Michael Gruber - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Michael Gruber

2019 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW)

Recently, global SfM has been attracting many researchers, mainly because of its time efficiency.... more Recently, global SfM has been attracting many researchers, mainly because of its time efficiency. Most of these methods are based on averaging relative orientations (ROs). Therefore, eliminating incorrect ROs is of great significance for improving the robustness of global SfM. In this paper, we propose a method to eliminate wrong ROs which have resulted from repetitive structure (RS) and very short baselines (VSB). We suggest two corresponding criteria that indicate the quality of ROs. These criteria are functions of potentially conjugate points resulting from local image matching of image pairs, followed by a geometry check using the 5-point algorithm combined with RANSAC. RS is detected based on counts of corresponding conjugate points of the various pairs, while VSB is found by inspecting the intersection angles of corresponding image rays. Based on these two criteria, incorrect ROs are eliminated. We demonstrate the proposed method on various datasets by inserting our refined ROs into a global SfM pipeline. The experiments show that compared to other methods we can generate the better results in this way.

Traditional photogrammetry exploits stereoscopic image measurements to reconstruct the shape of o... more Traditional photogrammetry exploits stereoscopic image measurements to reconstruct the shape of objects. This technology is wellknown and understood for over a century. Since the age of the stereo comparator human operators have been able to recognize the depth of a scene with remarkable accuracy. In principle, this has not changed during the time that image processing has been introduced into the photogrammetric production chain. Only a certain degree of automation has been derived, when matching and image correlation has replaced the human eyes. Nevertheless, we need to confess that shape from stereo is not very robust and that a time-consuming and therefore expensive control and verification process is needed after the automated reconstruction process. To overcome such problems, we argue that a process based on multiple image overlap is the appropriate solution. In the age of digital aerial cameras such multiple overlaps can be commanded without extra costs for additional images....

At issue is the Exabyte 3D World Model in the Internet. Global communication is increasingly deve... more At issue is the Exabyte 3D World Model in the Internet. Global communication is increasingly developing applications with location-references. Examples are the search for addresses and businesses on the Internet, navigation in cars and on smart phones, e-commerce, for example in real estate, travel planning and searches for hotels. Some global Internet providers have begun to provide 2and 3-dimensional models of the Earth at geometric resolutions in some urban spaces in the range of 2 centimeter. Governmental local systems have started to be built in the form of a 3D GIS for a broad range of applications in planning, administration, citizens’ participation and for technical projects. Creation of these models can be based on space and aerial imagery, laser scanning, sensors in street vehicles or hand carried, to include even interior spaces. Once fully available, one will have to deal with perhaps 1 Exabyte of data, first to initialize the system, then to keep it current. We will rev...

The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2002

Scanning of analog image material remains a key function in the photogrammetric production chain ... more Scanning of analog image material remains a key function in the photogrammetric production chain as long as digital aerial cameras have not completely taken over. Therefore it remains an important goal to achieve optimum scanning results. This contribution reviews how the scanning procedures have evolved since 1990, compares photogrammetric and non-photogrammetric scanning applications and focuses on the scanning of color material. The implementation of such concepts is presented by several examples, including the need for color calibration. 1. FROM CENTRALIZED SERVICE TO DISTRIBUTED FUNCTION After an initiation in about 1990, photogrammetric scanning by now has become a routine and standard element of each digital photogrammetric workflow (Baltsavias & Kaiser, 1999; Leberl et al., 1992). Initially, the concept was to set up scanning service bureaus, which would centralize the scanning function for many photogrammetric mapping workshops. But since the photogrammetric equipment manuf...

Dense Matching is used to match a huge number of pixels automatically to generate a surface model... more Dense Matching is used to match a huge number of pixels automatically to generate a surface model from a set of overlapping digital images. Once a DSM has been processed, it then can be used to generate a so called true-ortho image. Such a true-ortho image has significant advantages over a standard ortho image. Typically, two sensors are used to generate such a true-ortho image: a Lidar sensor system to generate the DSM and an aerial camera to generate the aerial image. Currently another approach is under development which is based on aerial images only. The DSM will be generated by a dense match of the aerial images. The advantage is obvious: only one sensor is required and the expected quality of the true-ortho images is higher due to the higher resolution of the underlying DSM. This case study shows the results of such a dense matching, DSM and true-ortho image generation process based on survey flights undertaken with the new UltraCamL. The UltraCamL is the so called "large...

