Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01C—MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY
  • G01C11/00—Photogrammetry or videogrammetry, e.g. stereogrammetry; Photographic surveying
  • G01C11/02—Picture taking arrangements specially adapted for photogrammetry or photographic surveying, e.g. controlling overlapping of pictures
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01C—MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY
  • G01C11/00—Photogrammetry or videogrammetry, e.g. stereogrammetry; Photographic surveying
  • G01C11/02—Picture taking arrangements specially adapted for photogrammetry or photographic surveying, e.g. controlling overlapping of pictures
  • G01C11/025—Picture taking arrangements specially adapted for photogrammetry or photographic surveying, e.g. controlling overlapping of pictures by scanning the object
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01C—MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY
  • G01C15/00—Surveying instruments or accessories not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C13/00
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
  • G03B15/00—Special procedures for taking photographs; Apparatus therefor
  • G03B15/006—Apparatus mounted on flying objects
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
  • G03B37/00—Panoramic or wide-screen photography; Photographing extended surfaces, e.g. for surveying; Photographing internal surfaces, e.g. of pipe
  • G03B37/04—Panoramic or wide-screen photography; Photographing extended surfaces, e.g. for surveying; Photographing internal surfaces, e.g. of pipe with cameras or projectors providing touching or overlapping fields of view
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
  • H04N23/60—Control of cameras or camera modules
  • H04N23/698—Control of cameras or camera modules for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
  • H04N23/90—Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
  • H04N23/95—Computational photography systems, e.g. light-field imaging systems
  • H04N23/951—Computational photography systems, e.g. light-field imaging systems by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N7/00—Television systems
  • H04N7/18—Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Definitions

• optical airborne registration (photogrammetric mapping) of very large areas, such as an entire country, a continent, or even the entire world, has typically been very costly and time consuming. This is primarily a function of the number of flights required to map the entirety of a very large area.
• a multi-resolution large format digital camera is disclosed herein that is capable of producing images at different photographic scales.
• the large format digital camera presented herein can produce panchromatic images having a wide-angle geometry that are suitable for use in a photogrammetric workflow that includes image-based georeferencing and digital surface modeling.
• the large format digital camera disclosed herein can also concurrently produce multiple color images having a narrow-angle geometry suitable for use in a photogrammetric workflow that includes ortho image production.
• An ortho image is an image that shows ground objects in an orthographic projection. Because a single flight utilizing the digital large format camera presented herein can produce both wide-angle and narrow-angle images, the cost of mapping a large area can be reduced as compared to previous solutions.
• a large format camera includes a primary camera system and two or more secondary camera systems.
• the primary camera system is configured for collecting panchromatic image data and the secondary camera systems are configured for collecting color image data.
• Each of the secondary camera systems has an optical system that has a longer focal length than the optical system of the primary camera system.
• the primary camera system and the secondary camera systems may be mounted within a common housing suitable for installation and use within an aircraft.
• the primary camera system has an electro optical detector array capable of capturing the panchromatic image data.
• Each of the secondary camera systems has an electro optical detector array capable of capturing the color image data.
• the resolution of the electro optical detector in each of the secondary camera systems is greater than the resolution of the electro optical detector in the primary camera system.
• the radiometric resolution of the secondary camera systems may be greater than the radiometric resolution of the primary camera system.
• the primary camera system and the secondary camera systems are configured such that the large format digital camera can produce images at two different image scales offering two different footprints.
• Images produced by the primary camera system have a larger footprint and are larger in size than those produced by the secondary camera systems and offer information for performing image- based georeferencing by means of photogrammetric triangulation.
• Images produced by the secondary camera systems have a smaller footprint and are smaller in size than those produced by the primary camera system and offer a high-resolution narrow angle color image.
• the color images produced by the secondary camera systems may be utilized as a source data set for high-resolution ortho image production.
• the footprint of the images generated by the secondary camera systems may be configured to overlap the footprint of the primary camera system in a direction perpendicular to a flight path.
• the large format digital camera may be configured to generate a sequence of consecutive images along a flight line.
• the large format camera may be further configured such that the primary camera system produces a sequence of consecutive panchromatic images that overlap one another.
• the secondary camera systems may be configured to produce a sequence of consecutive color images that overlap one another and the images produced by the primary camera system. The overlap between consecutive panchromatic images may be greater than the overlap between consecutive color images.
• FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram showing aspects of a multi-resolution digital large format camera with multiple detector arrays provided in one embodiment presented herein;
• FIGURE 2 is a schematic diagram showing the footprint of a primary camera system overlaid with the footprints of four secondary camera systems in a large format digital camera presented in one embodiment disclosed herein;
• FIGURE 3 is a perspective diagram showing a perspective view of the footprint of a primary camera system and the footprints of four secondary camera systems in a large format digital camera presented in one embodiment disclosed herein;
• FIGURE 4A is a schematic diagram showing a top-down view that illustrates the overlap between the footprint of a sequence of consecutive images taken with a primary camera system and the footprint of a sequence of consecutive images taken with four secondary camera systems in a large format digital camera presented one embodiment disclosed herein;
• FIGURE 4B is a schematic diagram showing a perspective view that illustrates the overlap between the footprint of a sequence of consecutive images taken along a flight line with a primary camera system and the footprint of a sequence of consecutive images taken with four secondary camera systems in a large format digital camera presented one embodiment disclosed herein;
• FIGURE 5 is a flow diagram showing one illustrative process presented herein for the airborne optical registration of large areas using a multi-resolution digital large format camera with multiple detector arrays provided in one embodiment presented herein.
• FIGURE 1 is a schematic diagram showing aspects of a large format digital camera 100 having multiple optical systems 106A-106B and detector arrays 11 OA- 110B provided in one embodiment presented herein.
• the large format digital camera 100 includes a primary camera system 104A and two or more secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• FIGURE 1 illustrates two secondary camera systems 104B-104N
• FIGURE 1 illustrates two secondary camera systems 104B-104N
• other embodiments might include additional secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• the large format digital camera 100 includes four secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• the primary camera system 104A includes an optical system 106A that has a focal length 108 A.
• Each of the secondary camera systems 104B-104N has an optical system 106B that has a focal length 108B that is longer than the focal length 108 A of the optical system 106A.
• the secondary camera systems 104B-104N are configured to produce images having a narrower field of view than images produced by the primary camera system 104A. Images produced by the primary camera system 104A have a wider field of view than images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• the optical systems 106A-106B may include other conventional optical elements to produce a suitable image at the desired focal length.
• the primary camera system 104 A is configured with an electro optical detector array 11 OA capable of capturing panchromatic image data 112.
• a panchromatic image sensor such as the electro optical detector array 11 OA
• each of the secondary camera systems 104B-104N is configured with an electro optical detector array HOB capable of capturing color image data 116.
• the secondary camera systems 104B-104N might be equipped with a suitable charge coupled device ("CCD") array configured for capturing the color image data 116A-116N, respectively.
• the camera system presented herein is a frame camera (also referred to as a framing camera), as opposed to a camera that utilizes push-broom sensing.
• the detector arrays 11 OA- 110B comprise arrays of individual electro-optical detectors, e.g., semiconductor devices that output an electric signal, the magnitude of which is dependent on the intensity of light energy incident on such electro-optical detector. Therefore, the signal from each electro-optical detector in the arrays 11 OA- 110B is indicative of light energy intensity from a pixel area of the portion of the object or terrain being photographed, and the signals from all of the individual electro-optical detectors in the arrays 11 OA- 11 OB are indicative of light energy intensity from all of the pixel areas of the portion of the object or terrain being photographed.
• individual electro-optical detectors e.g., semiconductor devices that output an electric signal, the magnitude of which is dependent on the intensity of light energy incident on such electro-optical detector. Therefore, the signal from each electro-optical detector in the arrays 11 OA- 110B is indicative of light energy intensity from a pixel area of the portion of the object or terrain being photographed, and the signals from all of the individual electro-optical detectors in the
• the signals from the electro-optical detectors in each of the detector arrays 1 lOA-110B, together, are indicative of the pattern of light energy from the portion of the object being photographed, so a sub-image of the portion of the object can be produced from such signals.
• the signals are amplified, digitized, processed, and stored, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
• the electro-optical detector arrays 110A-110B are connected electrically by suitable conductors to a control circuit (not shown), which includes at least a microprocessor, input/output circuitry, memory, and a power supply for driving the electro-optical detector arrays 1 lOA-110B, retrieving image data from of the arrays 110A- 110B, and storing the image data.
