High-resolution Stereo Mapping Satellite Research Articles

Satellite Laser Altimetry Data-Supported High-Accuracy Mapping of GF-7 Stereo Images

GaoFen 7 (GF-7) is China’s first submeter high-resolution stereo mapping satellite with dual-linear-array cameras and a laser altimeter system onboard for high-precision mapping. To further take advantage of the very high elevation accuracy of laser altimetry data and the high relative accuracy with stereo images, an innovative combined adjustment method for GF-7 stereo images with laser altimetry data is presented in this paper. In this method, two flexible and effective schemes were proposed to extract the elevation control point according to the registration of footprint images and stereo images and then utilized as vertical control in the block adjustment to improve the elevation accuracy without ground control points (GCPs). The validation experiments were conducted in Shandong, China, with different terrains. The results demonstrated that, after using the laser altimetry data, the root mean square error (RMSE) of elevation was dramatically improved from the original 2.15 m to 0.75 m, while the maximum elevation error was less than 1.6 m. Moreover, by integrating a few horizontal control points, the planar and elevation accuracy can be simultaneously improved. The results show that the method will be useful for reducing the need for field survey work and improving mapping efficiency.

Low frequency error analysis and calibration for multiple star sensors system of GaoFen7 satellite

ABSTRACT The GaoFen7 (GF7) optical satellite is the first Chinese civilian sub-meter high-resolution stereo mapping satellite and is equipped with a double linear array camera and laser altimeter to achieve large-scale topographic mapping. To improve the accuracy of attitude determination, an attitude determination system comprised of four star sensors is loaded. According to the measurement accuracy and steady performance, the star sensors 1a and 1b is usually used together for satellite attitude calculation, which is called the conventional mode of attitude determination. Then, the combination of star sensors 2a and 2b is called the unconventional mode of attitude determination. Affected by variations in the incident angle of sunlight and solar radiation, thermal deformation occurs in the body and installation structure of the star sensor, which causes Attitude Low-Frequency Error (ALFE) and seriously influences the consistency of attitude determination results of different combination modes for multiple star sensors system. This study proposes an ALFE analysis and calibration approach for the multiple star sensors system of GF7 satellite to ensure the consistency of attitude determination results of different combination modes. Based on the statistical characteristics of the angles of the three axes, the installation parameters of the four star sensors are first calibrated. After analyzing the characteristics of the optical axis angles within 1420 orbit periods over 135 days, the segmented ALFE compensation model between the unconventional and conventional modes is proposed based on the Fourier series model and input parameter of latitude. Based on the on-orbit installation parameters and the ALFE model, the precise attitude determination results of the unconventional mode are calculated. Experimental results show that the attitude determination consistency after compensation is better than 2”. Moreover, the reliable application time range of the compensation model is 30 days to satisfy the requirements for high-precision attitude determination of GF7 satellite.

On-Orbit Absolute Radiometric Calibration and Validation of ZY3-02 Satellite Multispectral Sensor.

This study described the on-orbit vicarious radiometric calibration of Chinese civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite ZY3-02 multispectral imager (MUX). The calibration was based on gray-scale permanent artificial targets, and multiple radiometric calibration tarpaulins (tarps) using a reflectance-based approach between July and September 2016 at Baotou calibration site in China was described. The calibration results reveal a good linear relationship between DN and TOA radiances of ZY3-02 MUX. The uncertainty of this radiometric calibration was 4.33%, indicating that radiometric coefficients of ZY3-02 MUX are reliable. A detailed discussion on the validation analysis of the comparison results between the different radiometric calibration coefficients is presented in this paper. To further validate the reliability of the three coefficients, the calibrated ZY3-02 MUX was compared with Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). The results also indicate that radiometric characteristics of ZY3-02 MUX imagery are reliable and highly accurate for quantitative applications.

