A Real-time Photogrammetric Mapping System

A Real-Time Photogrammetric Mapping System (RTPMS) is being developed at the U. S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory. The RTPMS integrates a 4k by 4k color digital frame camera, a Position and Orientation System, and an Aerial Survey Control Tool (ASCOT) navigation system, with the newly developed One-Path Photogrammetric Program (OPPP). It automatically processes Digital Elevation Models (DEM), ortho-images, and contour lines on-board the acquisition platform and in real-time. The OPPP has been successfully tested on various sources of digital image data, including scanned aerial photography from an RC-30 camera and digital imagery from a Digital Frame Camera (DFC). A laptop computer takes 12 minutes to process a single strip of four models, producing an ortho-image, DEM, and contour line map, and only 42 minutes to process a block of three-strips of 12 models. An elevation precision of approximately 1/7,000 of the flight height has been achieved by the OPPP software. Hardware and software integration has been completed and we are currently in the final stages of the development, i.e. testing and implementation of the RTPMS in the air. Once tested, the RTPMS will be able to produce a mosaicked DEM, ortho-image map, and contour map, on-board, in real-time, and without ground control or without operator intervention. Results from airborne testing will be presented at the 20 ISPRS Congress. The next step of this endeavour is to incorporate the ability to transmit processed photogrammetric products to the ground before the aircraft lands, and ultimately being able to mount the system on an unmanned aerial vehicle to automatically generate photogrammetric products without operator intervention. * Corresponding author.