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2014

We present methods and results to calibrate the new oblique sensor UltraCam Osprey which was pres... more We present methods and results to calibrate the new oblique sensor UltraCam Osprey which was presented for the first time at the ASPRS 2013 conference and exhibition in Baltimore, MD, March 2013. Even if this was not the first time when oblique sensors were introduced into the market, the UltraCam Osprey did show several new conceptual details which are illustrated in this presentation. The design of the camera is focusing on two important characteristics, a metric nadir component which has been derived from the UltraCam Lp sensor, and collection efficiency through very large swath width. The nadir sensor consists of the 90 megapixel panchromatic camera, true-color RGB, and a near-infrared camera. Adding six oblique camera heads, with two each in forward and backwards direction, results in unmatched oblique collection efficiency. We first explain the camera and cone configuration along with the geometric layout of the sensor system. Then we describe the laboratory setup for geometric calibration of the UltraCam Osprey and the calibration process along with the actual results of one such calibration showing sub-pixel accurate image geometry. This proves that the UltraCam Osprey is a fully calibrated metric camera system suitable for photogrammetric survey applications.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2012

This paper describes in detail the dense matcher developed since years by Vexcel Imaging in Graz ... more This paper describes in detail the dense matcher developed since years by Vexcel Imaging in Graz for Microsoft's Bing Maps project. This dense matcher was exclusively developed for and used by Microsoft for the production of the 3D city models of Virtual Earth. It will now be made available to the public with the UltraMap software release mid-2012. That represents a revolutionary step in digital photogrammetry. The dense matcher generates digital surface models (DSM) and digital terrain models (DTM) automatically out of a set of overlapping UltraCam images. The models have an outstanding point density of several hundred points per square meter and sub-pixel accuracy and are generated automatically. The dense matcher consists of two steps. The first step rectifies overlapping image areas to speed up the dense image matching process. This rectification step ensures a very efficient processing and detects occluded areas by applying a back-matching step. In this dense image matching process a cost function consisting of a matching score as well as a smoothness term is minimized. In the second step the resulting range image patches are fused into a DSM by optimizing a global cost function. The whole process is optimized for multi-core CPUs and optionally uses GPUs if available. UltraMap 3.0 features also an additional step which is presented in this paper, a complete automated true-ortho and ortho workflow. For this, the UltraCam images are combined with the DSM or DTM in an automated rectification step and that results in high quality true-ortho or ortho images as a result of a highly automated workflow. The paper presents the new workflow and first results.

In this paper we give a detailed description of the photogrammetric workflow recommended for the ... more In this paper we give a detailed description of the photogrammetric workflow recommended for the large format digital aerial camera UltraCamX. This includes image pre-processing, automated aerotriangulation (AAT) and the derivation of the final product (DTM, orthophotos, etc.) High quality geometric camera calibration is a prerequisite for photogrammetric applications. We will therefore also describe the initial camera calibration performed by Vexcel and the temperature dependent model (TDM), which compensates for systematic sensor drift during OPC post-processing. Geometric properties of the image also depend on the (variable) flight conditions (e.g. radial distortion caused by refraction). Self-calibration should therefore be applied in the final bundle adjustment to achieve the highest possible accuracies. We present self-calibration parameters suitable for the UltraCamX, consisting of traditional parameter sets and parameters specially designed for the UltraCamX. Geometric corrections described by these parameters must be applied to avoid systematic errors in the final product. To document this, we simulate systematic errors in the exterior orientation parameters and the DTM surface caused by systematic image errors.