On-Orbit Radiometric Performance of GF-7 Satellite Multispectral Imagery

China’s first civilian, sub-meter, high-resolution stereo mapping satellite, GF-7, launched on 3 November 2019. Radiometric characterization of GF-7 multispectral imagery has been performed in this study. A relative radiometric accuracy evaluation of the GF-7 multispectral imagery was performed using several large uniform scenes, and the results showed that the accuracy is better than 2%. The absolute radiometric evaluation of the GF-7 satellite sensor was conducted at the Baotou and Dunhuang calibration sites, using the reflectance-based vicarious approach. The synchronous measurements of surface reflectance and atmospheric parameters were collected as the input for the radiative transfer model. The official radiometrically calibrated coefficient of the GF-7 multispectral imagery was evaluated with the predicted top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance from the radiative transfer model. The results indicated that the absolute radiometric accuracy of GF-7 multispectral imagery is better than 5%. In order to monitor the radiometric stability of the GF-7 satellite multispectral sensor, a relative and absolute radiometric accuracy assessment campaign should be performed several times a year.

Urban Building Extraction and Modeling Using GF-7 DLC and MUX Images

Urban modeling and visualization are highly useful in the development of smart cities. Buildings are the most prominent features in the urban environment, and are necessary for urban decision support; thus, buildings should be modeled effectively and efficiently in three dimensions (3D). In this study, with the help of Gaofen-7 (GF-7) high-resolution stereo mapping satellite double-line camera (DLC) images and multispectral (MUX) images, the boundary of a building is segmented via a multilevel features fusion network (MFFN). A digital surface model (DSM) is generated to obtain the elevation of buildings. The building vector with height information is processed using a 3D modeling tool to create a white building model. The building model, DSM, and multispectral fused image are then imported into the Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) to complete the urban scene level, vividly rendered with environmental effects for urban visualization. The results of this study show that high accuracy of 95.29% is achieved in building extraction using our proposed method. Based on the extracted building vector and elevation information from the DSM, building 3D models can be efficiently created in Level of Details 1 (LOD1). Finally, the urban scene is produced for realistic 3D visualization. This study shows that high-resolution stereo mapping satellite images are useful in 3D modeling for urban buildings and can support the generation and visualization of urban scenes in a large area for different applications.

Coarse-to-Fine Image Matching-Based Footprint Camera Calibration of the GF-7 Satellite.

The GF-7 satellite is China’s first high-resolution stereo mapping satellite that reaches sub-meter resolution, equipped with new-type payloads, such as an area array footprint camera that can achieve synchronization acquisition of laser spots. When the satellite is in space, the variation of camera parameters may occur due to launch vibration and environmental changes, and on-orbit geometric calibration thereby must be made. Coupled with the data from the GF-7 satellite, this paper constructs a geometric imaging model of the area array footprint camera based on the two-dimensional direction angle, and proposes a coarse-to-fine “LPM-SIFT + Phase correlation” matching strategy for the automatic extraction of calibration control points. The single-image calibration experiment shows that the on-orbit geometric calibration model of the footprint camera constructed in this paper is correct and effective. The matching method proposed is used to register the footprint images with the DOM (Digital Orthophoto Map) reference data to obtain dense control points. Compared with the calibration result using a small number of manually collected control points, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the residual of the control points is improved from half a pixel to 1/3, and the RMSE of the same orbit checkpoints in the image space is improved from 1 pixel to 0.7. It can be concluded that using the coarse-to-fine image matching method proposed in this paper to extract control points can significantly improve the on-orbit calibration accuracy of the footprint camera on the GF-7 satellite.

The study of high resolution stereo mapping satellite

The study of high resolution stereo mapping satellite

An Adaptive Multifeature Method for Semiautomatic Road Extraction From High-Resolution Stereo Mapping Satellite Images

In this letter, an adaptive multifeature method for semiautomatic road extraction in high-resolution stereo mapping satellite images is proposed. First, the digital surface model (DSM) is generated from high-resolution stereo mapping satellite images by the semiglobal vertical line locus matching method. To combine the entropy feature and the spectral feature with the DSM, an adaptive method based on the image matching theory is introduced, which maintains a dynamic balance in the road extraction process and ensures the complementarity of each feature. Then, the geodesic road tracking method integrated with kernel density estimation and mean shift is used to extract roads from the feature fusion map. Experimental results have shown that the proposed method can extract roads both smoothly and correctly from high-resolution stereo mapping satellite images and especially performs better than other existing methods when there is an elevation difference between the road target and its neighborhood.

COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT ATTITUDE CORRECTION MODELS FOR ZY-3 SATELLITE IMAGERY

Abstract. ZY-3 satellite, launched in 2012, is the first civilian high resolution stereo mapping satellite of China. This paper analyzed the positioning errors of ZY-3 satellite imagery and conducted compensation for geo-position accuracy improvement using different correction models, including attitude quaternion correction, attitude angle offset correction, and attitude angle linear correction. The experimental results revealed that there exist systematic errors with ZY-3 attitude observations and the positioning accuracy can be improved after attitude correction with aid of ground controls. There is no significant difference between the results of attitude quaternion correction method and the attitude angle correction method. However, the attitude angle offset correction model produced steady improvement than the linear correction model when limited ground control points are available for single scene.

Integrating Multiple Textural Features for Remote Sensing Image Change Detection

This paper proposes a multi-texture change detection method by integrating macro- and micro-texture features. Macro-textures are related to the information defined by the whole image scene, while micro-textures describe distributions and relationships of the gray levels within a local window. Moreover, we propose two strategies, random forests (RF) and a fuzzy set model, to integrate different characteristics of the textures. Experiments were conducted on <small>ZY-3</small> (the first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite of China) orthographic images of the cities of Wuhan and Tokyo, as well as WorldView-2 multi-spectral images of the city of Kuala Lumpur. Results showed that the wavelet-based features obtained the highest accuracy among the macro-textures, while the morphological attributes obtained the best results for the micro-textures. By integrating both micro- and macro-textures, the texture combination using both RF and a fuzzy set model can further improve the accuracy of change detection.

Attitude Jitter Detection Based on Remotely Sensed Images and Dense Ground Controls: A Case Study for Chinese ZY-3 Satellite

Satellite platform vibration induced by the onboard dynamic components and exterior perturbation deteriorates platform stability and causes attitude jitter, resulting in image distortion and geometric accuracy degradation. This paper presents an attitude jitter detection method based on images and dense ground controls, which requires neither high-performance attitude measurement devices nor specific sensor configuration like parallax observation. Attitude variations will result in image space discrepancies at control points, from which the attitude jitter can be retrieved. The method was validated by a case study with ZY-3 satellite, which is the first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite in China. The experimental results show that an almost constant jitter frequency of about 0.65 Hz was detected, which was consistent with the direct attitude observations. The photogrammetric method is theoretically capable of detecting attitude jitter up to half of the image line scanning rate according to Shannon's sampling theorem, which is far beyond the detectable range by direct attitude observations at a frequency usually not higher than 4 Hz. Currently, the attitude jitter of the roll angle and the pitch angle can be effectively detected and accurately estimated for the nadir camera. The pitch angle jitter is also well estimable for the forward and the backward cameras. With approximation, the roll angle jitter for the two off-nadir cameras can also be estimated, though with some deviation caused by the influence of the yaw angle jitter.

IMPROVE THE ZY-3 HEIGHT ACCURACY USING ICESAT/GLAS LASER ALTIMETER DATA

Abstract. ZY-3 is the first civilian high resolution stereo mapping satellite, which has been launched on 9th, Jan, 2012. The aim of ZY-3 satellite is to obtain high resolution stereo images and support the 1:50000 scale national surveying and mapping. Although ZY-3 has very high accuracy for direct geo-locations without GCPs (Ground Control Points), use of some GCPs is still indispensible for high precise stereo mapping. The GLAS (Geo-science Laser Altimetry System) loaded on the ICESat (Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite), which is the first laser altimetry satellite for earth observation. GLAS has played an important role in the monitoring of polar ice sheets, the measuring of land topography and vegetation canopy heights after launched in 2003. Although GLAS has ended in 2009, the derived elevation dataset still can be used after selection by some criteria. In this paper, the ICESat/GLAS laser altimeter data is used as height reference data to improve the ZY-3 height accuracy. A selection method is proposed to obtain high precision GLAS elevation data. Two strategies to improve the ZY-3 height accuracy are introduced. One is the conventional bundle adjustment based on RFM and bias-compensated model, in which the GLAS footprint data is viewed as height control. The second is to correct the DSM (Digital Surface Model) straightly by simple block adjustment, and the DSM is derived from the ZY-3 stereo imaging after freedom adjustment and dense image matching. The experimental result demonstrates that the height accuracy of ZY-3 without other GCPs can be improved to 3.0 meter after adding GLAS elevation data. What’s more, the comparison of the accuracy and efficiency between the two strategies is implemented for application.

