CHAPTER TWO:

Elements of Analytical Photogrammetry

 Contents

– Geometric properties of aerial photographs

– Definitions

– Photo Scale

– Relief displacement

– Photo Coordinate System

– Interior Orientation

– Affine Transformation

– Correction for Radial distortion

– Correction for Refraction

– Correction for Earth curvature

 Photogrammetry Defined

Photogrammetry: The art, science, and technology of obtaining reliable

information about physical objects, and the environment, through processes of

recording, measuring, and interpreting images and patterns of electromagnetic

radiant energy and other phenomena. (Manual of Photogrammetry, 4th Ed.,

ASPRS, 1980)

When to Use Photogrammetry

Each project has a unique set of conditions that will determine which mapping

techniques should be utilized. Surveys in consultation with the Project Manager

will determine if photogrammetry will be used on a project:-

 When to Use Photogrammetry

The following are factors to consider when deciding to use Photogrammetry:

• Photogrammetry is a cost efficient surveying method for mapping large
areas.
• Photogrammetry may be safer than other surveying methods. It is safer to
take photographs of a dangerous area than to place surveyors in harms way.
• Photogrammetry provides the ability to map areas inaccessible to field
crews.
• Photogrammetry creates a photographic record of the project site (snapshot
in time).
• Photogrammetry produces useful digital products such as orthophotos.

• Photogrammetry produces electronic terrain models.

 When Not to Use Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry is not the solution for all mapping situations. Photogrammetry

may not be appropriate under the following conditions:

• The accuracy required for a mapping project is greater than the accuracy

achievable with photogrammetric methods.

• The scope of the work is not large enough to justify the costs of surveying

the photo control and performing the subsequent photogrammetric processes.

However, when unsafe field conditions are encountered, safety shall hold a

higher weight than cost in the decision process.

 History of photography

The first photograph was obtained by

Joseph Nicephore Niepce of his French
estate courtyard in 1827 using camera
obscura. The exposure lasted 8 hours
and used an emulsion of Bitumen of
Judea, a kind of asphalt.
History of photography
 History of photography

• Louis jacques Mande Daguerre of France in 1839 invented first practical

camera
• John Goddard in 1840 discovered silver bromide and silver iodide coating film
for better sensitivity during exposure. But the film remained expensive.
• Joseph Petzval in 1855 designed special camera lenses. George Eastman
invented first Kodak camera , capable of 100 exposures of panchromatic ( black
and white) images.

• The first known aerial photograph was obtained by Gaspard Felix Tournachon

(Nadar) from a tethered balloon 1,700-ft. above Paris, France in 1858.

 History of photography

• In 1898 colonel Aime Laussedat known as "Father of

Photogrammetry" prepared topographic maps from balloon

photograph.

• During 1858 and 1898 many enthusiastic have taken aerial

photographs , kites as their platforms.

• In 1903 Pigeon flight have been carried out for military operations.

• In 1909 after the invention of aircraft by Wright Brothers, aerial

photographs was with aircraft as platforms.

History of Aerial Photography
History of photography
 Geometric Properties of Aerial Photographs

• Aerial photography is defined as the science of obtaining

photographs from the air using various platforms, mostly
aircraft, for studying the surface of the earth. The sun
provides the source of energy (electromagnetic radiation or
EMR) and the photosensitive film acts as a sensor to record
the images. Variations in the Grey tones of the various
images in a photograph indicate different amounts of
energy reflected from the objects as recorded on the film
 Type of Areal Photograph

• There are different criteria to classify aerial

photographs depending upon the scale, tilt,
coverage, film and spectral coverage/response.
These classifications can be defined as follows :
 Angular coverage

The angular coverage is a function of focal length and format size. Since the format
size is almost exclusively 9’’ × 9’’ the angular coverage depends on the focal length
of the camera only. Standard focal lengths and associated angular coverages are
summarized in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1: Summary of photographs with different angular coverage.

inter- normal
super- wide- narrow
mediat -
wide angle angle
e angle

Focal length [mm] 85. 157. 210. 305. 610.

Angular coverage
119. 82. 64. 46. 24.
[o]
 Emulsion type

The sensitivity range of the emulsion is used to classify photography into

Panchromatic black and white: This is most widely used type of emulsion for

photogrammetric mapping.

Color: Color photography is mainly used for interpretation purposes. Recently,

color is increasingly being used for mapping applications.

Infrared black and white: Since infrared is less affected by haze it is used in

applications where weather conditions may not be as favorable as for mapping

missions (e.g. intelligence).

False color: This is particular useful for interpretation, mainly for analyzing

vegetation (e.g. crop disease) and water pollution.

 Geometric Properties of Aerial Photographs

1. Vertical photograph: An aerial photograph made with camera axis or

optical axis coinciding with direction of gravity.

