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Remote Sensing Special GeoEye-1 Satellite
Microsoft Virtual Earth Vexcel Imaging
M a g a z i n e f o r S u r v e y i n g , M a p p i n g & G I S P r o f e s s i o n a l s
June 2008Volume 11
4
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So far away
In this issue of GeoInformatics the focus is on Remote Sensing. When looking up Remote
Sensing in Wikipedia I get the following definition: In the broadest sense, remote sensing
is the small or large-scale acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by the
use of either recording or real-time sensing device(s) that is not in physical or intimate
contact with the object In practice, remote sensing is the stand-off collection through the
use of a variety of devices for gathering information on a given object or area.
Ive always understood that this definition is the correct (and only?) one. How can it then
be that when talking about remote sensing most professionals involved think about
satellites and aircraft? This issue is one of my personal geo-quests; trying to convince
remote sensing specialists that the above definition also includes ships (yes Im still much
of a hydrographic surveyor), cars and all sorts of other platforms and devices.
Without going into detail the source of my quest is this: specialists being so consumed
with their own profession that they lose sight of the broader definition of their
specialization.
As a result there is also a strong tendency for specialists to forget these other solutions.
So even though most articles in this issue deal with satellites and photogrammetry, do not
forget that there are other platforms available (as you have seen in our previous issue).
One example Ive seen of using another platform is the mounting of a Lidar system on a
flatbed truck. Bringing the Lidar system closer to the objects gave the opportunity to look
at the objects to be mapped from a different perspective.
It is in the use of innovative methodologies that our beautiful profession advances.
As such it never hurts to look over the fence into neighbouring professions (or re-read the
definition of our own profession every now and then).
Enjoy your reading,
Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
Editor-in-chief
June 20083
GeoInformatics provides coverage, analysis andcommentary with respect to the international surveying,mapping and GIS industry.
PublisherRuud [email protected]
Editor-in-chief
Huibert-Jan [email protected]
Editorial ManagerEric van [email protected]
EditorsFrank [email protected] [email protected] van [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
ColumnistsJacek PietruczanisAchiel SturmJohn Trinder
Contributing WritersOrhan AtanSeppe CassettariJohn CroftFlorian FischerMichael GruberJob van Haaften
Account ManagerWilfred [email protected]
SubscriptionsGeoInformatics is available against a yearlysubscription rate (8 issues) of 85,00.To subscribe, fill in and return the electronic replycard on our website or contact Janneke Bijleveld [email protected]
Advertising/ReprintsAll enquiries should be submitted toRuud Groothuis [email protected]
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ISSN 13870858
Copyright 2008. GeoInformatics: no material maybe reproduced without written permission.
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Mike KitaifLambert-Jan KoopsHuibert-Jan LekkerkerkEric van ReesAlexander Wiechert
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GeoEyes Next-GenerationImaging SatelliteIn the coming months, insurance companies will have access to
commercial satellite images precise enough to determine whether an
insured homeowner living in a fire-prone area like southern California
should thin the brush in his backyard to prevent the spread of a forest
fire. These sort of uses are mere snapshots of what commercial imagery
provider GeoEye (Dulles, Va.) envisions for its next-generation GeoEye-1
Earth-imaging satellite, slated for launch later this year.
Photogrammetry in SpaceOver its history Cardinal Systems Vr Mapping Software has been used
primarily for traditional aerial mapping projects. Collecting, editing and
processing large amounts of vector data. It has also been used during
this time by NASA to map areas on the Space Shuttle and the Space
Shuttles External Tank during flight. Recently NASA started to use the
software to view and make measurements in 3D on Mars for analysis of
potential landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover arrival in
2009.
C o n t e n t
4June 2008
ArticlesMicrosoft Virtual Earth 6Integrating Geospatial Technology in Everyday Life
GNSS Update 14Civilian Control
GeoEyes Next-Generation Imaging Satellite 18Prodigious Mapping Capabilities, Spatial
Resolution and Geo-location Ability
Vexcel Imagings Ultramap Platform 24A New Photogrametric Workflow
Spatial Developments in 3D, 4D and 5D 304Sight Combines Virtual Reality and Direction
of Spatial Development
The Digital Aerial Photography Revolution 36On the Development of Digital Aerial Photography
Photogrammetry in Space 42NASA Uses VR Mapping Software
Mapping of Ancient River Channels 48New Applications with Dutch Height Dataset
Geokosmos Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary 53Standing the Test of Time
Printing with Chewy Sweets 59
Ocs Revolutionary Technique
Making the Deadline 62The Necessity of GLONASS
ReviewsSustainable Development and Mobility 28Between Nature and Asphalt
Principles of Geospatial Surveying 61Theoretical Background to Land Survey Techniques
ColumnNew Challenges for the GIS Market 23By Jacek Pietruczanis
Page 18
Page 42
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June 2008
4th Geo-Siberia International Exhibitionand Scientific Conference 22-24 April 2008 29By John Trinder
'Machine Control is Not Going Away' 49
By Achiel Sturm
ConferencesBehind the Scenes at HP 50Twenty Years of Large Format Printers in Barcelona
Preview of ISPRS 2008 in Beijing 55Record Number of Abstracts and Participants
1 Source of Truth 561Spatial Conference 2008
Success for Launch of GEO-8 64Conference Represented Forty-one Companies
InterviewArcadis at Work on Protection of New Orleans 10Two Large Contracts for Joint-venture
with Bioengineering
Calendar 66
Advertisers Index 66
On the Cover:
A rendering of GeoEye-1 in orbit. See article on page 18.
Vexcel ImagingsUltramap PlatformDigital large format aerial cameras are in operation for mapping purpose
since several years. One among a few others is the UltraCamX, developed
by Vexcel Imaging GmbH, Graz, Austria. UltraCamX was introduced into the
market in May 2006 and currently is the largest digital frame camera for
photogrammetric applications. Vexcel now introduces a new processing
software called UltraMap Platform which implements a complete
photogrammetric workflow including quality control and visualization.
Page 18
Microsoft Virtual EarthIn the style of Google Maps stated the popular German magazine Focus-
online back in July 2005. But Virtual Earth has by far emancipated itself
from its competitor since that time. For a better insight, Contributing
GIS-editor Florian Fischer spoke to Dr. Josef Kauer, who is Business
Development Manager for Virtual Earth and Michael Amrehn, Manager for
Virtual Earth and furthermore to Tobias Lrracher, a graduate from the
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences.
Page 6
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Integrating Geospatial Technology in Everyday Life
Microsoft Virtual Earth
In the style of Google Maps proclaimed the popular German magazine, FOCUS Online, back in July 2005. But Virtual
Earth has definitely distinguished itself from its competitor since then. For better insight I spoke to Dr. Josef Kauer,
Business Development Manager for Virtual Earth, and Michael Amrehn, Manager, Virtual Earth and also to Tobias
Lrracher, a graduate student at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. All three belong to the Virtual Earth Business
Unit for Central & Eastern Europe based in Microsofts offices in Munich, Germany.
By Florian Fischer
handled only from the drivers perspective.
Now they can be assigned to the perspective
of the pedestrian and become permeable in
both directions. In addition, language supporthas been expanded and, of course, the API.
