PHYSICS OF

AREAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Lecture
Lecture55

First
FirstYear
YearStudents
Studentsof
ofSP
SP

Prof.
Prof.Anjana
AnjanaVyas
Vyas
11
11th September
th
September2008
2008
 COVERED TILL DATE ON
REMOTE SENSING
1.DEFINATION
2.ADVANTAGES OF R S
3.PLATFORMS
4.SATELLITE CHARACTERISTICS
5.REVOLUTION AROUND EARTH
6.ELECTROMAGNATIC
RADIATIONS
7.RESOLUTION
8.IMAGE INTERPRETATION KEY
 COVERED TILL DATE ON
GIS

1.INTRODUTION TO GIS
2.SPECIAL FORM OF Info Sys
3.IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF GIS
4.EXAMPLES OF SPATIAL AND
NON-SPATIAL DATA BASE
5.QUESTIONS GIS CAN ANSWER
6.CASE STUDY ON RURAL
INFORMATION SYSTEM
TODAY WE WILL LEARN ABOUT

PHYSICS OF

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
 The term
"photography"
is derived from two Greek words
meaning

•"light" (photos) and

•"writing" (graphien)
 Definition
Definition ::
An aerial photo is just a black and white (b & w) or
color "picture" of an area on the Earth's surface
(plus clouds, often), either on print or on
transparency.

A film camera shoots the picture from a free-flying

platform (airplane, helicopter or balloon) some
preplanned distance above the surface.
DEFINITION OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Photogrammetry is the art, science,

and technology of obtaining reliable
information about physical objects
and the environment through the
processes of recording, measuring,
and interpreting photographic images
and patterns of electromagnetic
radiant energy and other phenomena.
(Mapping Sciences by the American Society for
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS))

 
DEFINITION OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY

The science or art of obtaining reliable

measurements by means of photographs
(Third Edition of the Manual of Photogrammetry)

It should be noted that the term art is

applied as meaning skill which is obtained
through experience.
(Manual of Photogrammetry, Fourth Edition, published in
1980 by the ASPRS.)
 Boston by Black and King (1860)

Oblique aerial photograph of downtown Boston obtained by Samuel A. King

and J. W. Black from a balloon at an altitude of 1,200 ft. on October 13, 1860.

• First aerial photograph taken from a captive balloon in the United States.
 Eye
Eye
COMPARISION
COMPARISION
Lens
Lens
Retina
Retina

Object HUMAN
HUMANEYE
EYE
Retina

Image Object
Image

Iris
Iris

Camera
Camera Between-
Between-
the-lens
the-lens
shutter
shutter
Lens
Film Plane

Lens
Plane
FilmPlane

Image OPTICAL
OPTICAL
Image Object
Object CAMERA
CAMERA
Film

Roll
Roll
of Aperture
Aperture
offilm
film

Focal
FocalLength
Length
 Types of aerial photographs

 Orientation of photo
 Vertical
 Oblique
 high and low oblique

 Spectral characteristics of film

 Black and White (panchromatic)
 Black and White IR
 UV
 Color
 Color IR

 Scale of photo
 A photo is considered to be “large scale” if the ratio of distance units on
the photo to distance on the ground is large (ie: 1:2000)