Digital aerial cameras are ready to become the predominant sensor for photogrammetric image acqui... more Digital aerial cameras are ready to become the predominant sensor for photogrammetric image acquisition. One among a few others is the ULTRACAMD large format digital aerial camera of Vexcel Imaging, which was introduced in May 2003. Besides the optical and electrical properties of an aerial camera system, the environment for tasks like the mission planning, aircraft guidance, sensor management and the precise determination of position and angles play an important role for the successful operation of an aerial sensor. The CCNS4 guidance and sensor management system together with the GPS/IMU option AEROcontrol of IGI has been successfully used for these tasks with different aerial sensors like analog aerial cameras, LIDAR systems and SAR for many years. The ULTRACAMD of Vexcel Imaging is the first large format digital camera that is integrated with the CCNS4/AEROcontrol. We present the status of the integration and the impact on the photogrammetric workflow as well as the roadmap of the ongoing development. Based on the technical specifications of both, sensor and guidance/management system, we show a variety of possible applications where the benefit of the joint use is obvious.

The maintenance, visualization and qu ery of 3D urban data has always been problematic due to the... more The maintenance, visualization and qu ery of 3D urban data has always been problematic due to the c omplexity of geometry, diversity of attribute information, large amounts of data, demanded comprehensive analysis and qu eries requiring new techniques for visualization and query. The approach presented here aims visualization and qu ery via Internet and utilizes established standards and techniques to

The large digital frame camera UltraCamX was introduced in 2006 by Vexcel Im aging (a Microsoft C... more The large digital frame camera UltraCamX was introduced in 2006 by Vexcel Im aging (a Microsoft Company). This paper will give a short technical overview about the concept of the camera and more information on the radiometric quality of the UltraCamX. The focus in this paper is set on the radiometric quality of the sensors. Already recorded image data are analyzed in detail for their radiometric performance. In addition, some experiments with color targets have been performed to show the radiometric performance of the camera. The results of both analyses are presented in this paper.

Photogrammetric Week, 2003

The race to replace the aerial film camera started in July 2000 with the product announcements of... more The race to replace the aerial film camera started in July 2000 with the product announcements of the ADS-40 by LH-Systems (now Leica Geosystems) and of the DMC by Z/I Imaging. Recently, the UltraCam-D was introduced. This is a 90 Mpixel large format aerial camera by Vexcel Imaging to add an innovative offering with a focus on a on-on-one replacement of aerial film cameras. This is achieved by the continued use of an unchanged work flow, very much as if the digital image had not been obtained from a digital camera but by scanning a film image, yet with dramatic economic advantages as well as with the added benefit of a smooth all-digital operation. While this "unchanged workflow" is an initial value of the new system, it nonetheless offers numerous opportunities for improving the current state-of-affairs of photogrammetry, as much so that one could speak about a "paradigm shift". The most important opportunity is the ability to dramatically increase the forward overlaps in photogrammetric surveys without any added cost, and producing a much higher level of automation in photogrammetric data analysis. Photogrammetric software will have to be adjusted to go from current stereo, thus "2-ray photogrammetry" towards multi-eye, thus " multi-ray" solutions. 1. DIGITAL CAMERA TECHNOLOGY 1.1. Film Is Being Replaced by Digital Sensors Consumer and professional photography are in a rapid transition towards fully digital sensing. Single CCD arrays are being combined with single lenses into relatively straightforward digital camera solutions. At the same time, cellular telephony and the web are adding instant cameras based on CMOS-sensors. Digital visual information sensing and processing are rapidly becoming ubiquitous phenomena of a much wider importance than ever envisioned in the past.

Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing, 1996

Stereoscopic scanning electron micrographs can be used to reconstruct the microscopic topography ... more Stereoscopic scanning electron micrographs can be used to reconstruct the microscopic topography of material surfaces. By applying a system for automatic image processing we can obtain Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of the investigated surface. These DEMs are used to measure the degree of deformation on metallic fracture surfaces. By modelling the deformation the amount of plastic energy that is necessary to shape the microductile fracture surface can be calculated. These values are compared with experimentally obtained results.

Proceedings of the ISPRS Workshop on …, 2009

UltraCamXp is the new flagship camera product which introduced in 2008 at the ISPRS Conference an... more UltraCamXp is the new flagship camera product which introduced in 2008 at the ISPRS Conference and Exhibition in Beijing by Vexcel Imaging (a Microsoft Company). This paper will give a technical overview about the advantages and concept of the camera. The focus is set on a large ...

INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF …, 2002

Digital cameras have started to replace analog film cameras for many applications. Considering th... more Digital cameras have started to replace analog film cameras for many applications. Considering the huge consumer market of small format cameras and compact cameras or the professional medium format or large format photography, digital senors are on the advance. The comparison between digital and film-based data is done taking into account photographic and photogrammetric issues. Not only radiometric quality, but also the geometric performance of digital and analog cameras are investigated. When trying to compare the quality and the information content of panchromatic digital images versus analog film, only a small amount of literature is available to brush up one's mind. Encouraged by this situation, we have investigated different film types and a digital sensor and their output in order to better understand how to compare and to judge image data.

Large format Digital aerial cameras were introduced 10 years ago in Amsterdam at the ISPRS Confer... more Large format Digital aerial cameras were introduced 10 years ago in Amsterdam at the ISPRS Conference in July 2000. Only about 5 years later the digital large format aerial cameras had overtaken the majority of photogrammetric image production. The new technology did change the photogrammetric workflow, replaced well known components and made the end-to-end all digital production chain available to the photogrammetric community. Helpful if not essential was the development of computers, storage media, software products and other IT components which are the basis of any digital processing scenario. The development of large format digital aerial camera shows a specific evolution. Frame size, multi spectral capability, on board storage capacity and other details of such sensor systems are discussed within this contribution. The impact on the productivity of photogrammetric production units, the number of frames taken by one sensor during one year and the increasing appetite for geo data are as well topics of this article. Furthermore we discuss the development of photogrammetric software solutions and their ability to handle large volumes of pixel data. The need for automation and the introduction of new photogrammetric products are in focus. As a contribution to further discussions we try to give an outlook for the next few years and to ask ourselves the question if the photogrammetric community is well prepared for the next decade.

Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications GRAPP, 2009

The Internet has inspired an enormous appetite for 3-dimensional geo-data of the urban environmen... more The Internet has inspired an enormous appetite for 3-dimensional geo-data of the urban environment to support location-aware applications. This has in fact become the surprising "killer application" of such 3dimensional data. In March 2005, at the occasion of his 50th birthday, Bill Gates went public with his "Virtual Earth Vision" for local search in the Internet and stated: "You'll be walking around in downtown London and be able to see the shops, the stores, see what the traffic is like. Walk in a shop and navigate the merchandise. Not in the flat, 2D interface that we have on the web today, but in a virtual reality walkthrough." The key words are "walk in a shop". This implies the need for an enormous detail, and the associated computing power, communications bandwidth, miniaturization of computing, increase of storage capacity and in the ability to model the human habitat (the Earth) in great detail in 3 dimensions. This paper seeks to evangelize the current capabilities of the Virtual Earth system, focuses on the creation of 3D data, but also points to some pieces of new science in the 3D-analysis of overlapping imagery of the human habitat at sub-pixel accuracies W. Leberl F. and Gruber M. 3D-Models of the Human Habitat for the Internet.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2012

In the last years, Microsoft has driven innovation in the aerial photogrammetry community. Beside... more In the last years, Microsoft has driven innovation in the aerial photogrammetry community. Besides the market leading camera technology, UltraMap has grown to an outstanding photogrammetric workflow system which enables users to effectively work with large digital aerial image blocks in a highly automated way. Best example is the project-based color balancing approach which automatically balances images to a homogeneous block. UltraMap V3 continues innovation, and offers a revolution in terms of ortho processing. A fully automated dense matching module strives for high precision digital surface models (DSMs) which are calculated either on CPUs or on GPUs using a distributed processing framework. By applying constrained filtering algorithms, a digital terrain model can be derived which in turn can be used for fully automated traditional ortho texturing. By having the knowledge about the underlying geometry, seamlines can be generated automatically by applying cost functions in order to minimize visual disturbing artifacts. By exploiting the generated DSM information, a DSMOrtho is created using the balanced input images. Again, seamlines are detected automatically resulting in an automatically balanced ortho mosaic. Interactive block-based radiometric adjustments lead to a high quality ortho product based on UltraCam imagery. UltraMap v3 is the first fully integrated and interactive solution for supporting UltraCam images at best in order to deliver DSM and ortho imagery.

