X parallax (P X ) is given by (x l - x r ), where x l and x r are x coordinates on left and right
photographs respectively
P x = x l- xr
Other names:
X-parallax, horizontal parallax, linear parallax, absolute stereo parallax, or just parallax
For the following photograph pair, the parallax is given as follows.
P x = x b - (-x b' )
It can be noted that the value of parallax has been used with sign
dP BA = P B - P A is the difference in absolute parallaxes between two points. Above equation can
be modified to give
where dp BA = p B - p A is the difference in parallax bar readings between two points. Thus the
above equation says that dPBA = dpBA under the assumption that flying height for both photographs
is same (i.e. H1 = H2 = H) and photograph is truly vertical.
It may, however, be noted that for a given point, there may be parallax in both directions X and Y.
The Y-parallax is caused due to the following reasons:
o Unequal flying height
o Photographic tilt
o Misalignment of flight line
o Misalignment of stereoscope
o Great difference in parallax between adjacent images (in highly mountainous/rugged
terrain)
If dp is small then
Some other forms of parallax equation are given in adjacent formats
Numerical examples
Paul Macharia CEng MICE P a g e 33 | 46
Chartered Civil Engineer
1. Two ground points A and B appear on a pair of overlapping photographs, which have been taken
from a height of 3650 m above MSL. The base lines as measured on the two photographs are 89.5
and 90.5 mm respectively. The mean parallax bar reading from A and B are 29.32 mm and 30.82
mm respectively. If the elevation of A above MSL is 230.35 m, compute the elevation B.
2. In the above problem if the lengths of base lines are not known and the absolute parallax of A is
measured to be 89.80 mm, compute the elevation of B. Also, find the height of another point C
whose parallax bar reading is 32.32 mm.
Answers
1.
2.
FLIGHT PLANNING
Base lining
The flight planning is the process of making all relevant preparations and taking certain decisions
for taking photographs to satisfy certain application requirements. This may include the following:
o deciding about flying height above datum
o spacing between successive exposures
o separation between flight lines
Relief displacement
Large relief displacement create difficulty in forming continuous interrupted picture. Relief
displacement decrease with height although increase in height reduces scale. Hence, these two
effects have to be balanced.
Tilt of photograph
The tilt in a photograph can be resolved into two components: x-tilt and y-tilt, along x and y
directions respectively. In a photo with y-tilt, the forward overlap will be higher on one side and
lower on opposite side. The x-tilt causes the side lap to decrease on one side and to increase on
another. Large x-tilt affects flight line spacing.
Ground coverage
After choosing scale and camera format, the ground coverage with a single photograph can be
calculated. If the longitudinal and lateral overlaps are known, the ground coverage by a
stereomodel can be calculated. This coverage is important since it provides approximate mapping
area.
Airbase (B)
This is the distance between two adjacent exposure stations. On photographs, it is the distance
between successive principal points which is also called the 'advance'.
Exposure interval
This is the time interval between two successive exposures and is a function of longitudinal
overlap and aircraft velocity. It is equal to the time taken by aircraft to cover airbase. This can be
done with a device known as intervalometer, which automatically make an exposures at fixed
interval of time.
Examples
The overall flight planning procedure can be understood by a few simple examples that follow.
Example 1 :
An area 45 km long and 36 km wide is to be photographed to an average scale of 1:12000, using an aerial
camera of f = 21 cm. The speed of the aircraft is 200 km/h. The photographs are 23 cm square, with a
longitudinal overlap of at least 60% and lateral overlap of 30%, average elevation of the terrain is 500 m
above MSL. Calculate the following:
The flying height above mean sea level (MSL).
Distance between successive exposures
Distance between flight lines for successive strips.
Flight line spacing on flight map at a scale of 1 cm = 600 m
Interval between successive exposures
Number of photographs per strip taking one extra photograph at either end
Number of strips with only one extra strip as a safety factor
Total number of photographs
Since required overlap is at least 60%, hence exposure interval can be kept as 19 seconds.
Adjusted ground distance between exposures
L = 55.55 x 19 = 1055.45 m
Allowing two extra photographs at each end, the total photographs per flight lines = 44 + 2 + 2 = 48.
Hence, total no. of photographs = 48 x 20 = 960
Example 2:
The following data is given for flight planning:
Format 18 x 18 cm
Focal length = 21 cm
Scale = 1/20,000
Longitudinal overlap = 60%
Lateral overlap = 20%
East-west terrain length = 100 km
North-south terrain width = 50 km
Flight direction: East to west
Aircraft velocity = 296 km
Permissible image movement = 0.02 mm
Wind velocity = 10 m /s from SSE direction
Solution
Airbase = 0.4 x 18 cm at photo scale. On ground
Time taken to cover this distance = maximum exposure time (shutter speed)
Wind speed = 10 m/s = 36km/hr; flying speed = 296 km/hr. The ground speed of the aircraft and
the angle of drift can be found out by vector operations.
Effective ground speed = (2962 + 362 - 2x296x36xcos67.5) 1/2 = 284.176 km/hr.
DEVELOPMENTS IN PHOTOGRAMMETRY
Developments in photogrammetry
In a typical photogrammetric process, the information is obtained by establishing rigorously a
geometric relationship between the model created by images and the object, as it existed at the time
of the imaging event (Mikhail and Bethel, 2001).
