Abstract
As the number of objects in Earth's atmosphere and in low Earth orbit is continuously increasing; accurate surveillance of these objects has become important. This paper presents a generic, low cost sky surveillance system based on stereovision. Two cameras are placed 37 km apart and synchronized by a GPS-controlled external signal. The intrinsic camera parameters are calibrated before setup in the observation position, the translation vectors are determined from the GPS coordinates and the rotation matrices are continuously estimated using an original automatic calibration methodology based on following known stars. The moving objects in the sky are recognized as line segments in the long exposure images, using an automatic detection and classification algorithm based on image processing. The stereo correspondence is based on the epipolar geometry and is performed automatically using the image detection results. The resulting experimental system is able to automatically detect moving objects such as planes, meteors and Low Earth Orbit satellites, and measure their 3D position in an Earth-bound coordinate system.
Highlights
Either due to human activity or to Nature, the night sky is filled with moving objects
In that study we find that RADAR is the preferred technique for observing objects close to the Earth, up to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), but farther away the optical sensors tend to be the best choice, especially when cost effectiveness is taken into consideration
This paper describes a large baseline stereovision system built with low cost components, which can measure with reasonable accuracy the position of objects ranging from 100 to
Summary
Either due to human activity or to Nature, the night sky is filled with moving objects. Meteors, satellites, or even passing asteroids can be observed from Earth, and for many such objects knowing their position is of significant interest. In the context of a permanently increasing number of artificial satellites in the Earth’s orbit, continuous monitoring of their position becomes more and more important, so that collisions may be avoided, orbits may be maintained, and de-orbiting events may be accurately predicted. The easiest and cheapest way to observe the sky is by means of optical systems, cameras and telescopes. The visual data captured by these optical systems can be analyzed through image processing algorithms, in order to automatically detect objects of interest. When two or more optical systems, located in different places on the Earth’s surface, are synchronized, and their images are processed together, one can achieve stereovision, a process that relies on the parallax effect to retrieve
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