2. Tilted photograph: An aerial photograph made with camera having its

optical axis tilted usually less than 30 from the vertical, is known as tilted
photograph.

3. Oblique photograph: An aerial photograph taken with the camera axis

directly intentionally between the horizontal and vertical.

4. Perspective center: The real or imaginary point of the origin of bundles

of perspective rays. In an aerial camera, there are two perspective points –
one perspective center which relates to point on the photograph and the
other which relates to the objects photographed.
 Geometric Properties of Aerial Photographs

5. Principal distance: The distance between the principal point of the

photograph and the point through which all rays of light are assumed to
pass. In a properly adjusted camera, the principal distance is about equal to the
focal length of the lens. But the principal distance of camera and focal length
of lens are different.

6. Principal axis: The line joining the principal point of the photograph and
the point through which all rays of light are assumed to pass.

7. Principal Point: The point at which the normal from the perspective center
(inner node) intersects the image plane. In a perfect camera this will be
identical to the (principal) point of auto collimation. Not identical to nadir
point unless the camera is perfectly free of tilt.
 Geometric Properties of Aerial Photographs

•
 Geometric Properties of Aerial Photographs

8. Camera axis C-PP axis defined by the projection center C and the principal
point PP. The camera axis represents the optical axis. It is perpendicular to the
image plane

9. Nadir point N’ also called photo nadir point, is the intersection of vertical
(plumb line) from perspective center with photograph. Point where the vertical
line through the perspective center of an aerial camera intersects the plane of
the photograph (where the image of the plumb point is formed).

10. Ground Nadir Point N intersection of vertical from perspective center with
the earth’s surface.

11. Tilt angle t angle between vertical and camera axis.

12. Swing angle s is the angle at the principal point measured from the +y-axis
counterclockwise to the nadir N
 Geometric Properties of Aerial Photographs

13. Azimuth α is the angle at the ground nadir N measured from the +Y-axis in the
ground system counterclockwise to the intersection O of the camera axis with
the ground surface. It is the azimuth of the trace of the principal plane in the XY
-plane of the ground system.

14. Focal Length c Focal length refers to the distance between the film plane and
the camera lens. Different lenses have different focal lengths. The lenses
with greater focal length have narrower view but more clarity. Contrarily, the
lenses with lesser focal length captures wider view but with lesser clarity than
the greater focal length lenses.

15. Isocenter I is the intersection of the bisector of angle t with the photograph. It
is on the principal line.
 Photo scale

• The scale of an aerial photograph can be defined as the ratio

between an image distance on the photograph and the
corresponding horizontal ground distance.
• Note that if a correct photographic scale ratio is to be computed
using this definition, the image distance and the ground distance
must be measured in parallel horizontal planes.
• This condition rarely occurs in practice since the photograph is
likely to be tilted and the ground surface is seldom a flat horizontal
plane. Therefore, scale will vary throughout the format of a
photograph, and photographic scale can be defined only at a point.
 Photo scale

1. The scale at a point on a truly vertical photograph is given by:

• Where:
– S= photographic scale at a point
– f= camera focal length
– H= flying height above datum
– h= elevation above datum of the point

• Equation 2.1 is exact for truly vertical photographs and

is typically used to calculate scale on nearly vertical
photographs.
 Photo scale

2. In some instances, such as flight planning calculations,

approximate scaled distances are adequate. If all ground points
are assumed to lie at an average elevation, an average
photographic scale can be adopted for direct measurements of
ground distances. Average scale is calculated by

• Where is the average ground elevation in the photo. Then

referring to the vertical photograph shown in Figure 2.1, the
approximate horizontal length of the line AB is
 Photo scale

• D= horizontal ground distance

• d= photograph image distance

 Relief Displacement

• Relief displacement is the radial offset from the principal point due to object
height, Figure 2.2. The amount of displacement is a function of an object's
height and where it appears on the image.
 Relief Displacement

On the picture we see that:

• Cylinder A is the only one whose top is directly over its bottom, the other
cylinders lean away from A with their tops displaced outward.
• Cylinders J and L are approximately the same distance from A; their tops shift
the same amount but in opposite directions; cylinders K and M behave similarly.
• Cylinder N is twice the distance from A as M; its top shifts about twice M's.

