Airphoto Ingest for AT module

Name	Caption
Scene Folder	Input scene folder
Output Folder	Output folder
Overwrite Results	Overwrite existing results
Send Email	Email notification settings
Ingest Method	Link or import data
Build Pyramids	Builds pyramids
Camera Calibration File	File of camera-calibration parameters
Exterior-Orientation Source	Source of exterior-orientation information
Exterior Orientation File	File of exterior-orientation parameters
EO File Format	Format of the EO file
EO Map Units	Exterior orientation file projection
EO Elevation Reference	Exterior orientation vertical datums
EO Angular Unit	Exterior orientation file angular unit
Rotate Kappa Angle	Kappa-value rotation angle
Flight Line Break Angle	Break angle of flight line
X, Y, Z Error Estimates	Positional-error estimates
Omega, Phi, Kappa Error Estimates	Orientation-error estimates
Omega, Phi, Kappa Warning Threshold	Threshold of OPK warning
Apply Atmospheric-Refraction Correction	Whether to correct for atmospheric refraction
Apply Earth-Curvature Correction	Whether to correct for Earth curvature
Earth Radius	Radius of Earth curvature at AOI
Output Map Units	Projection to write to OrthoEngine project file

Parameter descriptions

Scene Folder

The path and name of the folder containing scenes to ingest.

Alternatively, you can specify an MFILE as input. An MFILE is a text file with an .mfile file name extension. For more information on this type of file, see About the MFILE format.

Note: When using an MFILE as input, you must also specify a camera-calibration file and an exterior-orientation file for Camera Calibration File and Exterior Orientation File, respectively.

Output Folder

The path and name of the folder to which to write the output files.

Overwrite Results

Select this check box to overwrite the existing output files, if any exist. If this check box is left clear, and an output file exists in the relevant folder, the status of the job displays a message informing you of the existence and name of the output file. The message is also written to the event log of the job.

Send Email

If necessary, you can set up CATALYST Enterprise to send an email notification on job start and job completion.

With this check box selected, an email message is sent to each address specified in the Email Addresses box after the job starts and on completion.

You can specify one or more addresses, and each must be separated by a comma or a semi-colon. The email address of the user currently logged in displays by default.

Ingest Method

Select whether to link or import the data specified in the scene folder.

You can select from the following:

Automatic: Links or imports the data based on the sensor.
Import: Creates from the ADS files and auxiliary information a PCIDISK file that contains the input scene.
This method may take longer to ingest the data; however, it improves the overall performance of the workflow.

Important: The Import method requires twice the amount of disk space, because it duplicates the pixel data.
Link: Creates a PCIDISK file that points to the input scene.
This method ingests data very quickly; however, subsequent steps of the workflow may take longer to complete.

Build Pyramids

This check box controls whether to build image pyramids (raster overviews) for the ingested scenes.

Building pyramids improves performance in some subsequent processing steps. They can use the pyramids instead of reading all the pixels. However, building pyramids can cause the ingest job to take longer to complete. If immediately after ingestion you intend only to create orthorectified images, you need not build pyramids.

When to turn on pyramids:

View or edit the data in: CATALYST Professional Focus
Perform some tasks in: CATALYST Professional OrthoEngine
Run any of the aerial triangulation jobs:

For more information on pyramids, see the Pyramid module.

Camera Calibration File

The path and name of the file containing camera-calibration parameters for all input scenes.

CATALYST Enterprise supports the following formats:

PCI (.xml) camera-calibration file.
For more information about camera calibration, see Data structure of aerial imagery.
Pix4D (.cam) camera-calibration file.

If no value is specified for this parameter, the module reads the scene folder for a file named camera_calib.xml.

Exterior-Orientation Source

The source of the exterior orientation (EO) information required to process the airphoto images.

You can select from the following:

Text File: The EO information is in a separate text file in one of various EO formats.
When you select this option, you must enter or select a value for the remaining parameters under Exterior Orientation.
Note: A value for EO Map Units is mandatory.
Embedded EXIF Tags: The EO information is in EXIF metadata tags embedded directly in the input imagery.
For example, PhaseOne airphoto images have the EO information embedded in EXIF metadata tags.

When you select this option, you need not enter nor select a value for the remaining parameters under Exterior Orientation.

Exterior Orientation File

The path and name of the file containing the exterior-orientation (EO) parameters required for each scene.

The value you specify can be an absolute or a relative path. A relative path is relative to the scene folder.

The EO file (eo.txt) should contain, at a minimum, the ID (PhotoID), position (easting, northing, height), and orientation (omega, phi, kappa).

If no value is specified for this parameter, the Airphoto Ingest module reads the scene folder for the default eo.txt file. If this file is not found, an error message displays, and processing of the job stops.

EO File Format

The encoding method of the EO information.