 Stereo pairs
PROFESSIONAL
PROFESSIONALPHOTOGRAPMMETRY
PHOTOGRAPMMETRYORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION
The
TheAmerican
AmericanSociety
SocietyofofPhotogrammetry
Photogrammetry(ASP) (ASP)founded
foundedinin1934
1934
Manual
ManualofofPhotogrammetry
Photogrammetry
Manual
ManualofofPhotographic
PhotographicInterpretation
Interpretation
Manual
Manual of Color – AerialPhotography
of Color – Aerial Photography
Manual
ManualofofRemote
RemoteSensing
Sensing
Hand
HandBook
BookofofNon-topographic
Non-topographicPhotogrammetry
Photogrammetry
Photogrammetric
PhotogrammetricEngineering
Engineeringand
andRemote
RemoteSensing
Sensing
The
TheAmerican
AmericanCongress
Congresson onSurveyijng
Surveyijngand
andMapping
Mapping(ACSM)
(ACSM)founded
foundedinin1941
1941
Surveying and Mapping
Surveying and Mapping
The
TheAmerican
AmericanSociety
SocietyofofCivil
CivilEngineers
Engineers
Journal
Journalofofthe
theSurveying
SurveyingandandMapping
MappingDivision
Division
The
TheCanadian
CanadianInstitute
Instituteofof Surveying
Surveying
The
TheCanadian
CanadianSurveyor
Surveyor
The
The International Societyfor
International Society forPhotogrammetry
Photogrammetryand andRemote
RemoteSensing
Sensing(ISPRS)
(ISPRS)founded
foundedin
in
1910
1910
Photogrammetrics
Photogrammetrics
The
TheIndian
IndianSociety
Societyofof Remote
RemoteSensing
Sensing
The
TheIndian
IndianSociety
SocietyofofGeomatics
Geomatics
The
The Indian National CartographicAssociation
Indian National Cartographic Association
 USE
USEOF
OFPHOTOGRAMMETRY
PHOTOGRAMMETRY
Planning
Planningand
andDesigning
DesigningHighway
Highway
Rail Astronomy
Astronomy
Railand
andRoads
Roads Architecture
Rapid
Rapid TransitSystem
Transit System Architecture
Bridges Archeology
Archeology
Bridges Geomorphology
Pipelines
Pipelines Geomorphology
Aqueducts Oceanography
Oceanography
Aqueducts Hydrology
Transmission
TransmissionLines
Lines Hydrologyand
andWater
WaterResource
Resource
Hydroelectric Dams Conservation
ConservationEcology
Ecology
Hydroelectric Dams Mineralogy
Flood
FloodControl
ControlStructures
Structures Mineralogy
River
Riverand
andHarbor
HarborImprovements
Improvements
Urban
UrbanRenewal
RenewalProjects
Projects

Non
NonEngineering
EngineeringApplication
Application

Plot
PlotMaps
Maps
Soil
SoilMaps
Maps
Forest
ForestMaps
Maps
Geologic
GeologicMaps
Maps
Maps
Mapsfor
forCity,
City,Regional
RegionalPlanning
Planningand
andZoning
Zoning
Aerial
Aerial Camera
Camera Lens
Lens Angle-of-View
Angle-of-View

22,0,00000f ft
t

44°0°0

11, ,00000f 0ft

t

44°0°0 44°0°0
77°0°0
99°0°0
111100° °

aa. . bb. .
Types of Distortion Caused by Aircraft

Roll Pitch Yaw

Distortion caused by roll, pitch and yaw
 PHOTOGRAMMETRY DISTINCT AREA
Metric Photogrammetry
Use of measurements made on aerial
photographs to obtain quantitative data
about earth's surface.
•Distance
•Angles
•Areas
•Volumes
•Elevations
•Sizes
 PHOTOGRAMMETRY DISTINCT AREA
Interpretative Photogrammetry
Aerial photographs or images produced by
electronic sensors are carefully studied to
produce an interpretation of the conditions.
•Photographic Interpretation
•Photographic Images
•Remote Sensing
•Multispectral Camera
•Infrared Camera
•Thermal Camera
•Side Looking Airborne Radar
Shape, size, pattern, shadow, tone &
texture used to identify objects
 Profile
ProfileView
Viewof
ofAAMetric
MetricCamera
Cameraand
andSystem
SystemComponents
Components
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P ltaetn
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vvac u u
acuum m
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 f /8 f / 11
f /8 f / 11

f / 5.6 f / 16

The
Thef/stops
f / 5.6 f / 16

f/stops
for
for aa
Camera
Camera f /4
f /4
f / 22
f / 22

Lens
Lens and
and
the
the Size
Sizeof
f / 2.8 4@f / 5.6

of
f / 2.8 4@f / 5.6

f / 2.8
the
the
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Aperture
Aperture
Openings
Openings f / stop
f / stop 2
.8 4 5 1 16 22
.8 4 .5
2 6
.6
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f=80mm
f=80m
m

L
ens
L
ens
 Photogrammetry

 Taking quantitative measurements from air photos

 Heights of objects
 Areas
 Lengths
 Density
 Etc.
 Scale

 Scale is the ratio of the measured length of an

object on an image to its real length on the ground
 Always expressed as a ratio (e.g. 1:24,000)
Small scale means low resolution!
Large scale means high resolution!
 Calculating Scale for Air Photos

 For air photos scale depends on:

 Focal Length of camera lens (typically 150 mm
for air photography but can vary)
 Height of camera above ground

