Photogrammetry

– Explain the Historical development of

Photogrammetry.
– Define Aerial photography
– What is Vertical photography
– Define Oblique Aerial photography
– Classify the Aerial film and Digital cameras
– What are the components of Aerial
cameras
– Define Camera calibration
– What is Mosaicing
 Definition Photogrammetry
• Definition Photogrammetry derived from three Greek
words:
• Photos: means light
• Gramma: means something drawn or written
• Metron: means to measure . It is called:- “Light engrave
data measuring”.
• Photogrammetry is the “art, science and technology of
obtaining reliable information about physical objects
and the environment through the process of recording,
measuring and interpreting photographic images and
patterns of electromagnetic radiant imagery and other
phenomena” (American Society of Photogrammetry,
1980).
 Explain the Historical development of
Photogrammetry

Development cycles of Photogrammetry:

• (a)Plane table photogrammetry, from about 1850
to 1900
• (b)Analog photogrammetry, from about 1900 to
1960
• (c) Analytical photogrammetry, from about 1960
to present and
• (d)Digital photogrammetry, which is just
beginning to be a presence in the
Photogrammetric industry.
Explain the Historical development of
Photogrammetry
•Aerial Camera : A precision camera specifically
designed for use in aircrafts.
•Aerial Film : A roll film with high sensitivity, high intrinsic
resolution power and dimensionally stable emulsion
support.
•Aerial Photography : Art, science and technology of
taking aerial photographs from an air-borne platform.
•Aerial Photograph : A photograph taken from an air-
borne platform using a precision camera.
• Fiducial Marks : Index marks, rigidly connected at the
central or corner edges of the camera body. When the
film is exposed, these marks appear on the film negative .
•Forward Overlap : The common area on two successive
photographs in the flight direction. It is usually expressed
in per cent.
• The developments in photogrammetry, from around 1850, have
followed four development cycles [Konecny, 1985]. Each of these
periods extended about fifty years.
• These cycles include:
• Plane Table Photogrammetry: Plane table photogrammetry, from
about 1850 to 1900, Analog Photogrammetry
• Analog Photogrammetry- Using optical, mechanical and
electronically components, and where the images are hardcopies.
Re-creates a 3D model for measurements in 3D space
• Analytical Photogrammetry- The 3D modelling is mathematical
(not re-created) and measurements are made in the 2D images
Digital Photogrammetry
• Digital Photogrammetry- Analytical solutions applied in digital
images. Can also incorporate computer vision and digital image
processing techniques.
• or Softcopy Photogrammetry ”Softcopy” refers to the display of a
digital image, as opposed to a ”hardcopy” (a physical, tangible
photo).
• Image Interpretation : An act of identifying the
images of the objects and judging their relative
significance.
• Nadir Point : The foot of the perpendicular drawn
from the camera lens centre on the ground plane.
• Principal Point : The foot of the perpendicular
drawn from the camera lens centre on the photo
plane.
• Principal Distance : The perpendicular distance
from the perspective centre to the plane of the
photograph.
• Perspective Centre : The point of origin
(perspective centre) of the bundle of light rays.
• Photogrammetry : The science and technology
of taking reliable measurements from aerial
photographs.
Photogrammetry
• The art, science, and technology of obtaining
information about physical objects and the
environment by photographic and electromagnetic
images. This is Categories:
• 1. Metrical Photogrammetry:
• 2. Photo Interpretation:
• 1.Metrical Photogrammetry: obtaining
measurements from photos from which ground
positions, elevations, distances, areas, and volumes
can be computed and topographic or planimetric
maps can be made.
• 2. Photo Interpretation: evaluation of existing
features in a qualitative
 Types of Photogrammetry

• 1. Aerial – series of photographs of an area of

terrain in sequence using a precision camera.
• 2. Terrestrial – photos taken from a fixed and
usually known position on or near the ground
with the camera axis horizontal or nearly so.
• 3. Close range – camera close to object being
observed. Most often used when direct
measurement is impractical.
 Photogrammetry for Engineering
• Photogrammetry is the process of measuring
images on a photograph.