The API of Virtual Earth is constantly in flux
anyway, says Michael Amrehn. He is also
quite proud that they get very positive feed-
back from the developer community, as sites
like www.viawindowslive.com illustrate. It is a
vibrant Australia-based community for Virtual
Earth that offers comprehensive information
for developers and users. The interactive SDK
in particular is a really positive experience. It
eases the development of mash-ups for
Virtual Earth by linking code examples direct-
ly to their visualization and giving very well-
organized explanations. Confronted with my
curiosity about the next release of Virtual
Earth, Dr. Kauer smiles: Thats a surprise, of
course!
6
Art ic le
June 2008
A Realistic 3D WorldOut of the corner of my eye I can still catch
the bluish gleam. But slowly I continue my
journey, approaching the landmass of NorthAmerica and heading towards a tiny spot
named Las Vegas. After a brief side trip
through the gorges of the Grand Canyon I go
back to Las Vegas for a short stroll around
the city. While floating towards the Bellagio
Hotel I clearly recognize the faades of
Caesars Palace and the Mirage Hotel.
Microsoft promised a realistic 3D world and
here I can have a small foretaste of it. But
the combination of 3D buildings with the
birds-eye perspective is only one of the many
improvements that came with the latest
release of Microsofts Virtual Earth platform.
Virtual Earth now comes with enhanced rou-
ting options. Walking directions and multi-
point routing are prominent enhancements.
Before, for example, one-way streets were
Geospatial Technology finds its way into everyday life.
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Keeping an Eye on Media EventsRelease 6.1 offers more cities in 3D and the
functionality to draft 3D tours for the media pro-ducer. Dr. Kauer explained that one 3D city is
added on average every day, while Microsoft
normally publishes new material every month.
At the moment approximately 40 planes are
flying on behalf of Microsoft to take aerial
photos sometimes more, sometimes less
Kauer adds. In March 2008 Microsoft released
an impressive amount, 42 terabytes, of image
data including all the Austrian and Swiss sites
for Euro 2008. The soccer public can thus
explore these cities of interest in great detail
during halftime. Moreover, the whole of Viennawill soon be available in 3D. Focusing data
preparation on the locales of important media
events proved its value during the 2006 World
Cup in Germany. It is an important strategy for
marketing the digital globes and meeting the
demands of supporters worldwide who visit the
host countries or follow the games on TV.
Developing MarketsThe Euro 2008 is indeed a big issue for Virtual
Earth. Media companies need graphical materi-
al about the stadiums and their surroundings
for reports and broadcasts. But Virtual Earth
also provides the platform to locate news from
broadcasting companies and thus allow for a
geo-enabled overview of newscasts. The
market is very dynamic at the moment, states
of data quality becomes increasingly difficult to
handle. Therefore Microsoft cooperates with
partners who build mash-ups, contribute data
and create applications to ensure quality. Real
estate and tourism are currently the most active
arenas for market preparation. It seems that
high quality geographic visualization is very
important for these particular sectors. For finan-cial and insurance services as well as chain
stores, familiar branch-finder services have been
installed by Virtual Earth partners. Starbucks
even runs such a service on mobile phones.
The big advantage in using Virtual Earth is that
all the rendering is done by the companys web-
site. A company can easily update the page dis-
play to match graphics and content elsewhere
on the site. Virtual Earth provides the visualiza-
tion service and everything else happens on the
companys website. The user therefore never
leaves the site. That is what companies want --
to keep clicks and users on their sites. Some
examples can be found on Microsofts Virtual
Earth gallery (see links below).
Business ModelsConcerning business models, Microsoft does
not differ that much from its competitor. For
consumers the application is free to use and it
can be integrated into personal websites with-
out any cost. If Virtual Earth is used in a pro-
fessional context Microsoft offers three rate
scales. First there is a transaction-based model
that includes a basic fee and charges the userper click. Secondly, power users can get a flat
rate for unlimited clicks, and thirdly, the busi-
ness license enables flat rate access on multi-
ple machines. Next, Microsoft offers a broad-
cast license that is free unless the attribution
and copyright are abused. With regard to online
products, the situation is different and usually
handled individually by Microsoft and the
respective agency. Eventually Microsoft still con-
siders floating billboards in the free consumer
applications to get some revenues by adver-
tisements. Everything else will definitely be freeof advertising.
OGC Welcomes Microsoft AgainIn October 2007 Microsoft re-joined the Open
Geospatial Consortium (OGC) after a multi-year
hiatus. The memberships of Google and
Microsoft mark a big step in the history of the
OGC. In its early years, OGC was supported
primarily by developers of geospatial tools for
vertical markets, such as ESRI and Autodesk.
The recent addition of Google and Microsoft
represents a sea change, said David Schell,
OGC Chairman and CEO, according to the
October 29, 2007 release of Government
Computer News (GCN). That will provide the
very stabilizing and constructive influence with-
in the consortium, and the consortiums allies
Dr. Kauer. Microsoft follows a quite different
approach from Google. They do not rely solely
on the innovative power of the consumers but
actively prepare markets through strategic part-
ners. Dr. Kauer explains that Microsoft delivers
the platform with basic data and their partners
do the mash-ups: That is important to assure
data quality, and data quality is still very impor-
tant. They contend that consumers can con-
tribute data and applications, but then the issue
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Art i c le
7June 2008
Birds Eye integrated 3D view on Las Vegas by Microsoft Vir tual Earth.
Dr. Josef Kauer, Business Development Manager for
Virtual Earth.
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are going to be much more confident that a
responsible policy and set of best practices will
result from the process. Thats terribly important
for government [clients] as well as for major
corporations. he added. David Schells
prospects put Microsofts membership in a hold-
ing role to promote standards for geospatial and
location-based services on a horizontal marketlevel and produce stability for OGC ideas.
Although Microsoft and Google co-jointly passed
the OpenGIS KML 2.2 Encoding Standard (OGC
KML) on April 14, 2008, Microsoft will not put
much effort into pushing the standardization
processes within the OGC in general. Thats not
our business, stated Dr. Kauer, but he explained
that Microsoft wants to keep close contact with
the field of SDI in the context of its government
clients.
Microsoft SpatialOGC membership is thus essential to maintain
awareness of the requirements that are made
of digital earth platforms by governments and
major corporations. Hence Microsoft aims to
match its products to OGC requirements. The
Virtual Earth platform will be integrated into
government SDI as seamlessly as possible, as
is Microsofts SQL Server 2008. The 2008 ver-
sion has full spatial support and offers two
spatial models. On the one hand is a Flat Earth
planar data type that supports the OGC Simple
Features for SQL Specification with approxi-
mately 70 spatial operations. It also offers aRound Earth geodetic data type with spatial
indexes for both planar and geodetic data
types. Thus SQL Server becomes the data
engine and Virtual Earth is the presentation
layer for Spatial Business Intelligence explains
Tobias Lrracher, a graduate student who is
working on his diploma thesis at the Virtual
Earth Business Unit for Central & Eastern Europe
for a short period of time. In his work he aims
to highlight the potential of mash-ups based
on Virtual Earth for business-related decision
making. In that regard he focuses on enterprisemash-ups which are a combination of web-
based mapping services such as Microsoft
Virtual Earth, spatially enabled databases and
external data like GeoRSS or KML.
