DEM generation from SPOT-5 3-fold along track stereoscopic imagery using autocalibration

This paper describes the derivation and accuracy assessment of Digital Elevation Models (DEM) from 3-fold along-track stereoscopic SPOT-5 imagery. The work was conducted in the scope of the HRS (Haute Resolution Stereoscopique)-Scientific Assessment Program, organized by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS). The orientation of the SPOT-5 image scene is reconstructed by bundle adjustment using ground control points. The functional model is based on correction polynomials and permits autocalibration. At 17 independent check points a RMS-error of 2 m was achieved. DEM are produced in two different ways: The more rigorous way employs an automatic region growing image matching process generating a dense point cloud in image space, transforms it into the object space using the estimated model parameters and converts it into a regular grid DEM. In a second approach the commercial software ISAE and rational functions are applied. The comparison with a digital terrain model (DTM) of superior accuracy yields standard deviations better than 5 m in flat and moderate terrain and better than 10 m in mountainous regions. With ISAE a DEM for the entire image area (approx. 60 x 80 km) is produced with a standard deviation of approximately 8 m. All grid points were generated fully automatically, i.e. the presented standard deviations still include the effect of large differences between the produced DEM and the DTM. (c) 2006 International Society for. Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Inc. (ISPRS). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.