Lecture 04: Space

Intersection & Analytical

Stereomodel

© 2019 Dr. Sarhat M Adam

BSc in civil Engineering
Msc in Geodetic Surveying
PhD in Engineering Surveying & Space Geodesy
Note – Figures and materials in the slides may be the authors own work or
extracted from internet websites, Materials by Duhok or Nottingham
universities staff and their slides, author's own knowledge, or various internet
image sources and books example (Element of Photogrammetry by wolf).
Mostly from P MAUNGA Slides
If space resection is used to determine the elements of
exterior orientation for both photos of a stereopair, then
object point coordinates for points that lie in the stereo
overlap area can be calculated by the procedure known
as space intersection…

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 2
 Space Intersection By
Collinearity
Use: To determine object point coordinates for points that lie in the stereo overlap area of two
photographs that make up a stereopair.
Principle: Corresponding rays to the same object point from two photos of a stereopair must
intersect at the point.
For a ground point A:
Collinearity equations are written for image point
a1 of the left photo (of the stereopair), and for
image point a2 of the right photo, giving 4
equations.
The only unknowns are XA, YA and ZA.
Since equations have been linearized using
Taylor’s theorem, initial approximations are
required for each point whose object space
coordinates are to be computed.
Initial approximations are determined using
the parallax equations.

Chapter 11
3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 3
 Parallax Equations
Parallax Equations:
1) pa = xa – x’a
2) hA = H – B.f/pa
3) XA = B.xa/pa
4) YA = B.ya/pa
where
hA is the elevation of point A above datum
H is the flying height above datum
B is the air base (distance between the exposure stations)
f is the focal length of the camera
pa is the parallax of point A
XA and YA are ground coordinates of point A in the
coordinate system with origin at the datum point P of the
Lpho, X axis is in same vertical plane as x and x’ flight
axes and Y axis passes through the datum point of the
Lpho and is perpendicular to the X axis
xa and ya are the photo coordinates of point a measured wrt
the flight line axes on the left photo

Chapter 8
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 Applying Parallax Equations
to Space Intersection
For applying parallax equations, H and B have to be determined:
Since X, Y, Z coordinates for both exposure stations are known,
H is taken as average of ZL1 and ZL2 and
B = [ (XL2-XL1)2 + (YL2-YL1)2 ]1/2

The resulting coordinates from the parallax equations are in the arbitrary
ground coordinate system.
To convert them to, for instance WGS84, a conformal coordinate transformation
is used.

Chapter 11
3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 5
Now that we know how to determine object space
coordinates of a common point in a stereopair, we can
examine the overall procedure for all the points in the
stereopair...

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 6
 Analytical Stereomodel
Aerial photographs for most applications are taken so that adjacent photos overlap by
more than 50%. Two adjacent photographs that overlap in this manner form a
stereopair.
Object points that appear in the overlap area of a stereopair constitute a stereomodel.
The mathematical calculation of 3D ground coordinates of points in the stereomodel by
analytical photogrammetric techniques forms an analytical stereomodel.

The process of forming an analytical stereomodel involves 3 primary steps:

1. Interior orientation (also called “photo coordinate refinement”): Mathematically
recreates the geometry that existed in the camera when a particular photograph was
exposed.
2. Relative (exterior) orientation: Determines the relative angular attitude and positional
displacement between the photographs that existed when the photos were taken.
3. Absolute (exterior) orientation: Determines the absolute angular attitude and positions
of both photographs.
After these three steps are achieved, points in the analytical stereomodel will have object
coordinates in the ground coordinate system.

Chapter 11
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 Analytical Relative Orientation
Analytical relative orientation involves defining (assuming) certain elements of exterior orientation
and calculating the remaining ones.

Initialization:

If the parameters are set to the values

mentioned (i.e., ω1=Ф1=қ1=XL1=YL1=0,
ZL1=f, XL2=b),

Then the scale of the stereomodel is

approximately equal to photo scale.

Now, x and y photo coordinates of the

left photo are good approximations for X
and Y object space coordinates, and

zeros are good approximations for Z

object space coordinates.

