AEROTRIANGULATION BY COPLANARITY

Abstract

Before corresponding points in photos taken with two cameras can be used to recover distances to
objects in a scene, one has to determine the position and orientation of one camera relative to the
other. This is the classic photogrammetric problem of aerotriangulation. Iterative methods for
determining X,Y,Z ground positions for unknown points using aerotriangulation process, were
developed long ago; without them we would not have most of the topographic maps we do today.
Described here in this research a simple iterative scheme for recovering relative orientation process
then applying intersection problem (vector method) using the condition of coplanarity, out of the
usual for photogrammetrists in using the familiar condition of collinearity. The data required is a
pair of bundles of corresponding rays from the two projection centers to points in the scene. It is
well known that at least five pairs of rays are needed, because, each object point gives only one
equation. The results were amazing according to the variances that have been obtained for the
angular orientation elements. The programs have been written using Matlab software ver. 5.3.