Using horizontal and vertical building structure to constrain indirect sensor orientation

This paper presents a method to integrate linear horizontal, vertical and right-angled scene structures into the bundle adjustment of image sequences. An increasing number of airborne image acquisition systems is available and equipped with non-metric small- or medium-frame cameras and no or insufficiently accurate INS devices. In cases where the data is to be used for the production of geo-spatial data, where a certain accuracy and precision is required, an indirect sensor orientation, possibly including self-calibration, needs to be performed. The idea which led to the presented approach is to reduce the number of GCPs necessary for this task by applying the mentioned scene structures. The method directly uses the linear structures, visible at man-made objects as fictive observations within the adjustment, while self-calibration of intrinsic camera parameters and lens distortion is included as well.