2019 IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (CVPRW)

Recently, global SfM has been attracting many researchers, mainly because of its time efficiency.... more Recently, global SfM has been attracting many researchers, mainly because of its time efficiency. Most of these methods are based on averaging relative orientations (ROs). Therefore, eliminating incorrect ROs is of great significance for improving the robustness of global SfM. In this paper, we propose a method to eliminate wrong ROs which have resulted from repetitive structure (RS) and very short baselines (VSB). We suggest two corresponding criteria that indicate the quality of ROs. These criteria are functions of potentially conjugate points resulting from local image matching of image pairs, followed by a geometry check using the 5-point algorithm combined with RANSAC. RS is detected based on counts of corresponding conjugate points of the various pairs, while VSB is found by inspecting the intersection angles of corresponding image rays. Based on these two criteria, incorrect ROs are eliminated. We demonstrate the proposed method on various datasets by inserting our refined ROs into a global SfM pipeline. The experiments show that compared to other methods we can generate the better results in this way.

Traditional photogrammetry exploits stereoscopic image measurements to reconstruct the shape of o... more Traditional photogrammetry exploits stereoscopic image measurements to reconstruct the shape of objects. This technology is wellknown and understood for over a century. Since the age of the stereo comparator human operators have been able to recognize the depth of a scene with remarkable accuracy. In principle, this has not changed during the time that image processing has been introduced into the photogrammetric production chain. Only a certain degree of automation has been derived, when matching and image correlation has replaced the human eyes. Nevertheless, we need to confess that shape from stereo is not very robust and that a time-consuming and therefore expensive control and verification process is needed after the automated reconstruction process. To overcome such problems, we argue that a process based on multiple image overlap is the appropriate solution. In the age of digital aerial cameras such multiple overlaps can be commanded without extra costs for additional images....

At issue is the Exabyte 3D World Model in the Internet. Global communication is increasingly deve... more At issue is the Exabyte 3D World Model in the Internet. Global communication is increasingly developing applications with location-references. Examples are the search for addresses and businesses on the Internet, navigation in cars and on smart phones, e-commerce, for example in real estate, travel planning and searches for hotels. Some global Internet providers have begun to provide 2and 3-dimensional models of the Earth at geometric resolutions in some urban spaces in the range of 2 centimeter. Governmental local systems have started to be built in the form of a 3D GIS for a broad range of applications in planning, administration, citizens’ participation and for technical projects. Creation of these models can be based on space and aerial imagery, laser scanning, sensors in street vehicles or hand carried, to include even interior spaces. Once fully available, one will have to deal with perhaps 1 Exabyte of data, first to initialize the system, then to keep it current. We will rev...

The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2002

Scanning of analog image material remains a key function in the photogrammetric production chain ... more Scanning of analog image material remains a key function in the photogrammetric production chain as long as digital aerial cameras have not completely taken over. Therefore it remains an important goal to achieve optimum scanning results. This contribution reviews how the scanning procedures have evolved since 1990, compares photogrammetric and non-photogrammetric scanning applications and focuses on the scanning of color material. The implementation of such concepts is presented by several examples, including the need for color calibration. 1. FROM CENTRALIZED SERVICE TO DISTRIBUTED FUNCTION After an initiation in about 1990, photogrammetric scanning by now has become a routine and standard element of each digital photogrammetric workflow (Baltsavias & Kaiser, 1999; Leberl et al., 1992). Initially, the concept was to set up scanning service bureaus, which would centralize the scanning function for many photogrammetric mapping workshops. But since the photogrammetric equipment manuf...

Dense Matching is used to match a huge number of pixels automatically to generate a surface model... more Dense Matching is used to match a huge number of pixels automatically to generate a surface model from a set of overlapping digital images. Once a DSM has been processed, it then can be used to generate a so called true-ortho image. Such a true-ortho image has significant advantages over a standard ortho image. Typically, two sensors are used to generate such a true-ortho image: a Lidar sensor system to generate the DSM and an aerial camera to generate the aerial image. Currently another approach is under development which is based on aerial images only. The DSM will be generated by a dense match of the aerial images. The advantage is obvious: only one sensor is required and the expected quality of the true-ortho images is higher due to the higher resolution of the underlying DSM. This case study shows the results of such a dense matching, DSM and true-ortho image generation process based on survey flights undertaken with the new UltraCamL. The UltraCamL is the so called "large...