• Modern Photogrammetry also uses radar

imaging, radiant electromagnetic energy
detection and x-ray imaging – called Remote
Sensing.
 Aerial photography
• Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is
the taking of photographs from an aircraft or
other flying object.
• Platforms for aerial photography include
fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs or "drones"), balloons,
blimps and dirigibles, rockets, pigeons, kites,
parachutes, stand-alone telescoping and
vehicle-mounted poles.
• Mounted cameras may be triggered remotely
or automatically.
 Aerial photography
• Aerial photography is - as it sounds - the process of
taking photographs from the air, but there is more
to it than simply using a light aircraft or helicopter
and flying up to take photographs.
• There are many elements to an aerial survey that
must be considered to ensure that the data is useful
enough to extrapolate whatever is being
investigated.
• It is often difficult to see elements of the landscape
on the ground, features can easily be missed, and
what might seem like an insignificant bump from
ground level can become more significant in a wider
context; some landscape types are difficult to
access on foot so aerial photographs are vital to
study and map them.
 Origins of Remote Sensing began with Aerial
Photography
First photographs taken in 1839. In1858 Gasper Felix Tournachon "Nadar" takes
photograph of village of Petit Bicetre in France from a balloon.
Aerial Photography
 Aerial Photography
vertical aerial photograph oblique aerial photograph
Types of Aerial Photographs
Aerial Photography
Aerial Vertical Photographs
 Aerial Vertical Photographs
• Flight strips-The photographs are usually taken along a series of
parallel passes. End lap-Area covered by each successive
photograph along a flight strip duplicates or overlaps part of the
ground coverage of the previous photo. Normally between 55 –
60 %.
• Stereoscopic overlap area. The area of coverage common to an
adjacent pair of photographs in a flight strip.
• Stereopair-The overlapping pair of photos. Exposure stations The
positions of the camera at each exposure when the photograph is
taken Flying height Altitude of the camera at exposure time.
• Aerial Vertical Photographs Side lap is a lateral overlapping of
ground coverage between strip and normally do not exceed 30 %.
Block of photos The photographs of two or more side-lapping
strips used to cover an area.
 Aerial Vertical Photograph
Vertical is most important
as it has minimum
distortion and can be used
for taking measurements.
Characteristics:
• Tilt <= 3 from the
vertical
• Scale is approximately
constant throughout the
photo
• Most common format is
9” x 9” photograph.
 Vertical Aerial Photograph
• Vertical photographs are taken straight
down. They are mainly used in
photogrammetry and image interpretation.