Mobile WorldsMobile applications have recently become more
and more popular. In particular, Location Based
Services are in the forefront of the consumer
sector as a venue for mobile social networking
and mobile collaborative mapping. Microsoft
offers a consumer release to build mobile
clients for Virtual Earth and a rich client appli-
cation for Windows Mobile that works on J2ME
(Java) phones as well and is called Mobile
Search. It offers maps, directions and business
searches and a host of advanced features not
society that can access, share and integrate a
vast amount of geo-information in everyday life
with a simple click. Previously specialist mar-
kets for GIS software and geo-information are
now expanding into the mass market, and
hence GIS is becoming integrated into mass
media. It has been a game-change Dr. Kauer
concludes, and the GIS industry is torn. They
enjoy a vast amount of enhanced awareness
from the rise of digital globes, but at the same
time they have to fear a shrinking market shareas Microsoft and Google are indeed poaching
in their patch. In any case, the race for the best
representation of the world is still undecided,
and the competition between Microsoft and
Google promises ever-increasing integration of
geospatial technology into everyday life.
Florian [email protected] is
contributing editor GIS for Geoinformatics.
Links:
Chris Pendletons Virtual Earth,An Evangelist's Blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archive/
2008/05.aspx
N.N. (2005): Microsofts virtuelle Erde. Available
Online: www.focus.de/digital/diverses/
im-google-maps-stil_aid_97236.html
Marshall P., (2007): Microsoft Joins OGC. Available
Online: www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/45310-1.html
Microsofts Virtual Earth gallery:
www.microsoft.com/virtualearth/platform/
gallery.aspx
possible in the browser-based application.
However, Microsoft focuses mainly on the busi-
ness-to-business (B2B) sector. Again, partners
are developing the mash-ups and Microsoft pro-
vides its professional Virtual Earth platform.
Sometimes its more a B2B2C approach, Dr.
Kauer admits. But most applications are not
available on mobile phones solely. A combina-
tion of web client and mobile client is more
common, remarks Michael Amrehn. He
explains that the market still has to get usedto mobile applications. Therefore applications
that integrate a collaborative mapping approach
are considered seriously by Microsoft but their
time is yet to come.
A nice example of collaborative mapping is the
Harley-Davidson Great Roads Explorer for the
Harley-Davidson community. This Virtual Earth-
based application is firstly an information tool
that presents great biking roads, gas stations
and hotels and thus helps members of the
Harley-Davidson community organize individual
activities. Secondly, members can create theirown tours, add points of interest and share
them with others. It is a great way to mobilize
the community and create identification with
the Harley-Davidson product.
Do You Believe the Sun revolvesaround the Earth?Me neither! But the classic GIS industry is still
somehow captured in a geo-centric approach,
assiduously ignoring the demands of the broad
mass. In the 16th century Nikolaus Kopernikus
and Johannes Kepler dislodged the geo-centric
world view and today Microsoft and Google
are dislodging the geo-centric world view of the
GIS industry with geospatial integration every-
where and in various aspects of life. They are
precursors of a geo-enabled information
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Art i c le
9June 2008
Michael Amrehn, Manager for Virtual Earth.Tobias Lrracher, graduate from the KarlsruheUniversity of Applied Sciences.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archivehttp://www.focus.de/digital/diverseshttp://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/45310-1.htmlhttp://www.microsoft.com/virtualearth/platformhttp://www.geoinformatics.com/http://www.geoinformatics.com/http://www.geoinformatics.com/http://www.microsoft.com/virtualearth/platformhttp://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/45310-1.htmlhttp://www.focus.de/digital/diverseshttp://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archivemailto:[email protected] -
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Two Large Contracts for Joint-venture with Bioengineering
Arcadis at Work on Protection of NewIn October 2007 it was announced that Arcadis had acquired its second contract
in New Orleans, this one worth $50 million. The first, worth around $150 mil-
lion, was between Arcadis and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. With these two
contracts, Arcadis becomes one of the few foreign companies that have made
headway in New Orleans.
By Lambert-Jan Koops
The damage in the New Orleans area causedby Hurricane Katrina was twofold in nature.
There was, of course, the financial damagethat companies, individuals and government
agencies suffered when houses, factories and
offices were destroyed by the storm. In addi-
tion there was damage to the citys water
management system, which could cause a lot
of trouble in the event of a new hurricane.
Immediately after the disaster, the U.S. Army
Corps carried out $1.5 million dollars worth
of recovery activities. The Corps had only a
limited amount of time since New Orleans has
a hurricane season every year. Over a one-
and-a-half year period, the old dikes under-
went maintenance and strengthening treat-
ment, the locks were repaired and the
drainage systems were restored to their for-
mer state. With these activities, water defen-
ses were brought back to pre-Katrina levels.
Hurricane Protection OfficeAfter finishing these recovery activities, it was
time to improve the safety of New Orleans.The Hurricane Protection Office (HPO) was
established for this purpose. The HPO divi-
ded the necessary activities into various pro-
jects, one of which, costing $150 million, was
put out to tender to a joint venture of Arcadis
and Bioengineering. The joint venture also got
a parallel assignment, a $50 million contract
with the US Army Corps of Engineers New
Orleans District.
Piet Dircke is program director for water at
Arcadis and responsible for all water-related
activities outside of the US. He says its not
an easy job for foreign companies to acquire
contracts in the US. Theres a lot of com-
plaining about Americans being protectionist
when it comes to calling for tenders for large
projects. Im not saying the commissioners
dont possess any nationalistic sentiment, butI think its an exaggeration to say that foreign
companies are obstructed. The problem lies
more in the fact that theres a jungle of rules
and regulations that a commissioner has to
adhere to. Its almost impossible for an out-
sider to meet these requirements. For
instance, as a commissioner you get bonus
points in the tender project when you have
ex-workers in service. For this, they simply
add up the Army Corps years of experience
that your company can offer . Also, there are
guidelines for using local workers and there
is a policy to promote minorities. And this is
only the tender. After the contract has been
awarded, there are also complex rules and
requirements regarding risk and liability. A
contractor needs to work through all of this
with lawyers and insurers, and this, too,
requires specific knowledge that an outsider
simply doesnt have. We owe a lot to our
American colleagues and partners in acqui
ring the contracts. They knew American proce-
dures, they knew the customer, and therefore
they knew how best to prepare the tender.
Optimal LinkageBecause of the cooperation between the
Dutch and American people, there has to be
a good distribution of tasks between the par-
ties. Dircke: What we try to achieve is an
optimal linkage of Dutch water expertise and
the American market. But we also try to have
10
Interview
June 2008
Piet Dircke, program directeur Water at Arcadis: What were e trying to encomplish is an optimal coupling
between the Dutch water knowledge and the American market.
Piet Dircke informs secretary of state Tineke Huizinga
about the activities in New Orleans.
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the Dutch and American workers interact in
an optimal fashion. At this moment fifty
Americans are working for us in New Orleansas well as a few Dutch people. We only deploy
Dutch people if they can offer added value
with their knowledge and experience, for
example in the field of innovation or risk
management. For example, all dike inspectors
are Americans, but the supervisor is Dutch.
A Remarkable InspectionThe first assignment that Arcadis carried out
for the US Army Corps of Engineers was to
inspect damage to buildings and infrastruc-
ture. This was part of a smaller blanket orderbefore the big contracts were signed. It wasnt
the first time that Arcadis had carried out such
an assignment: the company had been
deployed for such work after the 9/11 attacks.
This time, however, the inspection included a
rather remarkable component: the first buil-
ding to be inspected for damage was the
office of the US Army Corps of Engineers itself.