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2014

We present methods and results to calibrate the new oblique sensor UltraCam Osprey which was pres... more We present methods and results to calibrate the new oblique sensor UltraCam Osprey which was presented for the first time at the ASPRS 2013 conference and exhibition in Baltimore, MD, March 2013. Even if this was not the first time when oblique sensors were introduced into the market, the UltraCam Osprey did show several new conceptual details which are illustrated in this presentation. The design of the camera is focusing on two important characteristics, a metric nadir component which has been derived from the UltraCam Lp sensor, and collection efficiency through very large swath width. The nadir sensor consists of the 90 megapixel panchromatic camera, true-color RGB, and a near-infrared camera. Adding six oblique camera heads, with two each in forward and backwards direction, results in unmatched oblique collection efficiency. We first explain the camera and cone configuration along with the geometric layout of the sensor system. Then we describe the laboratory setup for geometric calibration of the UltraCam Osprey and the calibration process along with the actual results of one such calibration showing sub-pixel accurate image geometry. This proves that the UltraCam Osprey is a fully calibrated metric camera system suitable for photogrammetric survey applications.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2012

This paper describes in detail the dense matcher developed since years by Vexcel Imaging in Graz ... more This paper describes in detail the dense matcher developed since years by Vexcel Imaging in Graz for Microsoft's Bing Maps project. This dense matcher was exclusively developed for and used by Microsoft for the production of the 3D city models of Virtual Earth. It will now be made available to the public with the UltraMap software release mid-2012. That represents a revolutionary step in digital photogrammetry. The dense matcher generates digital surface models (DSM) and digital terrain models (DTM) automatically out of a set of overlapping UltraCam images. The models have an outstanding point density of several hundred points per square meter and sub-pixel accuracy and are generated automatically. The dense matcher consists of two steps. The first step rectifies overlapping image areas to speed up the dense image matching process. This rectification step ensures a very efficient processing and detects occluded areas by applying a back-matching step. In this dense image matching process a cost function consisting of a matching score as well as a smoothness term is minimized. In the second step the resulting range image patches are fused into a DSM by optimizing a global cost function. The whole process is optimized for multi-core CPUs and optionally uses GPUs if available. UltraMap 3.0 features also an additional step which is presented in this paper, a complete automated true-ortho and ortho workflow. For this, the UltraCam images are combined with the DSM or DTM in an automated rectification step and that results in high quality true-ortho or ortho images as a result of a highly automated workflow. The paper presents the new workflow and first results.

In this paper we give a detailed description of the photogrammetric workflow recommended for the ... more In this paper we give a detailed description of the photogrammetric workflow recommended for the large format digital aerial camera UltraCamX. This includes image pre-processing, automated aerotriangulation (AAT) and the derivation of the final product (DTM, orthophotos, etc.) High quality geometric camera calibration is a prerequisite for photogrammetric applications. We will therefore also describe the initial camera calibration performed by Vexcel and the temperature dependent model (TDM), which compensates for systematic sensor drift during OPC post-processing. Geometric properties of the image also depend on the (variable) flight conditions (e.g. radial distortion caused by refraction). Self-calibration should therefore be applied in the final bundle adjustment to achieve the highest possible accuracies. We present self-calibration parameters suitable for the UltraCamX, consisting of traditional parameter sets and parameters specially designed for the UltraCamX. Geometric corrections described by these parameters must be applied to avoid systematic errors in the final product. To document this, we simulate systematic errors in the exterior orientation parameters and the DTM surface caused by systematic image errors.