Scale = Focal Length/Height

 Photo Length

Focal Length
Similar Triangles

Height

Ground Length
 Calculating scale from photos themselves

 Ifyou know the length of an object on the

photo and its true length, you can calculate
scale
Scale = length on photo/true length

MUST BE CONSISTENT WITH

UNITS!!
 Vertical
Vertical Aerial
Aerial Photography
Photography
VVertica
ertical lAAeri eria al l
PPhho ototog grarapphh OOv verer
LLevevelelTTerra errainin
CCamamera
era
film
fil m pan
p l l ane e

AAltitltitu ud de e
ababo ov ve-g
e-grorou un nd d- - fiel
field d
lev
levelel(A(AGGLL) ) o of fv vi ew
i ew

OOp ptical
tical
axaxi si s

PPrin
rincicip palalp po oinint t(P(PPP) )
9 90 0° °

Goosenecks
Goosenecksofofthe
theSan
SanJuan
JuanRiver
RiverininUtah
Utah
 Vertical Photographs
Vertical photographs are made using special photogrammetric cameras, that are built
into an aeroplane looking straight downwards. While taking the photographs, the
aeroplane flies over a certain area in a meandric way, so that the whole area is covered
by overlapping photographs. The overlapping parts can be seen stereoscopically (i.e. in
3D) by means of stereoscopes.

Most of the vertical photographs, which are stored in our archive, were taken using a
Zeiss-Reihenmesskammer.
Scheme of Flight for Vertical Photograph
Vertical Photograph
Vertical Stereo pair with 80% Overlap
© Flugbildkompanie Langenlebarn
 VERTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY

'False-colour' infrared photograph of saltmarsh, Scolt Head Island, Norfolk (16th October
1986). Film ref. RC8Ki-AQ 75.
 Low-oblique
Low-obliqueAerial
Aerial Photography
Photography
L L o oww - -OO b bl il qi qu ue e AA e er ri ai al l
P Ph ho ot to og gr ra ap ph h OO v ve er r
F Fl al at t T T e er rr ra ai ni n

f if ei el dl d o of f
v vi ei eww

OO p pt it ci ca al l
a ax xi si s
HH o or ir zi zo on n
i si s n no ot t s sh ho oww n n
i ni n p ph ho ot ot og gr ra ap ph h
9 90 0° °

Low-oblique
Low-obliquephotograph
photographofofaabridge
bridgeon
on
the
theCongaree
CongareeRiver
Rivernear
nearColumbia,
Columbia,SC.SC.
Low oblique (no horizon)
 High-oblique
High-obliqueAerial
AerialPhotography
Photography

HHigighh- O-Obbliq liquue eAAe er riaial l

PPh ho ot otog gr ra apphhOOv ve er r
FFlalat tTTe er rr ra ainin

fie
f ieldldo of f
v vieieww

HHo oriz r izo on nisis

s hs ho owwn nininththe e
OOp ptictica al l p ph ho ototog gr arap ph h
a ax xisis

9 90 0° °

High-oblique
High-obliquephotograph
photographofofthe
thegrand
grand
Coulee
CouleeDam
Damin
inWashington
Washingtonin in1940
1940
High oblique
 OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPHY

Here is an example of a typical oblique

picture made during a Viking Flight in
1950, looking across Arizona and the Gulf
of California to the curving Earth horizon

Ice-carved corries on the east side of

Snowdon,
Gwynedd (2 July 1985). Film ref. 70K-EY
8
Today,
Today, most
most of
of the
the photographs
photographs
have
have aa format
format of
of 23
23 by
by 23
23 cm.
cm.

Every
Every photograph
photograph has
has aa strip
strip
containing
containing subsidiary
subsidiary information
information on
on
its
its border.
border.
Annotation
Annotationon
onthe
thePerimeter
Perimeterof
ofAn
AnAerial
AerialPhotograph
Photograph
Every photograph has a strip containing subsidiary information
on its border.
a project field (1) with useful information about when and
why the photograph was taken
a clock (2) which can be helpful, if you don´t know how
to orientate the picture (where is the north
direction?)
the calibrated focal length which is needed during photogrammetrical
(3) analysis; most of our photographs were
taken with a focal length of about 150 mm
(wide angle) or 210 mm (medium angle)

the bubble (4) showing you, if the photograph is in fact a

vertical one
the serial number of the which is needed to identify the right
camera (5) calibration protocol
an altimeter (6) which is useful to estimate the scale of the
photograph
and the number of the most of the films contain at about 300
photograph (7) pictures
Principal
Point
Fiducial
marks
Fiducial
axes
 Principal
point