The big $50 million and $150 million contracts
are blanket orders that comprise various
separate queries and commissions. Every
commission is good for a specific sum that
can be as much as a few million dollars and
is followed by a new commission until the
maximum amount has been reached. Another
maximum pertains to the time factor: the
contracts are meant to run for five years. This
No WaterNow that the first year has been completed,
Arcadis is working full tilt in New Orleans.
Dircke is satisfied with the activities in the
city, but also sees opportunities for improve-
ment. In addition to my job at Arcadis, I lec-
ture on cities and water at Rotterdam
University. There I often deal with delta urba-
nization, or residential areas near river
broads. What struck me about New Orleans
was that theres hardly any water to be seen
in the city, a result of the high flood defences.
Admittedly, the Mississippi bars the city, but
besides that theres hardly any current to be
found. In my opinion this doesnt suit a city
like New Orleans. I have discussed this with
different people, who share the opinion that
more needs to be on view in New Orleans, as
it is, for example, in Rotterdam. It is proposed
that cross pollination will occur between
Rotterdam and New Orleans in the area of
water planning. That way, the water wont be
so much a threat as a valued part of the city.
Lambert-Jan Koops [email protected] is
contributing editor of GeoInformatics.
Surf to www.arcadis-global.nl
for more information on Arcadis.
is a minimum, according to Dircke. Five years
is not much when we look at large water pro-
jects that were carried out in the Netherlands.For example, look at the Dutch Delta Works
that were started in 1953 and completed in
1998. In five years we can do a lot of plan-
ning and designing, but execution is another
story. I think the absolute minimum for the
activities is ten years, and only if all goes
well.
In Full FlightThe first year has passed and approx-
imately 10% of the contract has been
spent. The process seems to be onschedule, but Dircke thinks things are
just getting going. It has taken quite
a while to really get started. There
were various reasons for this. Of
course the plans had to be approved
by officials, but we also had to deal
with changes within the US Army
Corps of Engineers. They gave priori-
ty to disaster recovery, but also had
to cope with internal changes. As a
result of the disaster, the staff profile
changed substantially: a lot of wor-
kers left, and there was a complete
turnover at the management level. In
short, our commissioner had to deal
with their own reorganization before
they could instruct us effectively.
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Interview
11June 2008
Orleans
Image of Katrina.
New Orleans Flooded.
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I believe in innovation.
SmartStation the worlds first total station with integrated GPS
is a fine example of our uncompromising dedication to your needs.
Innovation: yet another reason to trust Leica Geosystems.
-
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Leica Geosystems AGSwitzerland
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Innovation is intelligence tap it and let your work flow.
You want the tools of your trade to be state-of-the-art. Thats why Leica Geosystems is continuously innovating to better
meet your expectations. Our comprehensive spectrum of solutions covers all your measurement needs for surveying,
engineering and geospatial applications. And they are all backed with world-class service and support that delivers
answers to your questions. When it matters most. When you are in the field. When it has to be right.
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On February 22nd 1978 the first Block I satellite; Navstar I, was launched which
means that February 22nd of this year marked the 30th anniversary of GPS.
Navstar, now called GPS has been a military project from the start although
there seems to be a gradual shift in government policy, giving the civilian sectoran increasing voice in GPS.
By Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
Problems at Hand
In early October 2007 six satellites have tem-
porarily broadcasted anomalous L1 C/A code
signals due to an error during upload of the
navigation message, causing outages an a
single satellite ranging from 2 to up to over
12 hours. The error affected different receivers
in a different way with some receivers con-
tinuing to track the satellite whilst others
stopped tracking the satellite altogether.
New Satellites
The satellite launched in December 2007 has
been set active in January 2008. On March 17
another block IIR-M satellite was launched from
Cape Canaveral. It was set active in record time,
by the 24th of March, only eight days after
launch.
Furthermore, the launch of the satellite carrying
the demonstration payload with the L5 signal
is scheduled for June 30 this year.
Finally, the US government has decided who
will manufacture the GPS IIIA next generation
satellites. The name of the manufacturer has
not been released yet however.
Beidou / CompassThere is more information available on ChinasGNSS system Beidou / Compass. During an
international congress in Munich (Germany) Dr.
Jing Guifei of the National Remote Sensing
Center of China and the Ministry of Science and
Technology presented details about the system.
Although the information was not new it could
signal a willingness to engage in communica-
tion on their GNSS.
According to Dr. Guifei there are now two geo-
stationary Beidou satellites broadcasting sig-
nals in the Beidou Test System. Currently the
system is a local system, but there are plans to
expand the system towards a global system,
Compass. Compass will provide an Open
Service and Authorized Service. China envisions
the Open Service to have position accuracy of
14
Art ic le
June 2008
Civilian Control
GNSS update
-
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20 meters. The systems first step is the
Compass regional navigation system, working
today with the four satellites mentioned. The
second step will be the Compass navigation sat
system, covering the Asia area (China andneighboring countries) by 2008. Then it will go
global. We have also tested a new satellite,
the Compass-m1, stated Guifei. The first MEO
satellite, launched April 2007, is for system in-
orbit validation and to secure the frequency
filings.
Beidou Compatible SystemsCommercial GNSS manufacturers have present-
ed the first products compatible with Beidou.
Javad introduced its new Triuph GNSS chip
sporting 215 channels with the ability to receive
all types of GNSS signal, according to the com-
pany. These include GPS, GLONASS, Galileo,
QZSS, WAAS, EGNOS, and Compass/Beidou sig-
nals. Products based on the new chip will be
able to receive Galileo signals for free during a
will be no further money allocated to the pro-
ject and the EP will tightly control the budget.
As a result the EP has voted to disband the cur-
rent GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) and
replaced it with the EP controlled GNSS Oversight
Committee. Meanwhile the GSA has published a
new version of the Galileo Open Service Signal-
In-Space Interface Control Document requestingcomments from the public.
GlonassAll three GLONASS satellites launched
December 25 last year have been set to healthy.
There are now 16 operational GLONASS satel-
lites in orbit. Six more GLONASS-M satellites
are scheduled for launch in 2008 three in
September and three more in December. The
first two improved GLONASS-K satellites which
have a longer life-span are scheduled for launch
the following year as well as an additional 6Glonass-M satellites
Budget
Russia's Federal Space Agency is asking the
government to double the financing for
GLONASS in the federal budget for 2009-2011.
In 2007 the government allocated approximate-
ly EURO 266 million for GLONASS; this year the
budget will allocate EURO 280 million and in
2009, EURO 291 million, according to Itar-Tass.
In a March 11 story Itar-Tass quoted Russian First
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying
that GLONASS will be completed within two
years. "Despite criticism of GLONASS, the pro-
blem is not with the spacecraft. We shall surely
[have] 24 satellites in a year and a half," he
said, according to Itar-Tass.
full year. Another product capable of receiving
Beidou (and Galileo) signals is the Leica
Geosystems AR25 high performance choke ring
antenna. Choke ring antennas are omni-direc-
tional antennas typically used for high-frequen-
cy applications; they are particularly suited to
GPS and radar applications. The antenna can
also receive satellite-based augmentation sig-nals (SBAS), the Canadian differential GPS
(CDGPS), and OmniStar signals, according to
Leica.