Chapter 11
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 Analytical Relative Orientation
1) All exterior orientation elements, excluding ZL1 of the left photo of the stereopair are
set to zero values.
2) For convenience, ZL of left photo (ZL1) is set to f and XL of right photo (XL2) is set to
photo base b.
3) This leaves 5 elements of the right photo that must be determined.
4) Using collinearity condition, min of 5 object points are required to solve for the
unknowns, since each point used in relative orientation is net gain of one equation for
the overall solution (since their X,Y and Z coordinates are unknowns too)

No. of points in overlap No. of equations No. of unknowns

1 4 (2+2) 5+3=8
2 4+4=8 8 + 3 = 11
3 8 + 4 = 12 11 + 3 = 14
4 12 + 4 = 16 14 + 3 = 17
5 16 + 4 =20 17 + 3 =20
6 20 + 4 = 24 20 + 3 = 23

Chapter 11
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 Analytical Absolute Orientation
Stereomodel coordinates of tie points are related to their 3D coordinates in a (real, earth based) ground
coordinate system. For small stereomodel such as that computed from one stereopair, analytical
absolute orientation can be performed using a 3D conformal coordinate transformation.

Requires minimum of two horizontal and three vertical control points. (20 equations with 8 unknowns
plus the 12 exposure station parameters for the two photos:closed form solution). Additional control
points provide redundancy, enabling a least squares solution.

(horizontal control: the position of the point in object space is known wrt a horizontal datum;
vertical control: the elevation of the point is known wrt a vertical datum)

Once the transformation parameters have been computed, they can be applied to the remaining
stereomodel points, including the XL, YL and ZL coordinates of the left and right photographs. This
gives the coordinates of all stereomodel points in the ground system.
No. of equations No. of additional unknowns Total no. of unknowns
1 horizontal control point 2 per photo =>total 4 1 unknown Z value 12 exterior orientation
parameters + 1 = 13
1 vertical control point 2 equations per photo => 4 2 unknown X and Y values 12 + 2 = 14
equations total
2 horizontal control points 4 * 2 = 8 equations 1*2=2 12 + 2 = 14

3 vertical control points 4 * 3 = 12 equations 2*3=6 12 + 6 = 18

2 horizontal + 3 vertical 8 + 12 = 20 equations 2+6=8 12 + 8 = 20

control points
Chapter 16 & 11
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As already mentioned while covering camera
calibration, camera calibration can also be included
in a combined interior-relative-absolute orientation.
This is known as analytical self-calibration…

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 Analytical Self Calibration

Analytical self-calibration is a computational process wherein camera calibration

parameters are included in the photogrammetric solution, generally in a
combined interior-relative-absolute orientation.

The process uses collinearity equations that have been augmented with
additional terms to account for adjustment of the calibrated focal length,
principal-point offsets, and symmetric radial and decentering lens distortion.

In addition, the equations might include corrections for atmospheric refraction.

With the inclusion of the extra unknowns, it follows that additional independent
equations will be needed to obtain a solution.

Chapter 11
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So far we have assumed that a certain amount of
ground control is available to us for using in space
resection, etc. Lets take a look at the acquisition of
these ground control points…

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 Ground Control
for Aerial Photogrammetry
Ground control consists of any points
• whose positions are known in an object-space coordinate system and
• whose images can be positively identified in the photographs.

Classification of photogrammetric control:

1. Horizontal control: the position of the point in object space is known wrt a
horizontal datum
2. Vertical control: the elevation of the point is known wrt a vertical datum

Images of acceptable photo control points must satisfy two requirements:

1. They must be sharp, well defined and positively identified on all photos, and
2. They must lie in favorable locations in the photographs

.
Chapter 16
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 Photo Control Points
for Aerotriangulation
The Number of ground-surveyed photo control needed varies with
1. size, shape and nature of area,
2. accuracy required, and
3. procedures, instruments, and personnel to be used.

In general, more dense the ground control, the better the accuracy in the
supplemental control determined by aerotriangulation. – thesis of our
targeting project!!

There is an optimum number, which affords maximum economic benefit and maintains a
satisfactory standard of accuracy.

The methods used for establishing ground control are:

1. Traditional land surveying techniques

2. Using Global Positioning System (GPS)

Chapter 16
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Having covered processing techniques for single
points, we examine the process at a higher level, for
all the photographs…

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 Aerotriangulation
• It is the process of determining the X, Y, and Z ground coordinates of
individual points based on photo coordinate measurements.
•consists of photo measurement followed by numerical interior,
relative, and absolute orientation from which ground coordinates
are computed.
• For large projects, the number of control points needed is extensive
• cost can be extremely high
•. Much of this needed control can be established by aerotriangulation
for only a sparse network of field surveyed ground control.
• Using GPS in the aircraft to provide coordinates of the camera
eliminates the need for ground control entirely
• in practice a small amount of ground control is still used to
strengthen the solution.
Chapter 17
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 Pass Points for
Aerotriangulation
• selected as 9 points in a format of 3 rows X 3 columns,
equally spaced over photo.
• The points may be images of natural, well-defined objects
that appear in the required photo areas
• if such points are not available, pass points may be
artificially marked.
• Digital image matching can be used to select points in the
overlap areas of digital images and automatically match
them between adjacent images.
• essential step of “automatic aerotriangulation”.

