Tracking Uncertainty in Derived Height Data

Abstract

This chapter discusses the tracking of uncertainty in height data derived from stereo imagery that has been obtained from an airborne electro-optical digital multi-spectral imaging system. The overall objective of the software described has been to prepare the data for input into Geographic Information Systems, and to provide the ground coordinates of the data with the greatest accuracy possible. This article has two objectives: to provide a brief overview of the digital imagery procedures used to process the raw imagery and ancillary inertial navigation system data to achieve photogrammetric adjustment, geometric correction, and terrain height extraction, and, second, to illustrate the results of processing a representative data set. One of the final products produced by the software processing systems is a mosaic of ortho-imagery, using the nadir views and the terrain height data generated from the stereo imagery. The chapter discusses the methods and the procedures that are being developed at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing for tracking or carrying the absolute and relative accuracies of the derived data products from the raw data through to the final products. The paper concludes with an example of some processed imagery and derived height data along with the confidence measure or uncertainty of the derived height.