GalileoThe second Galileo satellite, GIOVE-B was
launched on April 27 at 04:16 local time from
Baikonur in Kazaksthan and successfully
reached its design orbit. GIOVE-B will test
novel, key technologies for the Galileo system,
such as the high-precision passive maser clock
and the triple-channel transmission of naviga-tion signals. The satellites signal generator is
modified to broadcast the multiplex binary-off-
set carrier (MBOC) signal on the Open Service,
enacting a July 2007 agreement between the
EU and the United States on a common inter-
operable signal.Following on from GIOVE-B, the
first four satellites of the operational constella-
tion are reportedly under development by
European Satellite Navigation Industries (ESNI).
They are scheduled for launch in 2010 and will
enable a system-level verification of the Galileo
design, according to the ESA.
Whos in Control?
The European Parliament (EP) intends to keep
control on Galileo now that it has found the 3.4
billion Euro needed to complete Galileo. There
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com15
June 2008
GIOVE-B satellite ready for shipment at Estec
(Netherlands) (source: www.esa.eu)
Art i c le
Current worldwide Glonass coverage.
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Mergers and TakeoversTopcon Corporation and Sokkia Co. Ltd are
combined effective 5 February 2008. The
Japanese Fair Trade Commission recently
approved the combination.
Regarding the planned takeover of Navteq by
Nokia there is the news that the European
Commission will expand the investigation. TheEC is worried about the diminishing competi-
tion on the market for navigation devices. The
deadline for either approval or a further inves-
tigation is March 28.
Concerning the takeover of TeleAtlas by
TomTom the EC has informed TomTom that it
has similar concerns. The EC still has until May
5th to make a decision. Insiders mention that
the merger could still take place but that there
may be restrictions applied to the new compa-
ny such as TomTom-TeleAtlas still having to sup-
ply maps to its competitors at competitive
prices. A similar restriction could also apply to
the Nokia-Navteq combination that is now
under scrutiny from the EC as well.
EADS Astrium, one of Europes biggest
aerospace contractors, is to buy Surrey Satellite
Technology. EADS Astrium, which is one of the
builders of GIOVE-B has entered into an agree-
ment to acquire U.K-based University of Surrey
new 11-year cycle, called solar cycle 24, is
expected to build gradually, with the number
of sunspots and solar storms reaching a maxi-
mum by 2011 or 2012, though devastating
storms can occur at any time, according to
NOAA.
LoranLORAN has been given $34.5 million in the
presidents proposed federal budget for fiscal
2009, and made part of the provenance of the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Funding for eLORAN going forward is still an
open question; $34.5 million hardly covers the
annual operating costs of the system as it exists
today. Completing the upgrade could cost as
much as $400 million.The General Lighthouse
Authorities of the United Kingdom and Ireland
(GLA) has lauded the U.S. decision and is deve-
loping a similar system for Europe.
Huibert-Jan Lekkerkerk
project manager at IDsW and freelance
writer and trainer. This article reflects his
personal opinion.
spinoff company Surrey Satellite Technology
Ltd., maker of Galileo's first satellite, GIOVE-A.
Meanwhile GIOVE-A has surpassed its design
life of 27 months but will remain active.
Sunspot CycleA new 11-year cycle of heightened solar activity,
bringing with it increased risks for military and
civilian communications, including GPS signals,
showed signs it was on it its way with the
appearance of the cycle's first sunspot, NOAA
scientists said. A sunspot is an area of highly
organized magnetic activity on the surface of
the sun which affects GPS performance. The
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Art i c le
17June 2008
Leica Geosystems new AR25 antenna capable of receiv-
ing Galileo and Beidou signals.
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Prodigious Mapping Capabilities, Spatial Resolution and Geo-
GeoEyes Next-Generation Imaging S
In the coming months, insurance companies will have access to commercial satellite images precise enough to determine
whether an insured homeowner living in a fire-prone area like southern California should thin the brush in his backyard to
prevent the spread of a forest fire. Defense and intelligence communities will have access to imagery that is an ideal tool
for broad area mapping. Oil and gas companies will have access to color imagery to help them manage and map facilities
and infrastructure on the ground. These sorts of uses are mere snapshots of what commercial
imagery provider GeoEye (Dulles, Va.) envisions for its next-generation GeoEye-1
Earth-imaging satellite, slated for launch later this year.
By John Croft
backyard to prevent the spread of a forest fire.
Defense and intelligence communities will have
access to imagery that is an ideal tool for broad
area mapping. Oil and gas companies will have
access to color imagery to help them manage
and map facilities and infrastructure on the
ground. These sorts of uses are mere snapshots
of what commercial imagery provider GeoEye
(Dulles, Va.) envisions for its next-generation
GeoEye-1 Earth-imaging satellite, slated for
launch later this year.
AccuracyFunded 50 percent by GeoEye and about 50
percent by the U.S. Department of Defense,
the satellite will set new and unprecedented
standards for the performance and capabili-
ties of commercial remote sensing systems.
The 684 kilometer, sun-synchronous, polar
orbiting satellite with its ITT Corporation
(White Plains, NY) sensor will be able to dis-
cern objects on the ground 0.41 meter in size
and, just as important, map an object that
18
Art ic le
June 2008
In 1900, in the magazine Ladies Home Journal,an article making predictions for the next cen-
tury said, Flying machines will carry powerful
telescopes that beam back to Earth pho-
tographs as distinct and large as if taken from
across the street.
In the coming months, insurance companies will
have access to commercial satellite images pre-
cise enough to determine whether an insured
homeowner living in a fire-prone area like
southern California should thin the brush in his
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size to within three meters of its true location
on the surface of the Earth. This level of accu-
racy has never been possible before with civi-
lian space-based imagery and will be done
without the use of ground control points from
outside sources.
In practice, GeoEye-1 imagery will be able to
see an object the size of home plate on a
baseball diamond in both color and black and
white. Maximum spatial resolution for color
images will be 1.65 meters, a factor of two
ITT provided similar previous generationequipment for IKONOS and built the imaging
sensor for another satellite, DigitalGlobes
WorldView-1 panchromatic sensor, which was
launched in September 2007.
Though it stands two stories high and weighs
more than two tons, GeoEye-1 is designed to
deftly train the ITT camera on multiple targets
during a single orbital pass, able to rotate or
swivel forward, backward or side-to-side with
robotic precision. These capabilities allow the
satellite to image easily east to west even as
it moves from north to south around the Earth
at a speed of 7 km per second. GeoEye-1 will
be able to collect several images of the same
area taken at different orbital positions,
resulting in the ability to create stereo
imagery which can be processed into
advanced geospatial products.
General Dynamics provides the satellites pre-
cision pointing and attitude knowledge --
essential ingredients for GeoEyes spatial res-
olution and geo-location performance -- using
GPS, gyros and star-tracking sensors. The GPS
system and the star trackers are the most
sophisticated on the commercial market,having previously been used only for U.S.
Government missions. The star trackers were
built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
headquartered in Boulder, Co.
TelescopeAt the heart of ITTs camera is a five-element
modified Cassegrain telescope with a 1.1-
meter primary mirror, which is a larger diame-
ter than the primary mirror used in current
systems. ITT uses two fold mirrors in the
optical path to compress the system focal
better than existing commercial satellites withfour-band multispectral imaging capabilities,
including GeoEyes IKONOS Earth-imaging
satellite. Launched in 1999, IKONOS has a
maximum resolution of 0.82 meters (black
and white).