Chapter 17
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 Analytical Aerotriangulation
The most elementary approach consists of the following basic steps:

1. relative orientation of each stereomodel

2. connection of adjacent models to form continuous strips and/or
blocks, and
3. simultaneous adjustment of the photos from the strips and/or blocks
to field-surveyed ground control

X and Y coordinates of pass points can be located to an accuracy of

1/15,000 of the flying height, and Z coordinates can be located to an
accuracy of 1/10,000 of the flying height.

With specialized equipment and procedures, planimetric accuracy of

1/350,000 of the flying height and vertical accuracy of 1/180,000
have been achieved.

Chapter 17
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 Analytical Aerotriangulation
• Several variations exist. Technique
• Basically, all methods consist of writing equations that express the unknown
elements of exterior orientation of each photo in terms of camera constants,
measured photo coordinates, and ground coordinates.

• The equations are solved to determine the unknown orientation parameters

and either simultaneously or subsequently, coordinates of pass points are
calculated.

• By far the most common condition equations used are the collinearity
equations.

• Analytical procedures like Bundle Adjustment can simultaneously enforce

collinearity condition on to 100s of photographs.

Chapter 17
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 Simultaneous Bundle
Adjustment
Adjusting all photogrammetric measurements to ground control values
in a single solution is known as a bundle adjustment. The process is so
named because of the many light rays that pass through each lens
position constituting a bundle of rays.

The bundles from all photos are adjusted simultaneously so that

corresponding light rays intersect at positions of the pass points and
control points on the ground.

After the normal equations have been formed, they are solved for the
unknown corrections to the initial approximations for exterior orientation
parameters and object space coordinates.

The corrections are then added to the approximations, and the

procedure is repeated until the estimated standard deviation of unit
weight converges.

Chapter 17
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 Quantities in Bundle
Adjustment
The unknown quantities to be obtained in a bundle adjustment consist of:
1. The X, Y and Z object space coordinates of all object points, and
2. The exterior orientation parameters of all photographs

The observed quantities (measured) associated with a bundle adjustment are:

1. x and y photo coordinates of images of object points,
2. X, Y and/or Z coordinates of ground control points,
3. direct observations of exterior orientation parameters of the photographs.

The first group of observations, photo coordinates, is the fundamental photogrammetric

measurements.

The next group of observations is coordinates of control points determined through field
survey.

The final set of observations can be estimated using airborne GPS control system as well
as inertial navigation systems (INSs) which have the capability of measuring the
angular attitude of a photograph.

Chapter 17
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 Bundle Adjustment on a Photo
Consider a small block consisting of Block
2 strips with 4 photos per strip, with 20
pass points and 6 control points, totaling 26 object points; with 6 of those also
serving as tie points connecting the two adjacent strips.

Chapter 17
3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 24
 Bundle Adjustment on a Photo
Block
To repeat, consider a small block consisting of 2 strips with 4 photos per strip, with 20 pass points and 6
control points, totaling 26 object points; with 6 of those also serving as tie points connecting the two
adjacent strips.

In this case,
The number of unknown object coordinates No. of imaged points =
= no. of object points X no. of coordinates per object point = 26X3 = 78 4X8
The number of unknown exterior orientation parameters (photos 1, 4, 5 & 8
= no. of photos X no. of exterior orientation parameters per photo = 8X6 = 48 have 8 imaged points
Total number of unknowns = 78 + 48 = 126 each)
+
The number of photo coordinate observations
= no. of imaged points X no. of photo coordinates per point = 76 X 2 = 152 4 X 11
The number of ground control observations (photos 2, 3, 6 & 7 have
= no. of 3D control points X no. of coordinates per point = 6X3 = 18 11 imaged points each)
The number of exterior orientation parameters = total 76 point images
= no. of photos X no. of exterior orientation parameters per photo = 8X6 = 48

If all 3 types of observations are included, there will be a total of 152+18+48=218 observations; but if
only the first two types are included, there will be only 152+18=170 observations
Thus, regardless of whether exterior orientation parameters were observed, a least squares solution is
possible since the number of observations in either case (218 and 170) is greater than the number
of unknowns (126 and 78, respectively).

