The Improvement of RFM RPC Using Ground Control Points and 3D Cube

Some of satellites such as IKONOS don't provide the orbital elements so that we can’ utilize the physical sensor model. Therefore, Rational Function Model(RFM) which is one of mathematical models could be a feasible solution. In order to improve 3D geopositioning accuracy of IKONOS stereo imagery, Rational Polynomial Coefficients(RPCs) of the RFM need to be updated with Ground Control Points(GCPs). In this paper, a method to improve RPCs of RFM using GCPs and 3D cube is proposed. Firstly, the image coordinates of GCPs are observed. And then, using offset values and scale values of RPC provided, the image coordinates and ground coordinates of 3D cube are initially determined and updated RPCs are computed by the iterative least square method. The proposed method was implemented and analyzed in several cases: different numbers of 3D cube layers and GCPs. The experimental results showed that the proposed method improved the accuracy of RPCs in great amount.