CATALYST Enterprise supports the following formats for EO:

Text (with header information) in one of the following formats:
- ID X Y Z
- ID Omega Phi Kappa
- ID X Y Z Omega Phi Kappa (default)
- ID X Y Z Phi Omega Kappa
- ID X Y Z eX eY eZ
- ID Omega Phi Kappa eO eP eK
- ID GPSTime X Y Z Omega Phi Kappa eO eP eK
- ID X Y Z Omega Phi Kappa eX eY eZ eO eP eK
- ID / X Y Z Omega Phi Kappa / eX eY eZ eO e P eK (3 lines)
- ID X Y Z (Compute Kappa)
- ID Y X Z (Compute Kappa)
- ID X Y Z Roll Pitch Yaw
- ID X Y Z Yaw Pitch Roll
- ID Y X Z Yaw Pitch Roll
- ID Y X Z Roll Pitch Yaw
- USGS GIANT Bundle Adjustment Format (lat/long)
- USGS GIANT Bundle Adjustment Format (non-lat/long)
- OEGPS-ERIO Albany: ERI Technologies Albany file
- JFK RABATS/BRATS file
- PATB (patb_eo.ori)
- BINGO (itera.dat)

With the text format, ID represents the PhotoID; x, y, and z represent the position (easting, northing, height); omega, phi, and kappa represent the orientation; and eX, eY, eZ, eO, eP, and eK represent the respective error weights.

This parameter is mandatory.

EO Map Units

The projection for the EO.

The standard definitions are:

UTM: Universal Transverse Mercator

MAPUNITS (Output Projection) can specify the UTM grid-zone number and row, and Earth model, as follows:
```
UTM [mm] [r] [Ennn]
```
where:
- [mm] is the two-digit zone number between 1 and 60
- [r] is the zone row: a single letter between N and X for north of the equator and between C and M for south of the equator. Zone rows A, B, Y, and Z are not supported; rows I and O do not exist.
- [Ennn] specifies the Earth model, where the model number is between 0 and 19. If no Earth model is specified, it is assumed to be E000 (Clarke 1866).
For example, if the value of the EO Map Unit parameter is specified as UTM, then with the EO Map Unit parameter, you can enter 10 U D000. This means the final map unit of the EO information is UTM 10 U D000.
SPCS: State Plane Coordinate System

The SPCS zone number and Earth model can be specified as follows:
```
SPCS [mmmm] [Ennn]
```
where:
- [mmmm] is the four-digit zone number
- [Ennn] specifies the Earth model, where the model number is between 0 and 19. If no Earth model is specified, it is assumed to be E000 (Clarke 1866).
LONG/LAT: longitude and latitude

The Earth model can be specified for LONG/LAT (and other units except PIXEL), as follows:
```
LONG/LAT [Ennn]
```
If the Earth model is not specified, it is assumed to be E000 (Clarke 1866).
EPSG: European Petroleum Survey Group code

You can specify the projection by entering an EPSG code, as defined by the OGC at epsg.org and spatialreference.org.

You specify the EPSG code using the EPSG keyword followed by an integer and separated by a colon, as shown in the following example.
```
EPSG:4326
```
Most common EPSG codes are supported.

You can also specify the label of a user-defined projection, if the projection exists in the userproj.txt file.

EO Elevation Reference

The flying height of the airphoto camera (vertical data) at the time the image was taken.

Available options are:

Mean Sea Level (default)
Ellipsoid

If the vertical data of the digital elevation model (DEM) and the flying height of the camera differ, the EGM2008 geoid model is used for the conversions during the orthorectification process.

EO Angular Unit

The angular unit of the EO angles.

Available units are:

Degrees (default)
Gradians
Radians
DMS

Rotate Kappa Angle

The angle of rotation to add to the input kappa values, in units specified by the EO Angular Unit parameter.

In some cases, the kappa values in the EO file must be rotated (for example, by 90, -90 or 180 degrees). You apply the correction by specifying the angle of rotation.

Flight Line Break Angle

The break angle of a flight line, which is used to determine the end of the flight line. The vector angles between image centers are calculated, and if the vector angle between two image centers is greater than the break-angle threshold, this is determined to be the end of the flight line, and the point at which a new one begins.

The default value is 20 (20 degrees).

X, Y, Z Error Estimates

The positional-error estimates. The parameter uses the same projection as that specified for the EO Map Units parameter. The default is 0,0,0, which is equivalent to fixing the position.

Omega, Phi, Kappa Error Estimates

The orientation-error estimates, which are angle-error estimates expressed in degrees.The default is 0,0,0, which is equivalent to fixing the orientation.

Omega, Phi, Kappa Warning Threshold

The threshold that determines the maximum difference, in degrees, among the values of the omega, phi, and kappa angles in the flight line.