Chapter 17
3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 25
Linearization of our non-linear
equation set
◼ Our Least Squares Solution was for a
linear set of equations
◼ Remember in all our photogrammetric
equations we have sines, cosines etc.
◼ Need to linearize
◼ Use Taylor Series Expansion

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 26
 Review of Collinearity Equations
Collinearity equations:
Collinearity equations:
 m ( X − X L ) + m12 (YA − YL ) + m13 ( Z A − Z L ) 
xa = xo − f  11 A 
 m31( X A − X L ) + m32 (YA − YL ) + m33 ( Z A − Z L )  • are nonlinear and
• involve 9 unknowns:
 m ( X − X L ) + m22 (YA − YL ) + m23 ( Z A − Z L ) 
ya = yo − f  21 A  1. omega, phi, kappa
 m31( X A − X L ) + m32 (YA − YL ) + m33 ( Z A − Z L ) 
inherent in the m’s
Where, 2. Object point coordinates
xa, ya are the photo coordinates of image point a (XA, YA, ZA )
XA, YA, ZA are object space coordinates of object/ground
point A
3. Exposure station
coordinates (XL, YL, ZL )
XL, YL, ZL are object space coordinates of exposure
station location
f is the camera focal length
xo, yo are the coordinates of the principal point
m’s are functions of rotation angles omega, phi, kappa
(as derived earlier)

Ch. 11 & App D

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 Linearization of Collinearity
Equations
Rewriting the collinearity equations:

r  where
F = xo − f   = xa
q q = m31( X A − X L ) + m32 (YA − YL ) + m33 (Z A − Z L )

s r = m11( X A − X L ) + m12 (YA − YL ) + m13 (Z A − Z L )

G = yo − f   = y a
q s = m21( X A − X L ) + m22 (YA − YL ) + m23 (Z A − Z L )

Applying Taylor’s theorem to these equations (using only upto first order
partial derivatives), we get…

Appendix D
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 Linearized Collinearity Equations
 d +  Terms
 F   F   F   F   F 
F +  d +   d +   dX +   dY
   0    0    0  X L  0  YL  0
0 L L

 F   F   F   F 
+   dZ L +   dX A +   dYA +   dZ A = xa
 Z L 0  X A 0 
 A 0
Y 
 A 0
Z

 G   G   G   G   G 
G0 +   d +   d +   d +   dX L +   dYL
   0    0    0  X L 0  YL 0
 G   G   G   G 
+   dZ L +   dX A +   dYA +   dZ A = ya
 Z L 0  X A  0  YA  0  Z A  0
where
F0, G0: functions of F and G evaluated at the initial approximations for the 9
unknowns;

 F   F   G   G  are partial derivatives of F and G wrt the

  ,   ,   ,   , etc., indicated unknowns evaluated at the initial
  0   0   0   0 approximation

d, d , d , etc., are unknown corrections to be applied to the initial approximations.

(angles are in radians)
Appendix D
3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 30
 Simplified Linearized Collinearity
a
Equations
Since photo coordinates x and y are measured values, if the equations are to be
a
used in a least squares solution, residual terms must be included to make the
equations consistent.
The following simplified forms of the linearized collinearity equations include these
residuals:
b11d + b12d + b13d − b14dX L − b15dYL − b16dZ L
+ b14dX A + b15dYA + b16dZ A = J + vxa

b21d + b22d + b23d − b24dX L − b25dYL − b26dZ L

+ b24dX A + b25dYA + b26dZ A = K + v ya
where J = xa – F0, K = ya - G0 and the b’s are coefficients equal to the partial derivatives

In linearization using Taylor’s series, higher order terms are ignored, hence
these equations are approximations.
They are solved iteratively, until the magnitudes of corrections to initial
approximations become negligible.
Chapter 11
3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 31
We need to generalize and rewrite the linearized
collinearity conditions in matrix form.
While looking at the collinearity condition, we were only
concerned with one object space point (point A).
Lets first generalize and then express the equations in
matrix form…