• Pictures that will be used in photogrammetry

are traditionally taken with special large
format cameras with calibrated and
documented geometric properties
• Vertical photographs are the most common
type of aerial photograph for remote sensing
and aerial survey purposes. They can be scaled,
allowing objects and distances to be measured,
aiding in their identification. When viewed in
stereo, vertical photographs can give
information about the height or the vertical
characteristics of landmarks and buildings.
• Vertical aerial photographs can provide very
useful information, in conjunction with maps
and other sources, when searching for
unexploded ordnance or assessing property
boundaries, for example.
vertical aerial photograph oblique aerial photograph
 Define Oblique Aerial photography
• Oblique images : These images are usually
taken at an angle, typically 45 degrees but as
they are often taken manually, they can be
whatever angle gives the best view of the
feature or landscape.
• The oblique image is primarily used in
archaeology to take a wider context of a
feature and the area around it, and also to
give depth.
 Define Oblique Aerial photography
• There is a problem in perspective because the
farther away a feature is, the smaller it will
appear: nearer objects of comparable size
appear larger than those that are farther away
so it is often best to take a selection or to use a
frame of reference on the ground for
perspective purposes.
• These images are taken from small fixed-wing
aircraft and helicopters and are perfectly
suited for monitoring erosion of features and
monuments throughout the year and over the
course of many decades.
 The following are advantages of oblique aerial
photograph over vertical aerial photograph:
• 1.Oblique aerial photograph may use inexpensive cameras because
they are not used for photogrammetric or precision purpose.
Determination of feature elevations is more accurate using oblique
aerial photograph than vertical aerial photograph.
• 2. An oblique aerial photograph covers more ground area than
vertical aerial photograph taken from the same altitude and with
the same focal length.
• 3. If an area is frequently covered by cloud layer, it may be too low
and/or impossible to take aerial vertical photograph but there may
be enough clearance for oblique coverage.
• 4. Oblique aerial photograph have more natural view because we
are accustomed to seeing the ground features obliquely. For
example tall objects such as bridges, building towers and others will
be more recognizable because the silhouettes of these objects are
visible.
• 5. Objects that are under tree or under other tall objects may not
be visible on vertical aerial photograph if they are viewed from
above. Also some objects such as ridges, cliffs, caves and others of
the same reflection may not show on the vertical aerial photograph
if they are directly beneath the camera.
Classify the Aerial film and Digital cameras
 Aerial film
• Film is usually exposed in camera mounted in an aircraft that
is moving rapidly fast. Fortunately, films made especially for
aerial photography can stop action and yield high-quality
aerial photography if,,
• 1.The proper film/filter combination is used
• 2.The aperture opening is appropriate
• 3.The length of the exposure is correct.
• In film photography, the resulting image can be either black
and white or colour, depending on the film used Black and
white photographs are typically exposed on negative film
from which positive paper prints are made. Colour image are
typically recoded directly on film, which is processed to a
positive transparency.
• Silver Halide Crystal Grain Size, density and shape Silver
Halide Crystal is the main properties of photographic film.
Generalized the cross section of photographic film has three
layers:
• 1.Emulsion layer: this layer is sensitive to light. And it’s
composed of Silver Halide Grain, it’s determine how much is it
sensitive of light. The Emulsion properties is depends on the
numbers, size and density of silver halide crystal. If we
compare between two films: film “A” has 10 crystals and film
“B” has 7 crystal. As grain size increase, the total number of
grains in the per unit distance decrease. Therefore film “B” is
faster than film “A”, because it requires less light for proper
exposure. As sensitivity and grain size increase the resulting
image becomes more courser and resolution may be reduced.
The faster films is used when the object are moving rapidly
across the film plane.
 What are the components of Aerial
cameras
• An aerial camera consists of three basic parts:
a body, a cone, and a magazine. The body has
following constituent parts: Filter, Front lens,
Shutter, Diaphragm and Rear lens.
• The magazine has three constituents: Supply
reel/ spool, Take up reel/spool and Platen.
 Classify the Aerial film and Digital cameras
• Aerial film is similar in construction to the film
popularly used in handheld 35-mm cameras. It
comes in rolls that are 10 in. wide and range
in length from 200 to 500 ft.
• Types of Film: Although there are a number of
aerial films in use, many serve unique
situations. Two commonly utilized films
employed in plan metric and/or topographic
digital mapping are panchromatic and natural
color. These two films plus infrared and false
color form the basic media used in image
analysis procedures
 Panchromatic film
• Panchromatic, more often termed black and
white, is the most commonly encountered film
employed for photogrammetry.
• The sensitive layer consists of silver salt
(bromide, chloride, and halide) crystals
suspended in a pure gelatin coating which sits
atop a plastic base sheet.
• Visible light waves react with the silver particles
in the emulsion, causing a chemical reaction that
creates a gray-scale image.
• The emulsion is sensitive to the visible (0.4- to
0.7-μm) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
that is detected by the human eye.
• Colour: Natural color film is also called true color or
color. The multilayer emulsion is sensitive to the
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible
to the human eye. There are three layers of gelatin
containing sensitized dyes, one each for blue (0.4–0.5
μm), green (0.5–0.6 μm), and red (0.6–0.7 μm) light.
Green and red layers are also sensitive to blue
wavelengths. Visible light waves first pass through and
react with the blue layer and then pass through a filter
layer which halts further passage of the blue rays.
Green and red waves pass through this barrier and
sensitize their respective dyes, causing a chemical
reaction and thus completing the exposure and
creating a true color image.
• Infrared: Current aerial infrared film is offered as two
types: black and white infrared and color infrared.
 Characteristics of Aerial Photography
• Synoptic viewpoint: Aerial photographs give a bird’s eye view
oflarge areas enabling us to see surface features in their
spatialcontext. They enable the detection of small scale
features andspatial relationships that would not be found on
the ground.Time freezing ability: They are virtually permanent
records of theexisting conditions on the Earth’s surface at one
point in time, andused as an historical document.
• Capability to stop action: They provides a stop action view
ofdynamic conditions and are useful in studying dynamic
phenomenasuch as flooding, moving wildlife, traffic, oil spills,
forest fires. Three dimensional perspective: It provides a
stereoscopic viewof the Earth’s surface and make it possible
to take measurementshorizontally and vertically - a
characteristic that is lacking for themajority of remotely
sensed data.
 Characteristics of Aerial Photography
• Characteristics of Aerial Photography (2)Spectral
and spatial resolution: Aerial photographsare
sensitive to radiation in wavelengths that are
outsideof the spectral sensitivity of the human
eye (0.3 µm to0.9 µm versus 0.4 µm to 0.7 µm).
• They are sensitive to objects outside the
spatialresolving power of human eye.Availability:
Aerial photographs are readily available ata range
of scales for much of the world.Economy: They
are much cheaper than field surveysand are often
cheaper and more accurate than maps.
 Aerial Cameras