If the maximum difference for any of the OPK values exceeds the specified threshold, a warning message is displayed in the master job.

The default value for the threshold is 5 (5 degrees). The default may not be suitable for all applications. That is, you may need to change it according to the application.

Apply Atmospheric-Refraction Correction

Select this check box to apply correction due to atmospheric refraction.

That is, the density of the atmosphere decreases as altitude increases and, therefore, refraction also increases. According to Snell's law, rays of light do not travel in straight lines through the atmosphere; rather, they bend. Due to the refraction, all imaged points are displaced outward from their correct positions. You can overcome the refraction displacements by applying atmospheric-refraction correction.

During correction, the following formula is applied:

dref = K(r + r3 ÷ c2 )
Where K = (( 2410 × H ÷ (H × H) - 6 × H + 250) - (2410 × ((h × h) ÷ ((h × h) - 6 × h + 250) × H )) 10e-6

Flying height (H) and ground elevation (h) must be expressed in kilometers.

The preceding is based on an atmospheric model defined by the U.S. Air Force.

Apply Earth-Curvature Correction

Select this check box to apply correction due to curvature of the Earth.

When you select this check box, you must enter a value for Earth Radius.

Earth Radius

The radius of the Earth's curvature, in meters, at the area of interest (AOI).

Output Map Units

The projection to write to the output OrthoEngine project file created by the module.

If you do not specify a value, the output projection is determined by the value of Exterior Orientation Source, as follows:

With Text File selected, the value of EO Map Units is used.
With Embedded EXIF Tags selected, the projection of the first image written to the output OrthoEngine project file is used.

Details

General job details

Preprocessing requirements

Before running this module, the following requirements must be met to ensure the job processes successfully and produces accurate results:

Exterior orientation

The minimum EO information required is the photo ID (ID), the exposure position (x, y, z), and the orientation of the exposure platform (omega, phi, kappa).

The EO information must be in a format suitable for reading by PCI technology. It must be in one of several formats in a text file, as described in Data structure of aerial imagery, and stored in the scene folder with the file name eo.txt.

For more information on EO, see Data structure of aerial imagery.

Camera calibration
Camera-calibration information must be known for the camera in question. At a minimum, the following parameters must be known:
- Focal length, f
- Chip size (width, height) in mm
Camera-calibration information must be stored in an XML file conforming to the PCI format, and have the file name camera_calib.xml; this file must be stored in the scene folder.

For more detailed information about camera-calibration parameters and format, see Data structure of aerial imagery.

Data structure

Data must be organized in the structure outlined in Data structure of aerial imagery.

Scene folder

The scene folder contains images from the same camera. This implies that the scene folder does not contain a mixture of RGB and PAN data, for example.

Format of ingested data

Data being ingested must be in TIFF (.tif), JPEG 2000 (.jp2), JPEG (.jpg), or PIX format (.pix).

Module details

The Airphoto Ingest for AT module imports aerial imagery from a frame-based airborne sensor into CATALYST Enterprise for aerial triangulation. With this module, you import the aerial imagery in PCIDSK format and create a CATALYST Professional OrthoEngine project file with auxiliary information you provide, such as exterior-orientation (position and orientation) and interior-orientation (camera calibration) parameters. Scenes without an exterior orientation will not be processed.

When working with aerial imagery, you must run this module prior to running any other CATALYST Enterprise module.

Job results

For each uncorrected scene found in the specified scene folder, the Airphoto Ingest for AT module creates a PCIDSK file in the specified output folder.

The module also creates an OrthoEngine project file that includes all processed scenes, EO for all scenes processed, and the model of the camera. You will find this file in the specified output folder.

Additionally, a flight-line report is created in which each scene is assigned to a flight line. It also provides descriptive metrics and, if necessary, warns of any issues with the flight line or the EO.

For each flight line, the following items are shown:

Line: Flight-line number, starting from 1
#Images: Number of images in the flight line
Angle: Median value of the change of flight-line direction at an image; that is, the angle in degrees between the lines from the previous image to the current one, and from the current image to the next
OPKDiff: Maximum difference in degrees among the values of the omega, phi, and kappa angles in the flight line
Index: Image number in the flight line, starting from 1, of the image for which the maximum omega, phi, and kappa difference with its immediate successor was found
Start Image: ID of the first image in the flight line
End Image: ID of the last image in the flight line

The report may also include warnings of any of the following:

Flight lines with an OPKDiff value greater than 5 degrees
Flight lines containing only a single scene
Scenes lacking an EO

Restriction: When running this module on a Linux operating system, do not use circular symbolic links, because this will cause the job to loop continuously. For example, when you ingest the contents of folder /abc, make sure the following does not exist:

/abc -> /def
/def -> /xyz
/xyz -> /abc

Airphoto Ingest for AT module

Description

Parameters

Parameter descriptions

Details