• Cylinders B and N are the same distance from A; B is shorter and its top shift is
slightly less than N's.
 Relief Displacement

• Relief is the elevation of

object above or below the
datum. Relief displacement is
the lateral displacement (also
called as shift) in the position
of image on the photograph
of a ground object. If the
object is above the datum,
relief displacement is
outwards, whereas, if the
object is below the datum,
the relief displacement is
inwards.
 Relief Displacement

• Relief displacement can be used to determine object heights, Figure 2.3. The top
and bottom of the object must be visible on the photo and the top must be
vertically above the bottom. Figure of object and measurement or photo

Height from relief displacement

 Relief Displacement

• Height is determined using Equation below

where

h - object height above ground

hb - elevation at base of object
H - Camera height above datum
H' - Camera height above base of object
rb - radial distance from principal point to object base
rt - radial distance from principal point to object top
 Relief Displacement

• Relief displacement refers to the lateral shift in the position of

an object in an aerial photograph due to its elevation above or
below a reference datum.
• Relief displacement occurs in aerial photography and remote
sensing when the perspective of the camera causes objects at
different heights to appear displace from their true positions. This
displacement is radial from the principal point of the photograph
and varies based on the object’s elevation relative to the datum (a
reference point, often sea level).
 Relief Displacement
• Outward Displacement: If an object is above the datum, the relief
displacement is outward from the principal point.
• Inward Displacement: Conversely, if the object is below the
datum, the displacement is inward
Mathematical Relationship
The relationship between relief displacement (d), the height of the
object (h), and the flying height of the aircraft (H) can be expressed
mathematically. The formula is as follows:

Where:
• d= relief displacement
• h= height of the object above the datum
• H= flying height of the camera above the ground
• r= radial distance from the principal point to the top of the object
 Coordinate systems in aerial photogrammetry

Image Space Coordinate System

• Definition: A local Cartesian 3-D system tied to the camera and image plane used to
describe positions inside the camera and on the image.
• Origins and axes: Origin at the camera perspective center for image space (or at the
image center/principal point for the 2‑D image plane). X and Y axes lie in the image
plane; Z axis is the optical axis (typically z = focal length f for image points).
• Units and measurements: Millimeters or microns on film/diapositive or pixels for a
digital sensor after conversion. Coordinates are often called image vectors or photo
vectors.
• Purpose: Models the geometric projection from object points to image points,
supports interior orientation (camera calibration) and lens distortion modeling.
• Characteristics: Camera-centric; contains perspective projection geometry; not
georeferenced to the ground; scale varies with depth (distance along optical axis).
 Coordinate systems in aerial photogrammetry

Object Space Coordinate System

• Definition: A 3‑D Cartesian system that represents ground or scene coordinates
where object points have real-world positions. Examples include local topocentric
(LSR), projected systems (e.g., UTM, State Plane), or geocentric (X,Y,Z).
• Origins and axes: Origin and orientation depend on chosen datum and projection;
axes are typically fixed to Earth or a local tangent plane.
• Units and measurements: Meters (or other linear ground units); heights
referenced to a datum (ellipsoid or geoid).
• Purpose: Stores georeferenced coordinates for mapping, measurements, DEMs,
and integration with other geospatial datasets.
• Characteristics: Ground-centric; uniform units; used for orthorectified products
and map outputs.
 Coordinate systems in aerial photogrammetry
Key differences summarized
• Reference frame: image space = camera-centered; object space = ground- or Earth-centered.

• Units: image space uses image units (mm, microns, pixels); object space uses ground units

(meters).

• Projection behavior: image space is governed by perspective projection (central projection) with

scale varying by depth; object space is Cartesian with fixed spatial relationships and map-scale

conventions.

• Purpose in workflow: image space is for measurement, calibration, distortion correction, interior

orientation; object space is for mapping, georeferencing, and delivering final products (maps,

DEMs, orthophotos).

• Transformations needed: interior orientation maps measuring-system coordinates to image

coordinates; exterior orientation (camera position and attitude) plus collinearity equations or

projective transforms map image space to object space; orthorectification corrects terrain and

sensor effects to place pixels in object space.

 Coordinate systems

Two primary reference coordinate system, will be considered in

photogrammetry:
– Image space coordinate system and

– Object space coordinate system.

• These coordinates will be considered as Cartesian and right handed.

• Different coordinates system can be transformed into Cartesian such as

ellipsoidal object space coordinate expressed as latitude, longitude and height
(∅,𝜆,ℎ), might be transformed into a local space rectangular (LSR) topocentric
system or into universal space rectangular (USR) geocentric system.
• The location of a pixel in a file or on a displayed or printed image is expressed
using a coordinate system.
 Generally, in some software, the basic coordinate systems used
are:

Pixel or File Coordinate System

Pixel coordinate system or sometimes is called file coordinates (data
file) of a digital image are defined in a pixel coordinate system, it is
specified as:
• A pixel coordinate system is usually a coordinate system with its
origin in the upper-left corner of the image,
• The x-axis pointing to the right, the y-axis pointing downward, and
the units in pixels, as shown by axes c and r in the below figure.
• These file coordinates (c, r) can also be thought of as the pixel
column and row number, respectively.
Pixel or File Coordinate System
 Image Coordinate System

