Towards Sub-Pixel Automatic Geometric Corrections of Very-High Resolution Panchromatic Satellite Data of Urban Areas

Abstract

This paper presents an automatic procedure for the geometric corrections of very-high resolution (VHR) optical panchromatic satellite images. The procedure is composed of three steps: an automatic ground control point (GCP) extraction algorithm that matches the linear features that were extracted from the satellite image and reference data; a geometric model that applies a rational function model; and, the orthorectification procedure. Accurate geometric corrections can only be achieved if GCPs are employed to precisely correct the geometric biases of images. Due to the high resolution and the varied acquisition geometry of images, we propose a fast, segmentation based method for feature extraction. The research focuses on densely populated urban areas, which are very challenging in terms of feature extraction and matching. The proposed algorithm is capable of achieving results with a root mean square error of approximately one pixel or better, on a test set of 14 panchromatic Pléiades images. The procedure is robust and it performs well in urban areas, even for images with high off-nadir angles.