IMPROVE THE ZY-3 HEIGHT ACCURACY USING ICESAT/GLAS LASER ALTIMETER DATA

ZY-3 is the first civilian high resolution stereo mapping satellite, which has been launched on 9th, Jan, 2012. The aim of ZY-3 satellite is to obtain high resolution stereo images and support the 1:50000 scale national surveying and mapping. Although ZY-3 has very high accuracy for direct geo-locations without GCPs (Ground Control Points), use of some GCPs is still indispensible for high precise stereo mapping. The GLAS (Geo-science Laser Altimetry System) loaded on the ICESat (Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite), which is the first laser altimetry satellite for earth observation. GLAS has played an important role in the monitoring of polar ice sheets, the measuring of land topography and vegetation canopy heights after launched in 2003. Although GLAS has ended in 2009, the derived elevation dataset still can be used after selection by some criteria. <br><br> In this paper, the ICESat/GLAS laser altimeter data is used as height reference data to improve the ZY-3 height accuracy. A selection method is proposed to obtain high precision GLAS elevation data. Two strategies to improve the ZY-3 height accuracy are introduced. One is the conventional bundle adjustment based on RFM and bias-compensated model, in which the GLAS footprint data is viewed as height control. The second is to correct the DSM (Digital Surface Model) straightly by simple block adjustment, and the DSM is derived from the ZY-3 stereo imaging after freedom adjustment and dense image matching. The experimental result demonstrates that the height accuracy of ZY-3 without other GCPs can be improved to 3.0 meter after adding GLAS elevation data. What’s more, the comparison of the accuracy and efficiency between the two strategies is implemented for application.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF DSM EXTRACTION FROM ZY-3 THREE-LINE ARRAYS IMAGERY

Abstract. ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3), launched in January 09, 2012, is China's first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite. ZY-3 is equipped with three-line scanners (nadir, backward and forward) for stereo mapping, the resolutions of the panchromatic (PAN) stereo mapping images are 2.1-m at nadir looking and 3.6-m at tilt angles of ±22° forward and backward looking, respectively. The stereo base-height ratio is 0.85-0.95. Compared with stereo mapping from two views images, three-line arrays images of ZY-3 can be used for DSM generation taking advantage of one more view than conventional photogrammetric methods. It would enrich the information for image matching and enhance the accuracy of DSM generated. The primary result of positioning accuracy of ZY-3 images has been reported, while before the massive mapping applications of utilizing ZY-3 images for DSM generation, the performance evaluation of DSM extraction from three-line arrays imagery of ZY-3 has significant meaning for the routine mapping applications. The goal of this research is to clarify the mapping performance of ZY-3 three-line arrays scanners on china’s first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite of ZY-3 through the accuracy evaluation of DSM generation. The comparison of DSM product in different topographic areas generated with three views images with different two views combination images of ZY-3 would be presented. Besides the comparison within different topographic study area, the accuracy deviation of the DSM products with different grid size including 25-m, 10-m and 5-m is delineated in order to clarify the impact of grid size on accuracy evaluation.