The geometric relationship can be established by various means, which are broadly classified as:
o analog photogrammetric methods
o analytical photogrammetric methods
o digital photogrammetric methods
Figure 1: Kern PG2 mechanical projection stereoplotter equipped with pantograph for direct manuscript
plotting, and interfaced with computer for digital mapping (Wolf and Ghilani, 2002)
(a) (b)
Figure 3: (a) Digital photogrammetric work station (b) Digital Video Plotter DVP (Wolf and Ghilani,
2002)
In general, a photogrammetric system is defined by its three components
1. Data acquisition
2. Data reduction
3. Data presentation
1. Data acquisition
Data acquisition systems are concerned with procuring the data or information. The data can be
acquired in terms of images. The data acquisition system is generally classified into two categories:
Conventional Imagery and Non-Conventional Imagery.
In conventional imagery, the imaging system has a lens and an image plane such as frame
photographs, which is based on the central projection of the object onto an image plane. These can
be obtained by using both metric and non-metric cameras. In Non-conventional imagery the
imaging system does not use a lens and image plane. Holograms, X-rays, T.V. systems etc. are
categorized to this type of imagery.
Paul Macharia CEng MICE P a g e 42 | 46
Chartered Civil Engineer
The metric cameras are those manufactured specially for photogrammetric applications. In these
types of cameras, the elements of interior orientation are known. The elements of interior
orientation include: the focal length and location of the centre of the photograph. The metric
cameras are further classified as single and stereometric cameras. A single metric camera is
mounted on a tripod (figure 4 a) whereas a stereometric camera consists of two identical metric
cameras mounted rigidly at the ends of a fixed base for photography (figure 4 b).
A non-metric camera is characterized by the off-the-shelf cameras which are often used for
conventional photography (Figure 5 a and b). These are not the cameras especially made for the
photogrammetric purposes. In these types of cameras, the elements of interior orientation are
unknown or partially available.
(a) (b)
Figure 4: Terrestrial cameras (a) Zeiss TMK6 camera (b) Tripod mounted Zeiss SMK 40 + SMK 120
cameras
(a) (b)
Figure 5: Non-metric cameras for photogrammetric application (a) Sony video camera (b) Sony still
camera
Paul Macharia CEng MICE P a g e 43 | 46
Chartered Civil Engineer
Digital close range photogrammetry (DCRP) is the latest development in photogrammetry, which
is especially used to obtain 3D spatial information about objects placed near the camera. In this
close range process, the cameras are generally positioned within 100 meters from the object and
camera axes essentially point towards the center of the object (Atkinson, 1996). From multiple
positions, the user is able to acquire imagery at many convergent angles.
The introduction of digital cameras into DCRP (as image acquisition systems) has given rise to on-
line systems, which facilitate both real time and near-real time 3D coordinate measurement. With
the availability of wide range of digital cameras including camcorders, CCD (charge coupled
device) video cameras and digital still cameras at affordable prices, the utilization of these cameras
as data acquisition systems in DCRP has increased considerably (Samson, 2003).
DCRP systems employing wide range of cameras coupled with automated image measurement and
mapping have attracted wide usage over the past decade for precise deformation measurement in
industrial and engineering applications. For example,
Engineering Applications
o Monitoring of dam structures
o Highway applications (DTM and GIS for alignment by computer)
o Measurements of sand deposits in Hydraulics channel for different flow conditions
Biomedical Applications
o Design of prosthesis for below knee amputees
o Facial reconstruction studies
o Physical education - monitoring the movements of athletes
Architectural Applications
o Depicting the existing state of monuments/buildings and preparing working drawings
o Studying the deformation decay and damage to buildings/structures of importance by
periodic monitoring
o Preserving the cultural heritage of various epochs in the form of stereo - photographs
o Reconstructing and restoring and architectural monuments to their past glory
o Mapping of sites and relocating/recapturing the landscape and location of monuments
Industrial Applications
o Automobile industry
o Shipping industry
o Antenna calibration
2. Data reduction
The data reduction is concerned with the process of extracting desired information from
photographs. Photogrammetric techniques have changed a lot with time.
In the earlier stages, analogue approach was used in which the imaging geometry is reconstructed
by orienting two images in such a way that a three-dimensional model of the object is formed
through optical or mechanical devices. With development in optics and mechanics the analogue
photogrammetric instruments have improved and can attain very high accuracy.
With the evolution of computers, analogue instruments have been replaced by analytical plotters,
where single or a pair of photographs is placed in X-Y measuring system which digitally records
image coordinates (using mono or stereo comparators). The relations between image points and
object points are described through numerical calculations based on the collinearity equations.
Where,
x, y coordinates of the image point,
X, Y & Z coordinates of the object point,
f focal length of the camera,
m11,.. m33 elements of rotation matrix,
X L, Y L and Z L coordinates of exposure station in XYZ system
The introduction of digital photogrammetry has changed the world of photogrammetry completely.
The advances in electronics and computer science have permitted new approaches to obtain
photogrammetric solutions more effectively, while the basic mathematics, optical theory and many
of the basic practices remain same.
3. Data presentation
It consists of preparing and presenting the results in a suitable form. The final output can be in the
form of contour maps, pictorial representation of objects, digital model, three-dimensional (3D)
spatial coordinates etc.