AERIAL

TRIANGULATION
Group 3
Balangat, Jonalyn
Ballesteros, Joyce
Calauad, Kate Ayza
Clarete, Russel John
Cutamora, Marc Justin
Dacayanan, Jessa Mae
 DEFINITION
• Aerial Triangulation is the process of contiguous densifying
and extending ground control through computational
means. This operation includes establishing ground control
points; performing interior orientation; measuring and
transferring all tie, check, and control points appearing on
all photographs manually; and performing a least squares
block adjustment. This process ultimately provides exterior
orientation parameters for photographs and three-
dimensional co-ordinates for measured object points.

• Aerial triangulation is the term applied to the process of

determining x,y and z Ground coordinate of individual
points on measurements from the photograph.
• The principal application is in extending Ground control through strip or
block of photo for use in subsequent photogrammetric operation.

PURPOSE
• The purpose of Aerial Triangulation is to refine the Exterior Orientation
parameters (ΔX, ΔY, ΔZ, Ω, Φ, κ) computed through direct geo-referencing
for each imagery, which will help to achieve the desired accuracy while
generating DEM. In general the ground control points provided by the client
will be used for Aerial Triangulation.
 BENEFITS OF AERIAL TRIANGULATION

• Minimizing delays and hardships due to adverse

weather condition.
• Access to much of the property within the project
area is not required.
• Field surveying in difficult area, such as Marshes,
Extreme slope, hazardous rock formation, etc; can
be minimized.
 MATERIALS TO PERFORM
AERIAL TRIANGULATION
• Index map of Aerial photos
• Digital Aerial image data
• Results and Descriptions of Ground control Points
• 3D-airborne position data File of Aerial photo
• Elements of Aerial Camera
INDEX MAP OF AERIAL PHOTOS DIGITAL AERIAL IMAGE DATA
Results and Descriptions of Ground control Points 3D-airborne position data File of Aerial photo
 PROCEDURE OF AERIAL TRIANGULATION
1. Preparation
2. Input of Aerial Photo Image
3. Input of Control Points and Exposure station
4. Execution of Inner Orientation
5. Observation of photo coordinate
6. Error snooping by Calculation
7. Examination
8. Block Adjustment
8.1 Documentation of Result
8.2 Store Results in CD-Rom
ORIENTATION PARAMETER

Position of aerial camera and inclination of axes

as

(d x, dy, dz ), ( ω，φ，κ )
 INNER ORIENTATION
Inner orientation is performed to locate the aerial photo by using fiducial mark.
RELATIVE ORIENTATION

Relative orientation provides a convenient means of checking most point making and
photogrammetric measurement.
PASS PASS-POINTS AND TIE POINTS AND TIE-POINTS
Pass-point and Tie-points are used to connect photos
or models and strips.
BLOCK ADJUSTMENT BY BLOCK ADJUSTMENT BY BUNDLE
ADJUSTMENT BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT

The block adjustment is performed to transfer from photo coordinate system to

object x,y,z coordinate system.
 THE FOLLOWING ARE THE INPUTS REQUIRED TO
PERFORM AERIAL TRIANGULATION...

• The flight path

• Camera calibration certificate
• Coordinates , descriptions and the accuracy of the ground controls
• Projected accuracy of the final AT solution
GROUND CONTROL

A GROUND CONTROL IS A TARGET IN THE PROJECT

AREA WITH KNOWN COORDINATES (X,Y,Z). ACCURATE, WELL
PLACED GROUND CONTROLS ARE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR
ANY PHOTOGRAMMETRIC PROJECT UTILIZING AERIAL
TRIANGULATION. GROUND CONTROL REQUIREMENTS VARY
FROM ONE PROJECT TO ANOTHER DEPENDING ON THE
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS AND ITS GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT.
PROJECTS WITH HIGH GEOMETRICAL ACCURACY
REQUIREMENTS REQUIRE MORE GROUND CONTROLS
THE IMAGE BELOW ILLUSTRATES TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GROUND
CONTROLS IN A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PROJECT WHEN THE AIRCRAFT DOES
NOT CARRY ON BOARD A GPS ANTENNA, RESULTING IN A NON-GPS
SUPPORTED AERIAL TRIANGULATION, OR WHAT IS USUALLY CALLED
“CONVENTIONAL AERIAL TRIANGULATION.”
TWO STANDARD TYPES OF GROUND
CONTROL POINTS
PHOTO IDENTIFIABLE (PHOTO ID): THIS
COULD BE ANY FEATURE ON THE GROUND
SUCH AS A MANHOLE, PARKING STRIPE, ETC.
THIS TYPE OF CONTROL DOES NOT NEED TO
BE SURVEYED BEFORE THE UAS FLIES THE
PROJECT AS IT CAN BE SURVEYED LATER ON.
PHOTO IDENTIFIABLE GROUND CONTROL
POINTS ARE OBTAINED USING PRE-EXISTING
FEATURES THAT WILL BE VISIBLE FROM AERIAL
OR SATELLITE PHOTOS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF
ORTHORECTIFICATION, AS THE BASIS FOR
MEASURING A COORDINATE. COMPASS
DATA CONSIDERS MANY FACTORS WHEN
SELECTING A GROUND CONTROL POINT
LOCATION.

