Mosaic from Level 3 Airphotos module

Name	Caption
Scene Folder	Input scene folder
Output Folder	Output folder
Output File Type	Output file type
Output File Options	Output file options
Overwrite Results	Overwrite existing results
Send Email	Email notification settings
Camera Calibration File	File of camera-calibration parameters
Exterior Orientation File	File of exterior-orientation parameters
EO File Format	Format of the exterior-orientation 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
DEM Source	DEM tile source
Output Map Units	Output projection
Source Background Type	Source background type
Source Background Value	Source background pixel value
Output Pixel Size	Output pixel size
Output Background Value	Output background value
Clip Amount	DEM clipping
Clip Units	Clipping units
Resampling Method	Resampling method
Resampling Method Extra Options	Extra options for resampling method
Sorting Method	Image sorting method
Starting Image	Starting image
Normalization Method	Normalization method
Normalization Method Extra Options	Normalization options
Color Balancing Method	Color-balancing method
Color Balancing Extra Options	Color-balancing options
Global Color Balance Mask File	Global color-balancing mask file
Global Color Balance Mask Layer	Global color-balancing mask layer
Global Color Balance Mask Segment	Global color-balancing mask segment
Cutline Method	Cutline method
Cutline Method Extra Options	Cutline options
Auto Constrain	Constrain cutlines to image centers
Factor	Auto Constrain Factor value
Simplify Cutlines	Simplify generated cutlines
Simplification Level	Level of simplification
Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File	Global cutline-avoidance mask file
Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Layer	Global cutline-avoidance mask
Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Segment	Global cutline-avoidance mask segment
Area of Interest File	Area-of-interest vector file
Crop Tiles to AOI	Crop tiles to area of interest
Tile Base Name	Base name
Tile Specification	Mosaic tile specification
Height	Height of the mosaic tile, in pixels
Width	Width of the mosaic tile, in pixels
Vertical Overlap	Vertical overlap between tiles
Horizontal Overlap	Horizontal overlap between tiles
Tile File	File containing tile-definition layer
Segment Number	Vector segment in tile file
Field Name	File containing tile-definition layer
Coordinate Type	Type of coordinates in script
Blend Width	Cutline blend width
Create Source Map	Create source map
Existing Tile Rule	Rule for processing existing tile
Delete Empty Tiles	Whether to delete empty tiles

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.

If tiled output is specified, tiles are processed by the processing nodes configured by the CATALYST Enterprise, and are stored in the specified output folder. Local copies of the tiles on processing nodes are automatically deleted. The output tile file names are generated automatically according to the Tile Base Name.

Output File Type

The format of the output file.

For more information on the supported file formats, see GDB-supported file formats.

Output File Options

The options to apply when creating the output file or files. The available options are specific to the file format; in each case, the default of no options is allowed.

For more information on the options available for the output file type you specify, see GDB-supported file formats.

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.

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 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 exterior orientation (EO) information.

CATALYST Enterprise supports the following formats for EO:

Text (with header information) in one of the following formats:
- ID X Y Z Omega Phi Kappa
- ID X Y Z Phi Omega Kappa
- PATB (patb_eo.ori)
- BINGO (itera.dat)

With the text format, ID represents the PhotoID; x, y, z represent the position (easting, northing, height); omega, phi, and kappa represent the orientation.

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.

DEM Source

The name of a single digital elevation model (DEM) file or a folder containing one or more DEM tiles.

This parameter can be specified by using any of the following:

Name of a single DEM file; for example, C:\data\DEM\dem.pix
Name of a folder containing one or more DEM tiles and an associated index.txt file; for example, C:\data\DEM
Name of an index file; for example, C:\data\DEM\index.txt

The index.txt file lists the DEM files contained in the specified folder and provides information describing each DEM tile. The information in the DEM index file supersedes other DEM parameters in the module; all other DEM-related parameters are ignored. For more information about the format of the index.txt file and specific requirements for the individual DEM tiles, see Format of the DEM index file.

When the value of DEM Source is the name of an existing folder, the module searches that folder for a file named index.txt, and a set of DEM raster tiles. The index.txt file contains a single vector channel that lists the DEM files contained in the specified folder and provides information describing each DEM tile.