ITT, developer of GeoEye-1s camera and tele-
scope assembly, says the satellite will be
capable of collecting on a daily basis up to
700,000 square kilometers of panchromatic
data, an area about the size of Texas, or
350,000 square kilometers of pan-sharpened
multispectral imagery, the equivalent of pho-tographing and mapping the entire state of
New Mexico. Given its altitude, sun-syn-
chronous orbit, field of view and superior
resolution, GeoEye-1 can revisit any point
on the globe every three days or sooner,
depending upon the required orbital angle.
ProdigiousThe satellites prodigious mapping capabili-
ties, spatial resolution and geo-location abili-
ty are the result of a technological symbiosis
between the satellite bus, built by General
Dynamics Advanced Information Systems
(Gilbert, Ariz.) and ITTs optical telescope,
detectors, focal plane assemblies and high-
speed digital processing electronics capable
of processing millions of pixels per second.
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Art i c le
19June 2008
ocation Ability
atellite
1-meter simulated resolution from aerial imagery of Colorado Capital and Downtown Denver.
0.5 meter simulated resolution from aerial
imagery of Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado.
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length allowing it to fit within the available
envelope. The telescope is the subassembly
that collects photons, says ITTs Cliff Olds,
project manager for the GeoEye-1 camera. Its
like a light bucket.
Compared to current technology, its quite the
bucket. GeoEye-1s quantum efficiency, the
measure of how well a telescope collects light
photons is nearly double that of other sys-
tems. That makes the instrument more
affordable, lower in cost and able to collectmore data, faster, says Chris Young, presi-
dent of ITT Space Systems Division.
After passing through the telescope, the light
passes through two parallel slits at the focal
plane. Beneath one are the panchromatic
charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors; below
the other are four rows of multispectral sen-
sors, each filtered to gather light in the cor-
rect spectrum blue, green, red and near
infrared. The miniscule size of the individual
pixels in each panchromatic sensor CCD are a
key reason GeoEye-1s images will have
greater sharpness and ground resolution than
existing commercial imaging satellites, says
Olds. As a whole, Young says, GeoEye-1's
camera and electronics offer five times the
power efficiency, 10 times the weight efficiency,
20
Art ic le
June 2008
1-meter simulated resolution from aerial imagery
of Charles B. Wheeler, Downtown Airport, Kansas
City, Missouri.
1-meter simulated resolution from aerial imagery of Coors Field, Denver, Colorado.
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and three times the cost efficiency that cur-
rent high-resolution systems offer.
Once operational, GeoEye-1 will become a key
asset in GeoEyes satellite constellation, which
includes IKONOS and the 1,100-meter ground
resolution OrbView-2 satellite, launched in
1997. GeoEye-1 will launch on a Boeing Delta
II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California. Because of its sun-synchronous
orbit, the satellite will pass over the sunlit
portions of the Earth at approximately 10:30a.m., providing an optimal mix of lighting and
shadow for imaging. The satellite is designed
to operate for a minimum of seven years and
carries enough re-boost fuel to maintain its
orbital altitude for more than 10 years.
GeoEye will control the satellite from its nor-
thern Virginia headquarters and will receive
downlink information at its Dulles and Barrow,
Alaska, ground stations. The company is also
leasing ground stations in Tromso, Norway,
and Troll, Antarctica, through Kongsberg
Satellite Services. GeoEyes Denver operations
facility has been upgraded as a back-up
ground station for GeoEye-1. These geogra-
phically dispersed ground station architecture,
will enable the satellite to clear the imagery
in its memory at least every orbit so that the
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Art i c le
21June 2008
0.5-meter simulated resolution from aerial imagery of Coors Field, Denver, Colorado.
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PHOTOMOD R software offers high-tech and high-
performance solutionsfor professional photogrammetricprocessing of the remote sensing data allowing you to extractgeometrically accurate spatial information. It covers all yourneeds for high-precision digital terrain models creation, 3D
image features collection, images orthorectification, mosaick-ing and digital maps making.
The new advanced version of PHOTOMODR
complete ADS40 support; Kompsat-2 support; featuring filtersand curves tools for radiometric preprocessing; new bundleadjustment algorithm.
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imagery gets back to the processing facility in Dulles, Virginia more
quickly and then into the hands of customers.
CustomersOnce data from Geo-Eye-1 begins to flow, after a 45-60 day on-orbit
checkout phase, the U.S. Government and other customers will receive
access to imagery from the satellite. Panchromatic and multi-spectral
data will be downlinked separately and recombined at GeoEye, with
multispectral data used to colorize the higher resolution panchroma-
tic images.For commercial sales, GeoEye will resample the images to decrease
the maximum spatial resolution to 0.5 meters, a requirement levied
by the U.S. government. Mark Brender, vice president of corporate
communications and marketing for GeoEye, expects that half-meter
resolution imagery will enable the company to provide customers and
resellers in the U.S. and overseas with new geospatial products with
a superb metric accuracy. For the government customer, GeoEye-1, will
provide more eyes in the sky and high-quality unclassified imagery to
support intelligence and broad area mapping missionsall on a cost-
effective basis.
Since the start of the GeoEye-1 program, the satellite is being deli-
vered on budget without any change orders that often drive up thecost of such complex systems.
AweImagination appears to be the only limit as to what users may create
with GeoEye-1s unparalleled views of Earth. Potential markets that
would likely increase their use of geospatial technologies to involve
satellite imagery include oil and gas, insurance and risk management,
real estate, location-based services, and agencies designed to better
understand the impact of climate change on the Earths surface.
Whatever the use, ITTs Young predicts customers far and wide will
have the same impression of GeoEye-1s imagery: Awe.
That one-hundred-year-old prediction from Ladies Home Journal has
come true, almost right on time.
John Croft is an aerospace journalist.
For more information, have a look at www.geoeye.com and www.ssd.itt.com.
Thanks to Mark Brender and Adam Konowe.
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com23
June 2008
GIS is one of the fastest growing markets, with annual growth
projected as high as 20% through the coming years. As GIS
applications expand, asset management with GIS/GPS devices
is one of the most active areas of growth. The number of users
is increasing, and new markets such as China, Brazil, India and
Russia are emerging. This expansion is similar to that of the cell
phone market a few years ago. Its not just the number of pro-
fessional users thats growing; were also seeing new applica-
tions and more use by non-professionals.
In the coming years, GIS users will be demanding that their GPS
devices are not only GPS, but also GLONASS-, and in a few
years Galileo-capable. Wireless technology will become common
and every GIS/GPS receiver will have to be a connected device,
able to communicate with Wi-Fi/Wi-Max or 3G/4G cell phone net-
works. Data exchange, e-mail, Internet and DGPS over IP
(NTRIP) will be as common as they are today with smartphones,
or PDAs. This connectivity aspect will result in large develop-
ment of enterprise solutions, where the GIS/GPS devices are
interconnected, sharing centralized application servers, common
GIS databases and services. Photometry and photo mapping
will become more and more common, requiring high-quality,
integrated digital cameras in GPS products.
As the GIS/GPS devices have to be handheld, they have to
be small, compact and lightweight. Thus, their new capabilities
will require hardware modularity providing users with those
capabilities and features they really need, e.g., either bar code
reader or laser rangefinder, but not necessarily both. At the same
time, the increased product complexity has to be balanced by
their ease of use, since most GIS users are not GIS/GPS experts.
Finally, the end users will become more and more price-con-
scious and unwilling to spend too much money to get the right
device.