Geometric Calibration and Accuracy Assessment of ZiYuan-3 Multispectral Images

The ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) remote sensing satellite is China's first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite. Because the interior orientation parameters measured before launch are biased, the multispectral (four-band) images collected by ZY-3 exhibit low-accuracy band-to-band registration, which affects their subsequent applications. This paper presents a valid method for interior orientation determination of the ZY-3 multispectral sensor by determining the look angles of the charge-coupled device arrays for all bands. One band is chosen as the benchmark band, and its interior orientation is determined using the relevant ZY-3 image collected over the calibration field and the corresponding digital orthoimage map and digital elevation model. The remaining bands are then calibrated using the benchmark band as control data. The quality of the calibration is further enhanced by shortening the calibration period and by combining images collected over different calibration fields, which decreases the negative effects of errors in the satellite's attitude and position data. The interior orientation of the multispectral sensor in ZY-3 was determined using data sets taken over two calibration fields, namely, Dengfeng (Henan Province) and Tianjin. Evaluation experiments were performed using ZY-3 multispectral images and ground control points (GCPs) collected over several different periods and areas. The positioning accuracy of the ZY-3 multispectral images with a limited number of GCPs after calibration of the interior orientation was better than 0.3 pixels, and the band-to-band registration accuracy was up to 0.15 pixels.

THE GEOMETRIC ACCURACY VALIDATION OF THE ZY-3 MAPPING SATELLITE

Abstract. ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) mapping satellite is the first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite of China. The satellite’s objective is oriented towards plotting 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 topographic maps. This article proposes ZY-3 mapping satellite Rigorous Image Geometry Model and Rational Function Model (RFM). In addition, this paper utilizes the image of the ZY-3 satellite with the region of flatlands, hills and mountains for the block adjustment experiment. Different ground control points are selected and the accuracy is validated by check points, and the some Digital Surface Model (DSM), Digital Orthophoto Map (DOM) are generated and the accuracy is also validated by check points. The experiment reveals that the planar accuracy of DOM and vertical accuracy of DSM are better than 3m and 2 m, respectively. The experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of ZY-3 mapping satellite image geometry model.

Triple linear-array image geometry model of ZiYuan-3 surveying satellite and its validation

ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) surveying satellite is China's first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite. The satellite's objective is oriented towards plotting 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 topographic maps. Compared with plotting using foreign commercial mapping satellite imagery, establishment of the image geometry model is the core technical problem for different products and various applications of ZY-3 surveying satellite. This article analyses key problems of high-precision geometry processing based on the overall design, and proposes ZY-3 surveying satellite image geometry model with the technology of virtual CCD line-array imaging. In addition, this article utilises the first orbit imagery of ZY-3 satellite with coverage of Dalian region in Liaoning Province, and produces forward, backward and nadir camera calibrated products. Different ground control points are selected for the block adjustment experiment and the digital surface model (DSM), digital ortho-map (DOM) are generated. The accuracy is validated by check points. The experiment reveals that the planar accuracy of DOM and vertical accuracy of DSM are better than 3 m and 2 m, respectively. The experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of ZY-3 surveying satellite image geometry model.

SENSOR CALIBRATION OF THREE-LINE CCD SCANNERS ON ZY-3

Abstract. ZY-3 is the first Chinese civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite. ZY-3 is equipped with three-line scanners (nadir, backward and forward views with 2.5 m and 4.0 m resolutions, respectively) and an additional multispectral scanner. In order to improve the mapping and positioning accuracy, sensor in-orbit calibration is a crucial procedure especially for high-resolution mapping-enabled satellites. The main focus of this paper is to describe the sensor calibration for ZY-3 sensors. Based on the experiences for other satellite sensor calibration, the following approach is proposed for ZY-3 sensor calibration in orbit: i) the initial internal geometric relationships of ZY-3 imaging sensors are established using the laboratory measurement and validation results; ii) assuming noise and errors are introduced once ZY-3 is launched, a further investigation is conducted to detect those changed geometric relationships and their associated parameters, and detect and reduce highly correlated parameters. A self-calibration method is applied to identify and correct those parameters. Geometric calibration field data is used together with simulated ZY-3 data to perform the self-calibration; iii) the newly obtained parameters are used to establish the final geometric relationships model of ZY-3 imaging sensors, and with the aid of ground control points and check points from the geometric calibration field, those parameters are to be validated, and the position accuracy is also assessed by applying ZY-3 image data. Although promising results were obtained using ZY-3 simulated data, the proposed approach for ZY-3 imaging sensor calibration is an ongoing research work and needs to be fine tuned in the coming months.