Validation of preliminary geometric positioning accuracy for China’s civil high-resolution surveying and mapping satellites: Ziyuan-3 01 and Gaofen-7 panchromatic imagery

Abstract

ABSTRACT The positioning accuracy of Ziyuan-3 01 (ZY-3 01) and Gaofen-7 (GF-7) panchromatic imagery, obtained during the early deployment of the satellites, was verified. Particularly, this paper first validated the geometric positioning accuracy of GF-7 panchromatic imagery. Based on the rigorous geometric model of surveying and mapping satellites, this study applied a geometric calibration (GC) model using the Rodrigues rotation matrix. Also, we employed the self-calibrating bundle adjustment with an additional parameter model to compensate for the internal orientation distortion. The results show that the positioning accuracy can be largely improved with few ground control points. Especially, the horizontal accuracy (specified in x and y) and elevation accuracy of ZY-3 01 in the Anping area are around 4 m and 2 m, respectively, and that of GF-7 in the Beijing area can achieve 3.2 m, 2.8 m, and 1.2 m in the x, y, and z directions, respectively.