If no value is specified for this parameter, the module uses the default global DEM installed with CATALYST Enterprise (gmted2010).

Output Map Units

The projection of the output imagery.

The value of this parameter must be in the PCI Projection String format.

The standard definitions are:

PIXEL: Pixel and line (not for use with DEM extraction)
UTM: Universal Transverse Mercator

The value specified can be 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 the Earth model is not specified, it is assumed to be E000 (Clarke 1866).
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 the Earth model is not 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 defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). For information on the code definitions, visit epsg.org and spatialreference.org.

The EPSG code is specified using the EPSG keyword followed by an integer and separated by a colon; for example:
```
EPSG:4326
```
Most common EPSG codes are supported.
METER: Image along-row and along-column meters
FEET: Image along-row and along-column feet
You can also specify the label of a projection you define, if the projection exists in the userproj.txt file; otherwise, you must enter the projection-parameter information as a string separated by the vertical bar (|). The projection-parameter string defines 18 parameters delimited by spaces, including the following:
- Dearth
- RefLong
- RefLat
- StdParallel1
- StdParallel2
- FalseEasting
- FalseNorthing
- Scale
- Height
- Long1
- Lat1
- Long2
- Lat2
- Azimuth
- LandsatNum
- LandsatPath
- UnitsCode
For example, the projection named 'France93' can be specified, as follows:
```
LCC D350 | 0 0 3.0 46.5 44.0 49.0 700000 6600000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1
```

If you do not specify a value for Output Map Units, the map unit of the input image is used for the output image. If the input data is a variety of map units, the map unit of each output image is that of its corresponding input image. In such a case, it is recommended that you specify the output map units.

You can also specify the label of a projection defined in the userproj.txt file.

Source Background Type

The method to use to determine which pixels in the source image to process as background (NoData) pixels. In general, if a pixel is considered NoData, the module processes it in a specific manner.

If the Any option or the All option is selected, a value must be specified for the Source Background Value parameter.

Available options are:

File Metadata, else None: reads the NoData value from the input-file metadata. The module first checks for the file-level metadata tag NO_DATA_VALUE in the source raster. If the tag is present, this value is used as a default for all channels in the file. Next, the module checks for channel-level NoData tags; if one is found, the channel-level value overrides the file-level value for that channel.

If there are channel-level NoData tags, but no file-level tag, a pixel is considered as NoData if each of the channels with a NoData tag corresponds to its NoData value. In this case, channels without a NoData tag are ignored when identifying background pixels.

If the file does not contain NoData tags, all pixels in the source image are considered valid.
None: all pixels in the source image are to be considered valid
All: if the pixel value in all channels matches the values provided for the Source Background Value parameter, the pixel is considered background (NoData).
Any: if the pixel value in any channel matches the value provided for the Source Background Value parameter, the pixel is considered background (NoData).

For specific examples, see the Source Background Value parameter description.

Source Background Value

The source background value or values when the Source Background Type parameter is set to:

The source background value is provided as either a single number (applied to all channels) or as a pixel "stack" (a comma-delimited list of values). If a pixel stack is provided, but the number of values does not equal the number of channels, the list is truncated or the last value is repeated as necessary. The background values provided is truncated to the range allowed by the source image data type.

The following examples apply to a 3-channel, 8-bit unsigned image:

Source Background Type set to All and Source Background Value set to 0: a pixel is considered background if all three channels are zero.
Source Background Type set to Any and Source Background Value set to 0: a pixel is considered background if any of the three channels is zero
Source Background Type set to All and Source Background Value set to 128,0,0: a pixel is considered background if its value is exactly 128 for the first channel and zero for the second and third channels
Source Background Type set to All and Source Background Value set to 128,0,0,245: a pixel is considered background if its value is exactly 128 for the first channel and zero for the second and third channels. The value 245 is ignored.
Source Background Type set to Any and Source Background Value set to 128,0: a pixel is considered background if the value in channel 1 is 128 OR if the value in channel 2 or 3 is zero.
Source Background Type set to Any and Source Background Value set to 1032,0: a pixel is considered background if the value in channel 1 is 255 OR if the value in channel 2 or 3 is zero. The first value is truncated to the range allowed for 8U data.

Output Pixel Size

The sample size of the output imagery.