An image coordinate system or an image plane coordinate system is

usually defined as a 2D coordinate system occurring on the image
plane it is specified as following:
• It is origin at the image center, it is also referred to as the principal
point.
• On aerial photographs, the principal point is defined as the
intersection of opposite fiducial marks as illustrated by axes x and y
see the figure.
• Image coordinates are used to describe positions on the film plane.
Image coordinate units are usually millimeters or microns.
Image Coordinate System
 Image Space Coordinate System

• An image space coordinate system as shown in the fig below is identical to

image coordinates, except that it adds a third axis (z).
• The origin of the image space coordinate system is defined at the
perspective center S as shown in the figure below.
• Its x-axis and y-axis are parallel to the x-axis and y-axis in the image
plane coordinate system.
• The z-axis is the optical axis; therefore, the z value of an image point
in the image space coordinate system is usually equal to the focal
length of the camera (f).
• Image space coordinates are used to describe positions inside the
camera, and usually use units in millimeters or microns.
 Object Space Coordinate Systems

• In order to keep the mathematical development of relating image

and object space simple, both spaces use 3-D cartesian coordinate
systems.
• Positions of control points in object space are likely available in
another coordinate systems, e.g. State Plane coordinates.
• It is important to convert any given coordinate system to a
cartesian system before photogrammetric procedures, such as
orientations or aerotriangulation, are performed.
 Photo Coordinate System

• Measurements can be
made on the photo
positive instead of the
negative because they
share the same
geometry, including
focal length.
Connecting fiducial
marks defines the
photo coordinate
system, Figure below
 Photo Coordinate System

• The positive x-axis is in the direction of flight with positive y-axis to the left.
The principal point, o, is at the intersection of the two axes, coinciding with the
coordinate system origin. For basic measurements, the axes are assumed
perpendicular. Camera calibration data may indicate otherwise, in which case
axes non-orthogonality may need to be accounted for.
• The photo-coordinate system serves as the reference for expressing spatial
positions and relations of the image space.
• It is a 3-D Cartesian system with the origin at the perspective center.

• Fig. 2.3 depicts a diapositive with fiducial marks that define the fiducial center
FC. During the calibration procedure, the offset between fiducial center and
principal point of autocollimation, PP, is determined, as well as the origin of the
radial distortion, PS.
 Photo Coordinate System

• The x, y coordinate plane is parallel to the photograph and the positive x-axis
points toward the flight direction.
• Positions in the image space are expressed by point vectors. For example, point
vector p defines the position of point P on the diapositive (see Fig. 2.4). Point
vectors of positions on the diapositive (or negative) are also called image
vectors. We have for point P
• Note that for a diapositive the third component is negative. This changes to a
positive value in the rare case a negative is used instead of a diapositive.
Photo Coordinate System
 Ground Coordinates

• The photo coordinate system can be projected vertically to datum

to create a local ground coordinate system, Figure below
• Directions of ground and photo axes are the same, origins coincide horizontally.

• If the tilt is excessive (>2°), the photo and ground coordinate systems will not
be parallel introducing spatial error. The higher the flying height, the more
pronounced the error.
• Although the ground coordinate system is arbitrary based on the photo,
coordinates can be transformed to a formal system if two or more control points
appear on the photo.
 Interior Orientation

• During the process of camera calibration, the interior orientation of the camera
is determined.
• The interior orientation data describe the metric characteristics of the
camera needed for photogrammetric processes.
• The elements of interior orientation are:
1. The position of the perspective center with respect to the fiducial marks.

2. The coordinates of the fiducial marks or distances between them so that coordinates
can be determined.

3. The calibrated focal length of the camera.

4. The radial and discentering distortion of the lens assembly, including the origin
of radial distortion with respect to the fiducial system.

5. Image quality measures such as resolution.

 Interior Orientation

• The purpose of interior orientation is to establish the relationship between

a measuring system1 and the photo-coordinate system.
• This is necessary because it is not possible to measure photo-coordinates
directly. One reason is that the origin of the photo-coordinate system is only
mathematically defined; since it is not visible it cannot coincide with the origin
of the measuring system.
• Fig. 2.5 illustrates the case where the diapositive to be measured is inserted in
the measuring system whose coordinate axis are xm, ym. The task is to
determine
the transformation parameters so that measured points can be transformed into
photocoordinates.
Interior Orientation
 Interior Orientation

•
 Affine Transformation

• The affine transformation is an improved mathematical model for the interior

orientation because it more closely describes the physical reality of the
measuring system.
• The parameters are:
– Two scale factors ,
– A rotational angle ,
– A skew angle and
– A translational vector

• The measuring system is a manufactured product and,

as such, not perfect. For example, the two coordinate axis are not exactly
rectangular, as indicated in Fig. 2.5.
 Affine Transformation

• The skew angle expresses the nonperpendicularity. Also, the scale is different
between the two axis.
• We have:

• Where:
 Correction for Radial Distortion

•
•
 Correction for Refraction

•
•