Digital aerial cameras are ready to become the predominant sensor for photogrammetric image acqui... more Digital aerial cameras are ready to become the predominant sensor for photogrammetric image acquisition. One among a few others is the ULTRACAMD large format digital aerial camera of Vexcel Imaging, which was introduced in May 2003. Besides the optical and electrical properties of an aerial camera system, the environment for tasks like the mission planning, aircraft guidance, sensor management and the precise determination of position and angles play an important role for the successful operation of an aerial sensor. The CCNS4 guidance and sensor management system together with the GPS/IMU option AEROcontrol of IGI has been successfully used for these tasks with different aerial sensors like analog aerial cameras, LIDAR systems and SAR for many years. The ULTRACAMD of Vexcel Imaging is the first large format digital camera that is integrated with the CCNS4/AEROcontrol. We present the status of the integration and the impact on the photogrammetric workflow as well as the roadmap of the ongoing development. Based on the technical specifications of both, sensor and guidance/management system, we show a variety of possible applications where the benefit of the joint use is obvious.

The maintenance, visualization and qu ery of 3D urban data has always been problematic due to the... more The maintenance, visualization and qu ery of 3D urban data has always been problematic due to the c omplexity of geometry, diversity of attribute information, large amounts of data, demanded comprehensive analysis and qu eries requiring new techniques for visualization and query. The approach presented here aims visualization and qu ery via Internet and utilizes established standards and techniques to

The large digital frame camera UltraCamX was introduced in 2006 by Vexcel Im aging (a Microsoft C... more The large digital frame camera UltraCamX was introduced in 2006 by Vexcel Im aging (a Microsoft Company). This paper will give a short technical overview about the concept of the camera and more information on the radiometric quality of the UltraCamX. The focus in this paper is set on the radiometric quality of the sensors. Already recorded image data are analyzed in detail for their radiometric performance. In addition, some experiments with color targets have been performed to show the radiometric performance of the camera. The results of both analyses are presented in this paper.

Photogrammetric Week, 2003

The race to replace the aerial film camera started in July 2000 with the product announcements of... more The race to replace the aerial film camera started in July 2000 with the product announcements of the ADS-40 by LH-Systems (now Leica Geosystems) and of the DMC by Z/I Imaging. Recently, the UltraCam-D was introduced. This is a 90 Mpixel large format aerial camera by Vexcel Imaging to add an innovative offering with a focus on a on-on-one replacement of aerial film cameras. This is achieved by the continued use of an unchanged work flow, very much as if the digital image had not been obtained from a digital camera but by scanning a film image, yet with dramatic economic advantages as well as with the added benefit of a smooth all-digital operation. While this "unchanged workflow" is an initial value of the new system, it nonetheless offers numerous opportunities for improving the current state-of-affairs of photogrammetry, as much so that one could speak about a "paradigm shift". The most important opportunity is the ability to dramatically increase the forward overlaps in photogrammetric surveys without any added cost, and producing a much higher level of automation in photogrammetric data analysis. Photogrammetric software will have to be adjusted to go from current stereo, thus "2-ray photogrammetry" towards multi-eye, thus " multi-ray" solutions. 1. DIGITAL CAMERA TECHNOLOGY 1.1. Film Is Being Replaced by Digital Sensors Consumer and professional photography are in a rapid transition towards fully digital sensing. Single CCD arrays are being combined with single lenses into relatively straightforward digital camera solutions. At the same time, cellular telephony and the web are adding instant cameras based on CMOS-sensors. Digital visual information sensing and processing are rapidly becoming ubiquitous phenomena of a much wider importance than ever envisioned in the past.

Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing, 1996

Stereoscopic scanning electron micrographs can be used to reconstruct the microscopic topography ... more Stereoscopic scanning electron micrographs can be used to reconstruct the microscopic topography of material surfaces. By applying a system for automatic image processing we can obtain Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of the investigated surface. These DEMs are used to measure the degree of deformation on metallic fracture surfaces. By modelling the deformation the amount of plastic energy that is necessary to shape the microductile fracture surface can be calculated. These values are compared with experimentally obtained results.

Proceedings of the ISPRS Workshop on …, 2009

UltraCamXp is the new flagship camera product which introduced in 2008 at the ISPRS Conference an... more UltraCamXp is the new flagship camera product which introduced in 2008 at the ISPRS Conference and Exhibition in Beijing by Vexcel Imaging (a Microsoft Company). This paper will give a technical overview about the advantages and concept of the camera. The focus is set on a large ...

INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF …, 2002

Digital cameras have started to replace analog film cameras for many applications. Considering th... more Digital cameras have started to replace analog film cameras for many applications. Considering the huge consumer market of small format cameras and compact cameras or the professional medium format or large format photography, digital senors are on the advance. The comparison between digital and film-based data is done taking into account photographic and photogrammetric issues. Not only radiometric quality, but also the geometric performance of digital and analog cameras are investigated. When trying to compare the quality and the information content of panchromatic digital images versus analog film, only a small amount of literature is available to brush up one's mind. Encouraged by this situation, we have investigated different film types and a digital sensor and their output in order to better understand how to compare and to judge image data.

Large format Digital aerial cameras were introduced 10 years ago in Amsterdam at the ISPRS Confer... more Large format Digital aerial cameras were introduced 10 years ago in Amsterdam at the ISPRS Conference in July 2000. Only about 5 years later the digital large format aerial cameras had overtaken the majority of photogrammetric image production. The new technology did change the photogrammetric workflow, replaced well known components and made the end-to-end all digital production chain available to the photogrammetric community. Helpful if not essential was the development of computers, storage media, software products and other IT components which are the basis of any digital processing scenario. The development of large format digital aerial camera shows a specific evolution. Frame size, multi spectral capability, on board storage capacity and other details of such sensor systems are discussed within this contribution. The impact on the productivity of photogrammetric production units, the number of frames taken by one sensor during one year and the increasing appetite for geo data are as well topics of this article. Furthermore we discuss the development of photogrammetric software solutions and their ability to handle large volumes of pixel data. The need for automation and the introduction of new photogrammetric products are in focus. As a contribution to further discussions we try to give an outlook for the next few years and to ask ourselves the question if the photogrammetric community is well prepared for the next decade.

Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications GRAPP, 2009

The Internet has inspired an enormous appetite for 3-dimensional geo-data of the urban environmen... more The Internet has inspired an enormous appetite for 3-dimensional geo-data of the urban environment to support location-aware applications. This has in fact become the surprising "killer application" of such 3dimensional data. In March 2005, at the occasion of his 50th birthday, Bill Gates went public with his "Virtual Earth Vision" for local search in the Internet and stated: "You'll be walking around in downtown London and be able to see the shops, the stores, see what the traffic is like. Walk in a shop and navigate the merchandise. Not in the flat, 2D interface that we have on the web today, but in a virtual reality walkthrough." The key words are "walk in a shop". This implies the need for an enormous detail, and the associated computing power, communications bandwidth, miniaturization of computing, increase of storage capacity and in the ability to model the human habitat (the Earth) in great detail in 3 dimensions. This paper seeks to evangelize the current capabilities of the Virtual Earth system, focuses on the creation of 3D data, but also points to some pieces of new science in the 3D-analysis of overlapping imagery of the human habitat at sub-pixel accuracies W. Leberl F. and Gruber M. 3D-Models of the Human Habitat for the Internet.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2012

In the last years, Microsoft has driven innovation in the aerial photogrammetry community. Beside... more In the last years, Microsoft has driven innovation in the aerial photogrammetry community. Besides the market leading camera technology, UltraMap has grown to an outstanding photogrammetric workflow system which enables users to effectively work with large digital aerial image blocks in a highly automated way. Best example is the project-based color balancing approach which automatically balances images to a homogeneous block. UltraMap V3 continues innovation, and offers a revolution in terms of ortho processing. A fully automated dense matching module strives for high precision digital surface models (DSMs) which are calculated either on CPUs or on GPUs using a distributed processing framework. By applying constrained filtering algorithms, a digital terrain model can be derived which in turn can be used for fully automated traditional ortho texturing. By having the knowledge about the underlying geometry, seamlines can be generated automatically by applying cost functions in order to minimize visual disturbing artifacts. By exploiting the generated DSM information, a DSMOrtho is created using the balanced input images. Again, seamlines are detected automatically resulting in an automatically balanced ortho mosaic. Interactive block-based radiometric adjustments lead to a high quality ortho product based on UltraCam imagery. UltraMap v3 is the first fully integrated and interactive solution for supporting UltraCam images at best in order to deliver DSM and ortho imagery.