A New Matching Approach for Three-line Scanner Imagery

This paper deals with the automatic determination of conjugate points in multiple 3-line images of diierent resolution for the task of image orientation. A program for digital image matching was developed as part of the photogrammetric data processing chain in the context of the planned Mars'96 mission. The matching approach contains three phases: First, a few highly reliable conjugate points are found on the higher levels of image pyramids using feature based matching. In the second phase | also on a higher image pyramid level | a regular distribution of conjugate points is obtained by least squares matching. Finally, the points are tracked down through the image pyramid to the original resolution. The program was tested with terrestrial and extraterrestrial data provided by 3-line scanners as well as by a frame camera. The test results show the applicability of the approach. Anwendbarkeit des Ansatzes.