ORTHORECTIFICATION IS THE PROCESS OF

REMOVING THE EFFECTS OF IMAGE PERSPECTIVE
(TILT) AND RELIEF (TERRAIN) EFFECTS FOR THE
PURPOSE OF CREATING A PLANIMETRICALLY
CORRECT IMAGE. THE
RESULTANT ORTHORECTIFIED IMAGE HAS A
CONSTANT SCALE WHEREIN FEATURES ARE
REPRESENTED IN THEIR 'TRUE' POSITIONS.
PRE-MARKED
(PANELS): THIS TYPE IS
GENERATED BY
MARKING OR
PAINTING CERTAIN
FIGURES OR SYMBOLS
ON THE GROUND
BEFORE THE UAS FLIES
THE PROJECT.
 PHOTOGRAMMETRIC CONTROL
• Photogrammetric control will be selected as required to support strong block
geometry and sound photogrammetric practice for bundle adjustment.
Photogrammetric control will not be selected or measured within 1 cm of the edge
of the exposed photographic area of any image.
• Point positions will be selected in the most non-ambiguous, clear-ground location
available in the vicinity. In areas of dense tree cover, treetop points will be permitted
only if there are no viable alternatives. Treetop points will be annotated “TT” directly
below the point number using green permanent marker on the control
photography.
 CONTROL POINT CONFIGURATION
• Each photograph must normally have five (5) evenly distributed
photogrammetric control points along the centre line between the top and
bottom of the photograph. These points may be tie points and/or wing
points as further described below. Exceptions to this rule will occur in
photographs over large bodies of water, where no islands exist. Water
models will be strengthened with photogrammetric control points on
significant islands.
 TYPES OF PHOTOGRAMMETRIC
CONTROL

a.) Line Tie Points

• Line tie points are photogrammetric control points selected such that they are
common to adjacent flight lines. Ideally, they will be 6-ray points measured on
the 3 consecutive images in which they appear on each adjacent flight line.
Line ties will be 5-ray points in cases where the alignment of fiducial centers is
significantly staggered in adjacent flight lines.
b.) Wing/Pass Points
Wing points - also called pass points - are 2-ray or 3-ray photogrammetric
control points appearing on consecutive images within a single flight line.

• A Wing/Pass point will occur at, or near, each photo centre.

• A minimum of two (2) additional wing/pass points will be chosen on each
frame along the top and bottom flight lines of the block. These additional
wing/pass points ensure strong geometry at the block perimeter, critical to
optimum bundle adjustment results.
• Additional wing/pass points will also be chosen, as required, to resolve other
perimeter and partial models (i.e.: water models).
c.) Cross Flight Tie Points
• Cross lines exist in the block adjustment to strengthen the control point
configuration in areas where ground control would otherwise be difficult to
obtain.
• Cross flight lines are normally planned as independent lines with five wing/pass
points per fiducial centre line. Additionally, a sufficient number of well
distributed cross flight tie points should be chosen at optimum positions
stereoscopically to ensure good ties between the cross flight line and the
primary west/east line.
• When tying cross flights to regular lines, common points are indicated by an
open red hexagon and given the same point number.
d.) Lake Points
• Lake points are assigned to lakes and flat coastal bodies of water. A series of four or
five lake points are placed on larger lakes located in a model and along the
shore in coastal areas. When there is more than one large lake in a model,
each is treated as an individual lake and numbered uniquely.
• For bundle adjustments, when the same lake appears in adjacent models, the
lake number remains the same with the point number increasing as required.
For lake points on coastal water bodies, the lake number will be unique per
line or per model, as required.
• Sufficient Lake or Coastal Points must be selected in each model to ensure
adequate redundancy for withholding points in bundle adjustment analysis.
e.) Reflights
• When NSGC supplies reflights with overlapping photography, the overlap
imagery will be tied together by stereoscopically transferring all common
control points from the surrounding original imagery, and measuring the
remaining control using the standard procedures and point coding
specifications. All overlapping models between regular flight lines and reflights
will be bridged and adjusted, with appropriate use of line ties between the
two flight lines.
 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
• CLASSIFICATION OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
1.) VERTICAL PHOTOGRAPHS – photographs with unintentional tilts not
exceeding 3% can still be considered as nearly vertical.

2.) OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS – exposed with the camera axis titled intentionally
away from the vertical.
-LOW OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS
-HIGH OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS
VERTICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
LOW OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS
HIGH OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS
 FOCAL LENGTH
• THE FOCAL LENGTH OF THE CAMERA IS DEFINED AS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN
THE REAR NODAL POINT OF THE LENS AND THE FOCAL PLANE.
• THE USUAL NOMINAL VALUES OF FOCAL LENGTHS USED ARE: 90mm. 153mm,
210mm, 305mm and 760mm.
• THERE IS A CLASSIFICATION OF FOCAL LENGTHS:
1.) SHORT FOCAL LENGTH – if the focal length of camera lens is less than
305mm (12”)
2.) LONG FOCAL LENGTH – a camera lens with a focal length greater than
305mm.
SAMPLE OF INSTRUMENT USED
 GEOMETRY OF
VERTICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
PHOTOGRAPHIC FLIGHT LINES
PHOTOGRAPHIC OVERLAPS
1.) END LAP
2. SIDE LAP