• Aerial photographs can be made with any type of camera
(e.g. 35mm small amateur or 70 mm or special cameras that
are purpose built meant for mapping).Many successful
applications have employed aerial photography made from
light aircraft with handheld 35 mm cameras.
• For the aerial study of large areas, high geometric and
radiometric accuracy are required and these can only be
obtained from by using cameras that are purpose built.
• Aerial camera are precision built and specifically designed to
expose large number of films/photographs in rapid succession
with the ultimate in geometric fidelity and quality. These
cameras usually have a medium to large format, a high quality
lens, a large film magazine, a mount to hold the camera in a
vertical position and a motor drive.
 Types of Aerial Cameras
There are many types of aerial cameras:
1.Aerial mapping camera (single lens),
2.Reconnaissance camera,
3.Strip camera,
4.Panoramic camera,
5.Multilens camera, the multi camera array
(multiband aerial camera) and
6.Digital camera.
 Aerial Mapping (Single Lens) Camera
• Aerial mapping cameras (also called as metric or cartographic
cameras) are single lens frame cameras designed to provide
extremely high geometric image quality.
• They employ a low distortion lens system held in a fixed
position relative to the plane of the film.
• The film format size is commonly a square of 230 mm on a
side. The total width of the film used is 240 mm and the film
magazine capacity ranges up to film lengths of 120 metres.
• A frame of imagery is acquired with each opening of the
camera shutter, which is tripped at a set frequency by an
electronic device called an intervalometer.
• They are exclusively used in obtaining aerial photos for
remote sensing in general and photogrammetric mapping
purposes in particular.
• Single lens frame cameras are the most common cameras in
use today.
Important Specifications of Aerial Film Cameras
• Almost every aerial camera has to fulfill certain
specification:
• 1. The focal length of the camera should be
normally 6, 8.25, or 12 inches.
• 2.The camera should expose 9 ´ 9-inch image
negatives; the focal plane and fiducial marks be
permanently fixed on the photographs.
• 3.The platen against which the film is pressed at
the time of exposure should not depart by more
than ± 0.0005 inches.
• The radial distortion should normally not exceed ±
0.003mm out to 30O and ±0.10 mm at 35O.
 PARTS OF AN AERIAL CAMERA:
• An aerial camera consists of three basic parts: a body,
a cone, and a magazine.
• The body has following constituent parts:
• 1. Filter
• 2. Front lens
• 3. Shutter
• 4. Diaphragm
• 5. Rear lens
• The magazine has three constituents:
• 1. Supply reel/ spool
• 2. Take up reel/spool
• 3. Platen
• The cone is intermediate part of the camera which
keeps the camera body and magazine at a definite
distance apart from each other.
 TYPES OF AERIAL CAMERA
• There are various types of aerial cameras but the most commonly
used are single lens camera.
• Aerial cameras can be classified in a number of ways:
• 1. By lens type: single lens, multiple lenses.
• 2. By angular field: normal angle up to 750; wide angle 750 to 1000;
and, super wide angle 1000 and above.
• 3. By focal length: short up to 6 inches; normal 6 to 12 inches; and,
long more than 12 inches.
• 4. By use: reconnaissance, mapping, and special
• The selection of any camera would depend upon the need and use.
For instance, the cameras used for low altitude high-speed
photography must have wide angle lenses, fast shutter, image
motion compensation magazines and short cycle times.
• On the other hand, for higher altitude photography long-focal
length cameras are used to provide a reasonable scale and
resolution.
• Commonly used cameras are Zeiss EMKA 15/23 and Wild RC-8.
These work on both panchromatic and colored films. Other include
Metric camera (having no focusing), Stereo metric camera (with
focusing), and Armature camera (used for less accuracy).
 Define Camera calibration
• After manufacture and prior to use, aerial
cameras are carefully calibrated to determine
precise values for a camera constants. These
constants, referred to as the elements of
interior orientation, are needed so that
accurate data can be determined from
photographs.
• Camera calibration methods may be classified
into one of three basic categories:
• 1. Laboratory methods,
• 2. Field methods, and
• 3. stellar methods.
 Aerial Photogrammetry
• Aerial Photogrammetry consists of five operations-
• 1.Advanced planning
• 2.Flying
• 3.Photography
• 4.Ground control
• 5.Compilation or mapping
Crab: Crab is the term given to designate the angle formed
between the fight line and the edges of the photograph in the
direction of flight
Drift: Drift is caused by the failure of the aircraft to stay on the
predetermined flight line.
CAMERA
• Two terms that are normally mentioned when
discussing scale are:
• Large Scale: Larger scale photos (e.g. 1/25 000) cover
small areas in greater detail. A large scale photo simply
means that ground features are at a larger, more
detailed size. The area of ground coverage that is seen
on the photo is less than at smaller scales.
• Small Scale: Smaller scale photos (e.g. 1/50 000) cover
large areas in less detail. A small scale photo simply
means that ground features are at a smaller, less
detailed size. The area of ground coverage that is seen
on the photo is greater than at larger scales. The
National Air Photo Library has a variety of photographic
scales available, such as 1/3 000 (large scale) of
selected areas, and 1/50 000 (small scale).
 Flight Lines and Index Maps:
• Flight Lines and Index Maps:at the end of a photo
mission, the aerial survey contractor plots the location of
the first, last, and every fifth photo centre, along with its
roll and frame number, on a National Topographic
System (NTS) map. Photo centres are represented by
small circles, and straight lines are drawn connecting the
circles to show photos on the same flight line.
• The graphical representation is called an air photo index
map, and it allows you to relate the photos to their
geographical location. Small scale photographs are
indexed on 1/250 000 scale NTS map sheets, and larger
scale photographs are indexed on 1/50 000 scale NTS
maps.
 Camera calibration of interior orientation
information
• 1. Equivalent focal length
• 2. Calibrated focal length
• 3. Average radial lens distortion
• 4. X,Y coordinates
• 5. Distances between opposite fiducial
marks
• 6.Angle of intersection of fiducial lines
• 7. Flatness of focal plane
 What is Mosaicing
• Document mosaicing is a process that stitches
multiple, overlapping snapshot images of a
document together to produce one large, high
resolution composite.
• The document is slid under a stationary, over-the-
desk camera by hand until all parts of the document
are snapshotted by the camera’s field of view. As
the document slid under the camera, all motion of
the document is coarsely tracked by the vision
system.
• The document is periodically snapshotted such that
the successive snapshots are overlap by about 50%.
The system then finds the overlapped pairs and
stitches them together repeatedly until all pairs are
stitched together as one piece of document.
 What is Mosaicing
• The document mosaicing can be divided into
four main processes.
• -Tracking
• -Feature detecting
• -Correspondences establishing
• -Images mosaicing
 Feature detecting for efficient matching
• Feature detection is the process of finding the
transformation that aligns one image with another.
• There are two main approaches for feature detection.
• Feature-based approach: Motion parameters are
estimated from point correspondences. This approach is
suitable for the case that there is plenty supply of stable
and detectable features.
• Featureless approach: When the motion between the
two images is small, the motion parameters are
estimated using optical flow. On the other hand, when
the motion between the two images is large, the motion
parameters are estimated using generalized cross-
correlation.
• Document mosaicing is a process that stitches
multiple, overlapping snapshot images of a
document together to produce one large, high
resolution composite.