These future trends are starting today, and Magellan Professional
is following them very closely. The recent release of
MobileMapper 6 is our first step in responding to the above
challenges, providing GIS users with the GPS product they
demand.
Jacek Pietruczanis is Product
Marketing Manager GIS Solutions
at Magellan Professional.
Column
Providing GIS Userswith the GPS Product
They Demand
GeoEye-1 At Lift-off, Vandenberg AFB, California
http://www.geoeye.com/http://www.geoeye.com/http://www.ssd.itt.com/http://www.ssd.itt.com/http://www.geoinformatics.com/http://www.geoinformatics.com/http://www.geoinformatics.com/http://www.ssd.itt.com/http://www.geoeye.com/ -
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A New Photogrametric Workflow
Vexcel Imagings Ultramap Platform
Digital large format aerial cameras have been used for aerial survey and mapping operations for several years.
One example is the UltraCamX, developed by Vexcel Imaging GmbH, Graz, Austria. UltraCamX was introduced into the
market in May 2006 and is currently the largest digital frame camera for photogrammetric applications. Since May 2006,
Vexcel has been operating under the ownership of Microsoft Corp. and as such contributes to the Microsoft Virtual Earth
Initiative. This huge project is based on high quality aerial images for fully automated, three dimensional, digital
re-construction of urban areas. Vexcel now introduces a new processing software called UltraMap Platform which
implements a complete photogrammetric workflow including quality control and visualization.
By Alexander Wiechert and Michael Gruber
Vexcel Imaging GmbH is headquartered inGraz, Austria and known for its manufacture of
photogrammetric devices. The companys first
product was the precision film scanner
UltraScan5000. In May 2003, the digital large
format camera system UltraCamD was presen-
ted at the ASPRS conference and exhibition in
Anchorage, Alaska, and three years later the new
large format digital aerial camera system, the
UltraCamX was introduced to the internationalmapping market at ASPRS 06 in Reno, Nevada.
Both, UltraCamD and UltraCamX were success-
fully introduced into the global mapping mar-
ket and almost 100 Units have been sold up to
May of this year. Since Microsoft has acquired
Vexcel this camera is used as the sole airborne
optical mapping sensor for the Virtual Earth
Initiative. With the success of its imaging sys-
tems, Vexcel has now introduced a new pro-
cessing software called UltraMap Platform,
which implements a complete photogramme-
tric workflow.
UltraCamX, the Largest Digital FrameCameraUltraCamX is a digital large format frame ca-
mera and at the moment offers the largest
image format among mapping sensors. Even if
the size of each frame is 136 Megapixels the
camera will allow a short frame interval of 1.35
seconds and therefore is able to produce stereo
overlaps for large scale applications. This fea-
ture is very much appreciated when undertak-
ing large scale mapping projects in urban areas.
The most considerable advantages of
UltraCam X are:
large image format of 14430 pixels crosstrack and 9420 pixels along track
excellent optical system with 100 mm focal
length for the panchromatic camera heads
and 33 mm for the multi spectral camera
heads
best in class geometric accuracy
>12 bit radiometric performance
1.35 sec. frame interval
The cam image storage capacity of 4700
frames for one single data storage unit
almost unlimited image harvest due to
exchangeable data storage units
instant data download from the airplane
by removable data storage units
fast data transfer to the post processing
system by the new docking station
The camera consists of the sensor unit, the
onboard storage and data capture system, theoperator interface panel and two removable
data storage units. Software to operate the
camera and process the image data after the
flight mission completes the system (figure 1).
The UltraCam X Sensor HeadThe basic design of the UltraCamX sensor is
unique (figure 2). It consists of eight indepen-
24
Art ic le
June 2008
Figure 1: UltraCam X digital aerial camera system with
the Sensor Unit (right) and the airborne Computing
Unit including two removable Data Units (left).
Technical Data UCX Sensor Unit
Panchromatic Channel
Multi cone multi sensor concept 4 camera heads
Image size in pixel (cross track/along track) 14430 * 9420 pixelPhysical pixel size 7.2 micron
Physical image format (cross track/along track) 103.9 mm * 67.8 mm
Focal length 100 mm
Lens aperture f = 1/5.6
Angle of view (cross track/along track) 55 / 37
Multispectral Channel
Four channels (Red, Green, Blue, Near Infrared) 4 camera heads
Image size in pixel (cross track/along track) 4992 * 3328 pixel
Physical pixel size 7.2 micron
Physical image format (cross track/along track) 34.7 mm * 23.9 mm
Focal length 33 mm
Lens aperture f = 1/ 4
General
Shutter speed options 1/500 sec 1/32 sec
Forward motion compensation TDI controlled, 50 pixels
Frame rate per second 1 frame in 1.35 sec
A/DC bandwidth 14 bit (16384 levles)
Radiometric resolution > 12 bit /channel
Tab. 1: Technical Data and Specifications of the UltraCamX Senor Unit
-
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dent camera cones, four contributing to the
large format panchromatic image, and four con-
tributing to the multi spectral image. The sen-
sor head of the UltraCamX is equipped with 13
FTF5033 high performance CCD sensor units,
each producing 16 mega pixels of image infor-
mation at a radiometric bandwidth of more than
12 bit.
The transition to 7.2 m CCD sensors caused a
redesign of the optical system which is able to
resolve the 70 lp/mm of the CCD pixel grid. In
cooperation with LINOS/Rodenstock, a high per-
formance optical system was developed with a
focal length of 100 mm for the panchromatic
cones and a focal length of 33 mm for the multi
spectral cones. This set of two lenses supports
the pan sharpening ratio of 1:3.The image format of 14430 pixels cross track
and 9420 pixels in flight direction contributes
to productivity in the air. With a 25 % side over-
lap between strips the UltraCamX covers more
than one mile, or 1650 m, at 6 inch pixel size.
The UltraCamX on Board StorageSystemThe new data storage system of the UltraCamX
improves the end-to-end workflow of the aerial
mission and vastly improves the operational
activities of the aerial crew. The system con-tains two independent data units for redundant
potential of the sensor and its responsiveness.
Only 6 DN @ 16 bit (= 0.4 DN @ 12 bit) of
noise could be detected in shadows.
Geometric Accuracy at the 1Micrometer LevelAfter the geometric laboratory calibration the
performance of every UltraCamX is verified by
a flight mission over a well known test area. A
flight pattern with high overlap (80% endlap,
60% sidelap) and cross strips offers a redun-
dant dataset which allows detailed investiga-
tion of the interior geometry of the camera.
The automatic tie point matching is done using
INPHOs aerial triangulation software package,
Match AT. The sigma_o value reflects the quali-
ty level of image coordinate measurements of
an aerial triangulation project. Such values have
been computed for several UltraCamX image
datasets. The sigma_o values of the flight mis-sions shown in figure 4 are close to, or smaller
than, 1 m at that huge redundancy of high
overlaps and additional cross strips. In addi-
tion, cross check and additional self calibration
options were applied using BINGO.