The output pixel size must be specified in the value (units) of Output Map Units; for example, when the value of Output Map Units is specified as a UTM zone, the pixel output size must be in meters. When the value is specified as Long/Lat, the pixel size must be in decimal degrees.

If a single value is specified, that value applies to both x and y values.

If no value is specified for this parameter, the pixel output size is based on the input math model associated with each scene in the input folder.

Output Background Value

The background (NoData) value to use for pixels that are not populated.

The specified background value is truncated to the range allowed by the source image data type.

When you specify one value, all channels are set to the same NoData value. If you want to specify different values for various channels, separate the values with commas. For example, to specify -32768 for channel 1 and zero for channel 2 (and any subsequent channels), enter "-32768, 0".

Clip Amount

The amount of data to clip from the epipolar digital elevation models (DEM) before merging and geocoding.

This parameter specifies the amount of the actual image data that is clipped, either as a number of pixels or as a percentage of the image size.

You can select between Pixels or Percent using the Clip Units parameter.

You can enter up to two values:

The first value defines the number of pixels or percentage in the left-right direction
The second value defines the number of lines or percentage in the up-down direction

For example:

If Clip Units is set to Pixels:

If a value of 5,10 is entered, five pixels are clipped from the left and right edges, while 10 pixels are clipped from the top and bottom edges.
If a single value is specified, clipping is applied to all edges of the image. For example, if the specified value is 5, five pixels are clipped from all four edges.

If Clip Units is set to Percent:

If a value of 5,10 is entered, five percent is clipped from the left and right edges, and 10 percent from the top and bottom edges.
If a single value is specified, clipping is applied to all edges of the image. For example, if the specified value is 5, five percent is clipped from all four edges.

The default is blank, which means no clipping occurs. The maximum percentage value is 49 percent.

Clip Units

The unit to use for the value of the Clip Amount parameter.

Available options are:

Percent: defines the amount of clipping in units of percentage, based on the full size of the image
Pixels: specifies the exact number of pixels to clip

When you specify a value for the Clip Amount parameter, this parameter is mandatory; otherwise, it is not required.

Resampling Method

The resampling method to use during processing.

Available resampling options are:

Cubic: cubic convolution. This method determines the gray level from the weighted average of the 16 pixels closest to the specified input coordinates and assigns that value to the output coordinates. The resulting image is slightly sharper than one produced by bilinear interpolation, and it does not have the disjointed appearance produced by nearest-neighbor interpolation. This is the default value.
Nearest Neighbor: nearest-neighbor interpolation. This method identifies the gray level of the pixel closest to the specified input coordinates and assigns that value to the output coordinates. Although this method is the most efficient in computation time, it introduces small offsets in the output image. The output image may be offset spatially by up to half a pixel, which may cause the image to have a jagged appearance.
Bilinear: bilinear interpolation. This method determines the gray level from the weighted average of the four closest pixels to the specified input coordinates and assigns that value to the output coordinates. An image with a smoother appearance than nearest-neighbor interpolation is created, but the gray-level values are altered in the process, resulting in blurring or degraded image resolution.
Lagrange-4: four-point Lagrange interpolation
Lagrange-8: eight-point Lagrange interpolation
Sinc-8: eight-point sin(x)/x
Sinc-16: 16-point sin(x)/x
Average: Average resampler for creating downsampled products
Gaussian: Gaussian resampler
Median: Median resampler for creating downsampled products

Resampling Method Extra Options

When you specify a value for the Resampling Method parameter, you can use the Resampling Method Extra Options parameter to specify additional options. The available options are specific to the following resampling methods:

Sin(x)/x with an 8 x 8 window
Sin(x)/x with a 16 x 16 window
SHAPINGWINDOW=[sw],BETA=[beta]

where:

SHAPINGWINDOW specifies a window to attenuate the SINC coefficients to reduce resampling artifacts. The value can be KAISER, HAMMING, HANN, LANCZOS, PARABOLA, or NONE. SHAPINGWINDOW is optional; the default value is KAISER. BETA is applicable only when SHAPINGWINDOW is KAISER. SHAPINGWINDOW determines the shape of the KAISER window; a larger BETA value produces greater attenuation of the SINC coefficients. Its value can be between 1.0 and 10.0. BETA is optional.

