Line Based Transformation Model (LBTM) for high-resolution satellite imagery rectification

Traditional photogrammetry and satellite image rectification technique have been developed based on control-points for many decades. These techniques are driven from linked points in image space and the corresponding points in the object space in rigorous colinearity or coplanarity conditions. Recently, digital imagery facilitates the opportunity to use features as well as points for images rectification. These implementations were mainly based on rigorous models that incorporated geometric constraints into the bundle adjustment and could not be applied to the new high-resolution satellite imagery (HRSI) due to the absence of sensor calibration and satellite orbit information. This research is an attempt to establish a new Line Based Transformation Model (LBTM), which is based on linear features only or linear features with a number of ground control points instead of the traditional models that only use Ground Control Points (GCPs) for satellite imagery rectification. The new model does not require any further information about the sensor model or satellite ephemeris data. Synthetic as well as real data have been demonestrated to check the validity and fidelity of the new approach and the results showed that the LBTM can be used efficiently for rectifying HRSI.