UltraMap PlatformDigital aerial frame cameras are able to produce
enormous volumes of image data. One can
imagine that handling large amounts of images
can be a problem in the office. After each pro-
cessing step, the operator requires a QC (quali-ty control) check to ensure that all processed
data fulfil the required quality expectations. At
best, this is done not on an image-by-image
manner, but should be done within the whole
block. Since aerial cameras are now producing
imagery with increased numbers of pixels (~130
Mpix, UltraCamX), handling aerial imagery is
becoming a problem for the operator. The situ-
ation gets worse if the QC requires the visua-
lization of geo-located high resolution images,
in order to validate whole projects (usually
>2,000 images, about 253 Gpix). In most cases,
quick views (down sampled to 1/100 of the ori-
ginal size) are used to carry out a quick quality
check. The downside of this approach is obvi-
ous. Neighbouring information cannot be taken
into account if a block of images should be
image capture. The data
units are able to capture
up to 4700 images of 136
mega pixels each and most valuable for large
scale missions can be replaced by spare units
within a few minutes. Thus one can increase
the entire number of images for one single mis-
sion by a factor of two or three, and enjoy prac-
tically unlimited onboard image storage capaci-
ty. Disconnecting the data units from the camera
system after the completion of a flight mission
and shipping the raw data to the office
becomes a very simple task.
The downloading of the image data is suppor-
ted by a docking station, which allows com-
plete data transfer of 4000 images within 8
hours, through four parallel data transfer chan-
nels. Therefore, a 24 hour cycle of flying, copy-
ing and QC can be achieved.
Radiometric Quality and MultiSpectral CapabilityUltraCamX exploits the radiometric quality of
the high performance CCD sensor FTF5033 man-
ufactured by DALSA. Not much less then 13 bit
of radiometric information can be extracted via
the 14 bit analog/digital converter. Such broad
bandwidth will resolve the dark and bright
areas in the same scene, such as those found
in a city area on a bright sunny day, with dark
shadows in the streets and almost white roofs.
Similarly, images of mountainous areas withbright snow and dark rocks and shadows
(figure 3), can be easily resolved. The perfor-
mance in dark image regions shows the full
Latest News? Visitwww.geoinformatics.com
Art i c le
25June 2008
Figure 2: The UltraCamX sensor head (left) consists of 8 camera heads, 4 of them
contributing to the large format panchromatic image. These 4 heads are
equipped with 9 CCD sensors in their 4 focal planes. The focal plane of the so
called Master Cone (M) carries 4 CCDs (right).
Figure 3: Aerial image of very high intra scene
contrast (snow and ice vs. shadows and dark rocks).
The vertical profile shows more than 7000 intensity
levels (12.9 bit). The lower image series show digitally
enhanced image portion and demonstrates show the
high contrast scene at different gamma setting.
Bright areas are displayed best on the left, structure
in the dark shadows are better visible on the right.
Figure 4: Results of the Automatic Aerotriangulation from several UltraCamX
testflights at 10 cm GSD (1380 m AGL).Sigma_o values are in the range of 0.7 m
to 1.6 m. The average value of sigma_o is less than 1 m.
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evaluated. In addition, the quick views may not
reflect the actual image content since they are
also radiometrically reduced (8 bits instead of
the original radiometric resolution).
The UltraMap Platform (UMP) has been
designed to provide a complete photogram-
metric workflow to the UltraCam user, whichincludes interactive visualization and QC tools:
Complete and integrated photogrammetric
workflow
Data download and ship packs
Level 0-2 and level 2-3 processing
Complete aero triangulation
Photogrammetric bundle adjustment
Automated tie point collection
Guided ground control point measurements
Camera auto calibration
Quality control
o Interactive visualization
o Overlap
o GPS/IMU accuracy
o Crab angle
o Radiometry
UMP eases the handling of large amounts of
data by using cutting-edge technologies
based on Microsofts .NET and Seadragon
technology. It provides:
Complete 16 bit image pipeline
Supports distributed processing
o Level 0-2 and level 2-3
o Central system managemento Load balancing
And fully integrates UltraCam specific
hardware such as the DX and DKS docking
station
To handle the huge quantity of images UMP
utilises a new technical-based approach called
Image Pyramids. This allows fast access to
multi-resolution image data. During visualiza-
tion, the required information is retrieved from
the various images and used for fast display.
With this approach, the visualization perfor-
mance only depends on the screen resolution
and not on the resolution of the images or the
number of images. Another advantage of this
approach is that it will maintain the high
dynamic range of images (>12 bit) within thepyramid data. The 8 bit conversion is done
directly on the graphics card and can therefore
easily be changed interactively for the whole
block.
Consistent Model
All images are bundled to one consistent
model. The model allows fast access to image-
related information such as position, orienta-
tion, camera parameters, and so forth. The
application uses this information to apply the
required parameters to the visualization mo-
dule. The model also has the capability to
recover missing GPS positions, automatically
detect strips, and check for consistency.
Visualization Modes
UMP supports multiple visualization modes.
During runtime of the application, the user can
switch between different modes on-line. The
supported modes are as follows:
Footprint view This shows the image out-line projected down to the ground level
using the available GPS and/or IMU data. Indexmap The indexmap shows a block of
images using the position and orientation of
each image. By using a slider the scale of
the footprints can be changed interactively.
Heatmap The heatmap is a visualizationtype for showing the degree of overlap of
the image block. The color-coded regions
allow immediate visual recognition of flight
patterns.
ThumbnailThe thumbnail mode allows a more seman-
tic image clustering. For instance, imagesmay be grouped by their strip number or
histogram statistics.
Overlays The overlay concept is designedfor visualizing additional meta information
on top of image data. This may include
image IDs as text, footprints, projection cen-
ters, ground control points, tie points, and
so forth.
Interaction
Besides the visualization, the interaction capa-
bility is also a very important aspect. Easy pan
and zoom functionality is done by using the
mouse. Image selection is important for group-
ing or removing individual images. High level
interaction is required when it comes to mea-
suring (ground) control points. Especially for
the last task, the multi-image block visualiza-
tion eases tremendously the amount of time
for interaction (figure 5).
We tested our method with block sizes of 2,000
high resolution UltraCamX images, with given
GPS information, and track over ground angle.
Our approach allows for seamless browsing
through the whole image collection, beginning
with an overview of the image, to a close-up
view (100%) of individual images. Radiometric
inconsistency, missing images, and high crab
angles can be seen in one view (left image of
figure 5). The right image of figure 5 shows a
heatmap. A heatmap gives the information
about the degree of overlap. Green regions
show high overlap, whereas red regions lower
overlap.The user can then browse seamlessly from the
overall block overview to the individual image
as shown in figure 6. Every single detail of the
original image can be explored. In addition,
heavy crab angles are made obvious at once.
ConclusionVexcel Imaging GmbH has announced its new
UltraMap Platform, a new photogrammetric
workflow for distributed processing, quality con-
trol and visualization of large amounts of
UltraCam images. UltraMap is based on thelatest Microsoft technologies, namely .NET and
Seadragon. It provides an unparalleled set of
functionality to support the end user with effi-
cient image processing, quality control and
image handling. UltraMap Platform leverages
the productivity of the UltraCam and defines a
new industry standard for the processing and
handling of large projects. UMP clearly demon-
strates the synergy achieved by Vexcel as a
Microsoft company and also shows the strong
innovation momentum of Microsoft Vexcel.
Alexander Weichert is General Manager of Vexcel
Imaging GmbH. Michael Gruber is Chief Scientist
Photogrammetry at Vexcel. For more information,
have a look at www.ultracamx.com
www.microsoft.com/ultracam
Figure 5: Block overview of 2,000 images. The left
image shows at one sight that there are missing
images. The right image shows a heatmap for the
block.
Figure 6: Close-up view of individual high resolution
images. Left images shows