• a control circuit not shown
• Other data processing functions for example combining images and/or performing image display functions may be accomplished within the large format digital camera 100 or by other external data processing equipment.
• the resolution of the electro optical detector arrays 104B in the secondary camera systems 104B-104N are greater than the resolution of the electro optical detector array 104A in the primary camera system 104A.
• the large format digital camera 110 can produce a panchromatic image file 114 from the primary camera system 104A using a wide-angle geometry that is suitable for use in a photogrammetric workflow that includes image-based georeferencing and digital surface modeling.
• the large format digital camera 110 can also simultaneously produce multiple higher-resolution color image files from the secondary camera systems 104B- 104N using a narrow-angle geometry suitable for use in a photogrammetric workflow that includes ortho image production.
• the primary camera system 104A and the secondary camera systems 104B-104N might be mounted within a common housing 102.
• a front glass plate 120 might be mounted within the housing 102 to protect the optical systems 106A-106B.
• the primary camera system 104 A and the secondary camera systems 104B-104N are mounted in separate housings (not shown). In both cases, the primary camera system 104A, the secondary camera systems 104B-104N, and the housing 102 are configured for mounting and use within an aircraft.
• FIGURE 2 is a schematic diagram showing the footprint 202 of the primary camera system 104A overlaid with footprints 204A-204B of the secondary camera systems 104B-104N in the large format digital camera 100 according in one embodiment disclosed herein.
• the large format digital camera 100 includes four secondary camera systems 104B-104N configured with the footprints 204A-204D illustrated in FIGURE 2, respectively.
• the primary camera system 104A and the secondary camera systems 104B-104N are configured in one embodiment such that the large format digital camera 100 can produce overlapping images at two different image scales offering two different footprints 202 and 204A-204D.
• two primary camera systems 104A and four secondary camera systems 104B-104N are utilized.
• images produced by the primary camera system 104A have a larger footprint 202 and are larger in size than those produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N. Images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N have smaller footprint 204A-204D and are smaller in size than those produced by the primary camera system 104A and offer a higher resolution narrow angle color image.
• the 104N may be configured such that the footprints 204A-204D of the secondary camera systems 104B-104N cover the footprint 202 of the primary camera system 104A in a direction perpendicular to a flight line 400. In this way, the footprints 204A-204D of the four secondary camera systems 104B-104N cover a "stripe" of the footprint 202 of the primary camera system 104 A in a direction perpendicular to the flight line 400.
• overlapping the footprints 202 and 204A-204D in the manner shown in FIGURE 2 a portion of the images produced by the primary camera system 104A can be enhanced by the images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• FIGURE 3 provides a perspective view of the footprint 200 of the primary camera system 104A and the footprints 204A-204N of the four secondary camera systems 104B-104N when an image is taken from a common point 302 by the primary camera system 104 A and the four secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• FIGURE 4A shows a top-down view that illustrates the overlap between the footprints 202A-202D of a sequence of consecutive images taken with the primary camera system 104A and the footprint 204A-204D of a sequence of consecutive images taken with four secondary camera systems 104B-104N in the large format digital camera 100 in one embodiment disclosed herein.
• the large format digital camera 100 may be mounted and configured for use within an aircraft (not shown). When the aircraft is flown according to a well-defined flight line 400, the large format digital camera 100 may be configured to capture a sequence of images along the flight line 400.
• FIGURE 4 A illustrates the footprints 202A-202D of a sequence of images taken using the primary camera system 104A and the footprints 204A-204D of a sequence of images taken using by four secondary camera systems 104B-104N along the flight line 400.
• the large format camera 100 may be further configured such that the primary camera system 104A produces a sequence of consecutive panchromatic images that have footprints 202A-202D wherein consecutive sequential images overlap one another.
• the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may similarly be configured to produce a sequence of consecutive color images that have footprints 204A- 204D wherein consecutive sequential images overlap one another and also overlap the images produced by the primary camera system 104A.
• the overlap between the footprints of consecutive panchromatic images may be greater than the overlap between the footprints of consecutive color images.