Marginal
information
Flight Paths
End lap of Aerial Photographs
Side lap of Aerial Photographs
End lap (or fore lap) is
the important bit

• It ensures every
point on the ground
appears in at least two
photographs

• Distance between
principal point of
adjacent photographs
is known as the “air
base”
 Verticality is
most important
as it has
minimum
distortion and
can be used for
taking
measurements
If you know focal length of camera and height of aircraft above the
ground you can calculate the scale of the photograph
Scale = f/H-h
f = focal length (distance from centre of lens to film surface)
 H
H

Scale = f / H-h
H = flying height of aircraft above sea level
h = height of ground above sea level
When you know the scale you can take 2-D measurements from a
photograph (e.g. horizontal distance, horizontal area, etc.)
But to take “true” measurements on an uneven
surface you need to work in 3-D
 Height of Objects

 Can calculate using measurements that you make on

a single photo
h = d*H/r

h = height of object
H = aircraft height above datum
r = distance from principal point to top of object
d = distance from object bottom to object top
 Air Photo
Height
Calculation
 Relief Displacement
H’ = H – hA’
H (not shown) =
Flying height
above datum.
‘
d = distance from
bottom to top of
object on image.
r = radial distance
for principal point
to top of object.
h = height of
object from
bottom to top.

Datum CEE 403 hA’

 Relief Displacement
 It is actually relief displacement that causes scale
variations.
 Cannot mosaic photos of same object taken at different
photo centers even if H’ is constant.
 Direction of displacement will be different on different
photos.

CEE 403
 Other methods for measuring height

Length of shadows on photo and

knowledge of sun angle
Parrallax methods using two photos
(requires two overlapping photos)
 Measuring Areas on Air Photos
 Line intercept sampling to determine relative
area of classes
 Use parallel lines spread across image and
measure how much (length) of each class
on the image is intersected by the line.
 Use relative areas and the photo scale to
calculate the absolute area.
 Random dots
 Count the number of random dots in each
class to get relative area
 Use a computer to digitize polygons around
each class and get exact area.
Line Intercept Area Determination
 Parallax

Pencil is very displaced because it is close to

observer Church is less displaced because it is
further away
Parallax is used to find distance to stars, using two viewing
points on either side of Earth’s orbit
The same principle can be used to find height of objects in
stereo-pairs of vertical aerial photographs
 Parallax Height

H = height of aircraft above ground

P = absolute parallax at base of object being
measured* (photo air base)
dP = differential parallax

For convenience the photo base length of a stereo

pair is commonly substituted for absolute
stereoscopic parallax (P)
 Human vision

Eye base (6-7cm)

Human vision is binocular in

most cases, and human eyes
can resolve parallax as angle of
convergence

This provides perception of

“depth” and enables us to
judge distances (up to 400m)
3-D stereo-optic
viewing of the
Earth’s surface is
possible using
overlapping pairs of
vertical stereo aerial
photographs
Two types of
light-sensitive
cells are
present in the
retina:

• Cones are clustered around the fovea

centralis
• Rods are widely distributed elsewhere
Optical
plane Fovea
centralis
 Air Photo Interpretation
 Pre-interpretation issues to address
 Classification System
Anderson LULC
 Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU)
 Digital vs. Analog system
 Date and Type of Photo (s)

 Identifying features on the ground by using information

depicted in air photos or satellite data
 Color (or gray shade); Texture
 Pattern; Context (Association)
 Shape; Size
 Shadow Location
Tone
 You should understand:

 How aerial photography is collected (Film,

flight geometries, etc.)
 How to calculate scale
 How to make basic measurements
(photogrammetry)
 How to interpret imagery
Types of Aerial Photography : Black and White – Austin, Texas
Types of Aerial Photography : Black and White – Hindalgo County, Texas
 (a)
(a)
(a) The Pentagon and vicinity,
Washington, D.C., portion of a
National Aerial Photography Program
18-inch 2 X enlargement,
1:20,000-scale, March 1994

(b)
(b)

(b) The Pentagon and vicinity, Washington,

D.C., portion of a
National Aerial Photography Program 9-
inch aerial photograph,
1:40,000-scale, March 1994
The Pentagon and
vicinity, Washington,
D.C.,
portion of a National
Aerial Photography
Program
36-inch 4 X
enlargement, 1:10,000-
scale, March 1994
 Aerial Photographs of Jenin - ISRAEL
April 2002
The City of Jenin including the Jenin refugee camp
prior to Operation Defensive Shield
Enlargement of Jenin refugee camp and combat zone on April 13, 2002, after the
battle.