Average
NUMCOLS=[nc],NUMROWS=[nr]
Median
NUMCOLS=[nc],NUMROWS=[nr]

where:

NUMCOLS and NUMROWS can be any value between 1 and 11.
Gaussian
DSFACTORCOL=[dc],DSFACTORROW=[dr]

where:

DSFACTORCOL is the fraction downsampling factor in col (>=1). If not specified, a default factor is computed automatically based on the output and input pixel sizes. DSFACTORROW is the fraction downsampling factor in row (>=1). If not specified, default to the value of DSFACTORCOL.

Note: With each resampling method, the parameters MIN=[min], MAX=[max], and FILL=[NN or BGD] can be appended as a comma-delimited list. MIN and MAX define the clamp range for output pixels. This is useful when you want to keep pixel values within a certain range; for example, 1 to 2047 if 11-bit data is stored in a 16-bit file. FILL defines the behavior when the resampling window contains NoData pixels: NN instructs the resampler to use the Nearest Neighbor method, while BGD indicates that the output pixel is set to the background value. By default, NN is used for FILL.

Sorting Method

The order in which the images is sorted and added to the mosaic.

Available options are:

None: The source images are not resorted; rather, they are processed in the order provided.
Nearest to Center: If an image is specified as a value for Starting Image, that image is processed first. If no starting image is specified, the image most central of the input scenes is processed first. Subsequent images are processed in turn, based on which has its center closest to the center of the first image. All calculations (determining the center point) are based on the rectangular bounding box of each image.
Maximum Intersection: If an image is specified as a value for Starting Image, that image is processed first. If no starting image is specified, the image most central of all the input scenes is processed first. Subsequent images are processed in turn, based on which image most intersects (overlaps or covers) the images already processed. All calculations, such as determining overlap amounts, are based simply on the rectangular extents bounding box of each image.

Starting Image

When you select Nearest to Center or Maximum Intersection for Sort Method, the first image to add to the mosaic.

If you do not specify a starting image, the image that is most central is processed first.

When you select None for Sorting Method, this parameter is ignored.

Normalization Method

The normalization to apply to each source image before color balancing, cutline generation, or mosaicking.

The available normalization methods are as follows:

Hot Spot: Removes any hot spots from the input images. A hot spot is a common distortion in aerial photographs and optical satellite images. This distortion is typically the result of solar reflections that appear circular in photographs, and tends to appear as a striped pattern in optical satellite images.
When Hot Spot is selected as the normalization method, hot spots are removed from the images by normalizing the brightness over the image by fitting a Gaussian surface to the brightness values. It does not remove the smaller spot reflections from lakes, cars, or buildings.
Adaptive: Balances the brightness and contrast using a moving window. The adaptive filter is recommended for images with a large, irregular bright and dark pattern that cannot be modeled to a Gaussian surface. Patterns that model to a Gaussian surface are better handled by Hot Spot.
The adaptive filter adjusts the brightness and contrast over local areas, thereby improving image detail, while reducing the bright-and-dark pattern over the entire image. It applies an adaptive enhancement using a moving window to calculate the adjustment for each pixel value. The filter calculates the mean and standard deviation of the gray levels within the window and adjusts the values to match the overall mean and standard deviation of the image. The mean is used to adjust the brightness and the standard deviation is used to adjust the contrast.

Note: Because of the intensive background processing required, Adaptive normalization can be slow to produce results.
None: Applies no normalization to the input images.

Normalization Method Extra Options

When you select Adaptive for Normalization Method, you can define additional options for normalization.

To define the filter size for the adaptive normalization, enter the image_percent value to use

The default is 20 (20 percent).

Color Balancing Method

The color-balancing method to apply to the final mosaic.

Color balancing evens out the color contrasts from one image to another to reduce the visibility of the seams and produce a visually appealing mosaic. All color-balancing methods (except None) result in some parameters that define an adjustment of pixel values in the source image. The adjustments are applied when the image is added to the mosaic and stored as part of the mosaic project.