• FIGURE 4B is a perspective diagram illustrating the overlap between the footprints 202A-202D of a sequence of consecutive images taken on several flight lines 400 with the primary camera system 104A and the footprints 204A-204D of a sequence of consecutive images taken with four secondary camera systems 104B-104N in the large format digital camera 100 in one embodiment disclosed herein. If, as illustrated in FIGURE 4B, images are produced by the primary camera system 104 A and the secondary camera systems 104B-104N along multiple well-defined flight lines by means of aerial photogrammetric image acquisition, the footprints 202 of the primary camera system 104A overlap one another in the sequence of exposures along the flight lines. The footprints 204A-204D of the secondary camera systems 104B-104N also overlap with the footprints 202A-202D of the primary camera system 104A and the footprints 204A-204D of the four secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• images are therefore produced in such a way that the sequence of images produced by the primary camera system 104A and the images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N create continuous image strips of overlapping images.
• the flight lines may be defined in such a way that the large format digital camera 100 captures images covering an entire project area.
• image acquisition by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may be triggered substantially simultaneously with image acquisition by the primary camera system 104A and, accordingly, images from the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may be acquired at the same position and with the same camera attitude as images from the primary camera system 104A.
• the trigger for the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may be independent from the primary camera system 104A, e.g., may be at a higher rate than images captured by the primary camera system.
• the trigger for the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may be independent from the primary camera system 104A, e.g., may be at a higher rate than images captured by the primary camera system.
• Either embodiment, as well as any combination thereof, is contemplated to be within the scope of embodiments presented herein.
• the images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may be registered to the images produced by the primary camera system 104A using the same trigger event. Additionally, images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may be calibrated to images of the primary camera system 104 A through the use of a precisely surveyed and well-structured object (known as a "calibration object").
• the images of the secondary camera systems 104B-104N may also be stitched to the images of the primary camera system 104B using traditional methods. Additionally, the images generated by the primary camera system 104A can be used to reconstruct the three dimensional form of an object (for instance, the buildings of a city by means of a digital surface model) and the images of the secondary camera system 104B, with a higher geometric resolution, may be used to extract high resolution photo texture which can then used for the production of ortho image maps.
• an object for instance, the buildings of a city by means of a digital surface model
• FIGURE 5 is a flow diagram showing a routine 500 that illustrates one process presented herein for the airborne optical registration of large areas using the large format digital camera 100 described above.
• the routine 500 begins at operation 502, where the large format digital camera 100 is calibrated.
• the large format digital camera 100 may be calibrated using a calibration object such that the footprint of images produced by the secondary camera systems 104B-104N overlap the footprint of images produced by the primary camera system 104A in the manner discussed above.
• the large format digital camera 100 may be installed in an aircraft and utilized to capture ground images as the aircraft is flown along a well-defined flight line. Such images may be captured and stored in an appropriate digital storage device integrated with or external to the large format digital camera 100.
• the routine 500 proceeds to operation 504 where panchromatic image files 114 are received from the primary camera system 104 A.
• the routine then proceeds to operation 506, where the color image files 118A-118N are received from the secondary camera systems 104B-104N.
• the routine 500 proceeds to operation 508, where the image files 114 from the primary camera system 104A are co- registered with the image files 118A-118N from the secondary camera systems 104B- 104N.
• the routine 500 proceeds to operation 510, where the image files 114 from the primary camera system 104 A are utilized in a photogrammetric workflow that includes image-based georeferencing and digital surface modeling. From operation 510, the routine 500 proceeds to operation 512, where the image files 118A- 118N from the secondary camera systems 104B-104N are utilized for ortho image production. The routine 500 proceeds from operation 512 to operation 514, where it ends.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Computing Systems (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Studio Devices (AREA)
• Cameras In General (AREA)
• Stereoscopic And Panoramic Photography (AREA)

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• 2009
  • 2009-11-24 US US12/624,412 patent/US8665316B2/en active Active
• 2010
  • 2010-10-21 TW TW099135973A patent/TWI520599B/zh active
  • 2010-11-23 KR KR1020127013296A patent/KR101800905B1/ko active Active
  • 2010-11-23 JP JP2012541147A patent/JP5731529B2/ja active Active
  • 2010-11-23 WO PCT/US2010/057692 patent/WO2011066239A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2010-11-23 EP EP10833829.4A patent/EP2504735B1/en active Active
  • 2010-11-23 CN CN201080053224.9A patent/CN102640052B/zh active Active
  • 2010-11-23 DK DK10833829.4T patent/DK2504735T3/da active

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