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 32
 Generalizing Collinearity
Equations
The observation equations which are the foundation of a bundle adjustment are the
collinearity equations:
 m11i ( X j − X Li ) + m12i (Y j − YLi ) + m13i ( Z j − Z Li ) 
xij = xo − f   These non-linear equations
 31i j
m ( X − X Li ) + m32i (Y j − YLi ) + m33 ( Z j − Z Li 
) 
involve 9 unknowns: omega,
phi, kappa inherent in the m’s,
object point coordinates (Xj, Yj,
 m21i ( X j − X L i ) + m22i (Y j − YLi ) + m23i ( Z j − Z Li )  Zj ) and exposure station
yij = yo − f   coordinates (XLi, YLi, ZLi )
 31i j
m ( X − X Li ) + m32i (Y j − YLi ) + m33i ( Z j − Z Li 
) 
Where,
xij, yij are the measured photo coordinates of the image of point j on photo i related to the
fiducial axis system
Xj, Yj, Zj are coordinates of point j in object space
XLi, YLi, ZLi are the coordinates of the eyepoint of the camera
f is the camera focal length
xo, yo are the coordinates of the principal point
m11i, m12i, ..., m33i are the rotation matrix terms for photo i

Ch. 11 & App D

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 33
Coming to the actual observations in the observation
equations (collinearity conditions), first we consider the
photo coordinate observations, then ground control and
finally exterior orientation parameters…

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 34
Now that we have all our observation equations and the
observations, the next step in applying least squares, is
to form the normal equations…

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 35
Now that we have the equations ready to solve, we can
solve them with the initial approximations and iterate till
the iterated solutions do not change in value.

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 36
 Summary
The mathematical concepts covered today were:
1. Least squares adjustment (formulating observation equations and reducing
to normal equations)
2. Collinearity condition equations (derivation and linearization)
3. Space Resection (finding exterior orientation parameters)
4. Space Intersection (finding object space coordinates of common point in
stereopair)
5. Analytical Stereomodel (interior, relative and absolute orientation)
6. Ground control for Aerial photogrammetry
7. Aerotriangulation
8. Bundle adjustment (adjusting all photogrammetric measurements to ground
control values in a single solution)- conventional and RPC based

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 37
 Terms
A lot of the terminology is such that can sometimes cause confusion. For
instance, while pass points and tie points mean the same thing, (ground)
control points refer to tie points whose coordinates in the object
space/ground control coordinate system are known, while the term check
points refers to points that are treated as tie points, but whose actual
ground coordinates are very accurately known.
Below are some more terms used in photogrammetry, along with their brief
descriptions:
1. stereopair: two adjacent photographs that overlap by more than 50%
2. space resection: finding the 6 elements of exterior orientation
3. space intersection: finding object point coordinates for points in stereo
overlap

4. stereomodel: object points that appear in the overlap area of a stereopair

5. analytical stereopair: 3D ground coordinates of points in stereomodel,
mathematically calculated using analytical photogrammetric techniques

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 38
 Terms
6. interior orientation: photo coordinate refinement, including corrections
for film distortions, lens distortion, atmospheric refraction, etc.
7. relative orientation: relative angular attitude and positional
displacement of two photographs.
8. absolute orientation: exposure station orientations related to a ground
based coordinate system.
9. aerotriangulation: determination of X, Y and Z ground coordinates of
individual points based on photo measurements.
10. bundle adjustment: adjusting all photogrammetric measurements to
ground control values in a single solution
11. horizontal tie points: tie pts whose X and Y coordinates are known.
12. vertical tie points: tie pts whose Z coordinate is known

3/8/2019 P MAUNGA 39
 References
1. Wolf, Dewitt: “Elements of Photogrammetry”, McGraw Hill, 2000
2. Dial, Grodecki: “Block Adjustment with Rational Polynomial
Camera Models”, ACSM-ASPRS 2002 Annual Conference
Proceedings, 2002
3. Grodecki, Dial: “Block Adjustment of High-Resolution Satellite
Images described by Rational Polynomials”, PE&RS Jan 2003
4. Wikipedia
5. Other online resources
6. Software reviews from:
http://www.gisdevelopment.net/downloads/photo/index.htm and
http://www.gisvisionmag.com/vision.php?article=200202%2Frevie
w.html

3/8/2019 P Maunga(MSU) 40
 Analytical Relative Orientation
◼ Analytical relative orientation involves defining (assuming) certain
elements of exterior orientation and calculating the remaining ones.