Combat
zone
(approx.
100m X
100m)

< -- 1000 meters (2/3 mile) -- >

Additional aerial views of combat zone in Jenin refugee camp:
Jenin refugee camp
 Relief Displacement
H’ = H – hA’
H (not shown) =
Flying height
above datum.
‘
d = distance from
bottom to top of
object on image.
r = radial distance
for principal point
to top of object.
h = height of
object from
bottom to top.

Datum CEE 403 hA’

 Relief Displacement
 Similar Triangles:
D R
= (1)
h H'

From scale equations:

d f D H' H 'd
= ; = ;D = (2)
D H' d f f
r f R H' H 'r
= ; = ;R = (3)
R H' r f f

CEE 403
 Relief Displacement
Substitute 2 and 3 into 1:
 H 'd   H 'r 
   
 f =  f  ; d = r ; d = rh
h H' h H' H'
•Relief displacement increases linearly with the distance from
the center of the photo.

•Relief displacement increases linearly with the height of the

object.

•Relief displacement increases inversely with the flying height above

the bottom of the object.

CEE 403
 Relief Displacement
 It is actually relief displacement that causes scale
variations.
 Cannot mosaic photos of same object taken at different
photo centers even if H’ is constant.
 Direction of displacement will be different on different
photos.

CEE 403
 Height of Object
rh dH '
d= rearranged yields h=
H' r

Can get height of object by measuring displacement.

Example: H = 4500ft (above datum); Base of tower at 500 ft elevation;
Radial distance from pp to top of tower = 3.00 inches; Displacement =
0.100 inches.

H ' = H − htowerbase = 4500 ft − 500 ft = 4000 ft

dH ' (0.100" )(4000' )
hT = = = 133 ft
r 3.00"

CEE 403
 Errors
 Determination of height of tower subject to:
 Photo not exactly vertical.
 Shrinkage / expansion of photo. } Systematic Errors
 Uncertainty in d.
 Uncertainty in r.
 Uncertainty in H’.
} Random Errors

Systematic errors obey known physical laws and

can be corrected (e.g., corrections for shrinkage /
expansion).
Random errors behave according to the laws of
probability.
CEE 403
 Random Errors
Point of inflection Point of inflection

 
 Normally-distributed random errors have a 68% chance of falling within one standard deviation
(± ) of the peak of the curve.

 We can determine the impact of random errors in functions of variables using “error
propagation”.

CEE 403
 Random Errors
In the relief displacement problem:

dH '
hT =
If we know we can determine

r
Can isolate each variable (d, r, H’) and see how changes affect hT.
Use partial derivatives:




σ d ,σ r ,σ H ' σ hT

dH ' ∂hT H ' ∂hT d ∂hT − dH '

hT = ; = ; = ; =
r ∂d r ∂H ' r ∂r r2

CEE 403
 Random Errors
 Effect of dd:
 H'  4000 ft 
dhT =  dd If dd = +0.001” dhT =  (+0.001in) = +1.3 ft
 r   3.00in 

Effect of dH’:
d   0.100in 
dhT =  dH ' If dH’ = +50 ft dhT =  (+50 ft ) = +1.7 ft
r  3.00in 

Effect of dr:
 − dH '   (0.100in)(4000 ft ) 
dhT =  2 dr If dr = +0.05 in dhT = 
(3 . 00in ) 2
(+0.05in) = −2.2 ft
 r   

CEE 403
 Random Errors
 Combined Uncertainty
If Sd = ±0.001”; SH’ = ±50’; Sr = ±0.05”,
What is the uncertainty in hT?
2 2 2
 ∂h   ∂h   ∂h 
S hT =  T  S d2 +  T  S H2 ' +  T  S r2
 ∂d   ∂H '   ∂r 
2 2 2
 H' d   − dH ' 
=   S d2 +   S H2 ' +  2  S r2
 r  r  r 
2 2 2
 4000 ft   0.100in   − (0.100in)(4000 ft ) 
=   (0.001in) +   (50 ft ) +   (0.05in) 2
2 2
2
 3.00in   3.00in   (3.00in) 
= ±2.8 ft ≅ 3 ft

CEE 403