• The document is slid under a stationary, over-

the-desk camera by hand until all parts of the
document are snapshotted by the camera’s
field of view.
• As the document slid under the camera, all
motion of the document is coarsely tracked by
the vision system.

• The document is periodically snapshotted

such that the successive snapshots are overlap
by about 50%.

• The system then finds the overlapped pairs

and stitches them together repeatedly until all
pairs are stitched together as one piece of
document.
• Given the list of corresponding points of the
two images, finding the transformation of the
overlapping portion of the images is the next
process.

• Assuming a pinhole camera model, the

transformation between pixels (u, v) of image
1 and pixels (u0, v0) of image 2 is
demonstrated by a plane-to-plane
projectivity.
 Feature detecting for efficient matching
• Feature detection is the process of finding the transformation
that aligns one image with another.
• There are two main approaches for feature detection.
• Feature-based approach : Motion parameters are estimated
from point correspondences. This approach is suitable for the
case that there is plenty supply of stable and detectable
features.
• Featureless approach : When the motion between the two
images is small, the motion parameters are estimated using
optical flow. On the other hand, when the motion between
the two images is large, the motion parameters are estimated
using generalized cross-correlation. However, this approach
requires a computationally expensive resources. Each image
is segmented into a hierarchy of columns, lines, and words to
match the organized sets of features across images. Skew
angle estimation and columns, lines and words finding are the
examples of feature detection operations.
 Applications areas of photogrammetry
• (1) Geology: Structural geology.
• (2) Forestry: cover maps.
• (3) Agriculture Soil type
• (4) Design and construction Data needed for site and route studies.
• (5) planning of civic improvements
• (6) Cadaster: Cadastral problems such as determination of land lines
for assessment of taxes.
• (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: assessing effects of operation.
• (10) Medicine and surgery: Stereoscopic measurements on human
body.
• (11) Miscellaneous: traffic studies