The available color-balancing methods are as follows:

Bundle: Typically produces the best-looking color-balancing results using two complimentary phases. First, a global adjustment of the mean and sigma of each image is computed using a "block-bundle" method between it and each of its overlapping images. This global adjustment produces large adjustments between images to make them more balanced with each other. Second, a series of dodging points is determined automatically to make smaller local adjustments between pairs of images. This technique ignores the order of the input images, because all of the overlapping images are used to adjust one image. Bundle is recommended for most images.
Overlap: Performs a least-squares analysis in the overlap areas between images in the mosaic to determine the optimal radiometry for the final mosaic. When the mosaic is created, the computed transformation is then applied to each image as it is added to the mosaic.
LUT: Uses previously stored lookup-table segments from the source images to control the color balancing. The module seeks out a LUT segment for each image channel. When this option is selected, the LUT-segment numbers must be specified for Color Balancing Specification Extra Options.
Histogram: Performs color balancing based on matching the input image histograms to the target mosaic image, sequentially. This method does not require very precise georeferencing and overlap.
Reference: Color balancing is based on matching source-image histograms with those of the specified reference images. When this option is selected, the reference image must be specified for Color Balancing Specification Extra Options.
Neighborhood: Determines a set of color-balancing coefficients that change each image pixel based on the pixels values of the intersecting (neighboring) images, regardless of z-order. The overall pixel value of each individual image is adjusted iteratively, so that the value is similar to those of its neighbor images. Overlap regions between the image and its neighboring images are used to solve the equations of a multifactor model, which represents the pixel values of the image.
None: Images are added to the mosaic exactly as they are and the pixel values are not be further adjusted.

Color Balancing Extra Options

Additional color-balancing options. The options apply to the Bundle, LUT, Histogram, Reference, and Neighborhood color-balancing methods.

The available options, based on the color-balancing specification, are:

Bundle: <Autoscale>
Autoscale can be specified for all input images to be stretched linearly and have a common scale. This can improve the results when different input images have significantly different dynamic ranges.
LUT: <LUT_segment_number>

LUT_segment_numbers explicitly specify the LUT-segment numbers to use for color balancing. The first LUT is used for the first image channel, the second LUT for the second channel, and so on. All input images must have the specified LUT segments; otherwise processing of the job stops and a message detailing the event appears.
Histogram: [<match_area_multiple>], [<trim_percentage>]
- match_area_multiple: Used to determine the amount of data in the mosaic file used to compute the reference histogram. If 1 is specified, the reference histogram is computed based on an area equal to the overlap between the incoming image and the output mosaic. If 3 is specified, the reference histogram is computed based on an area equal to three times the overlap between the incoming image and the output mosaic
- trim_percentage: A number representing the percentage removed from the upper and lower parts of the histogram range. Trimming is to ignore the specified trim percentage of the total histogram area from the ends of both tails in a gray-value histogram when matching with another target histogram. Trimming is applied on both the input image and the target image. The default value is 2 percent.
Reference: <fili_ref>

fili_ref specifies the reference image file
Neighborhood: [<meanbias_adjustment>], [<outlier_correction>], [<outlier_threshold>]
- meanbias_adjustment: Set to 3 by default, adjusts the overall tonal value of the image pixels in each overlapping region, to minimize the outliers
- outlier_correction: Used to determine if extreme pixel values considered as outliers should be excluded from the computation of the coefficients. The default is set to YES, meaning that an outlier correction is applied.
- outlier_threshold: Used only if outlier_correction is set to YES; it is set to 1 by default, meaning that pixel values that fall beyond the mean-difference value + 1 standard deviation are excluded from the computation of the coefficients.

Global Color Balance Mask File

The file used to define a global color-balance mask, which identifies regions in the source images to omit from any color-balancing computation.

A global mask is useful when imagery contains, for example, massive water bodies. The global color-balance mask applies to all images in the mosaic project.

If you specify a value for this parameter, you must specify a value for Global Color Balance Mask Layer.

Global Color Balance Mask Layer

The layer in file specified for Global Color Balance Mask File that contains a global color-balance mask identifying regions in the source images to omit from any color-balancing computation.

Available options are:

Last Vector: Sets the last-created vector segment in file specified for Global Color Balance Mask File as the global color-balance mask layer. The vector segment must contain a polygon, and all image pixels enclosed within it is excluded from the color balancing calculation.
Last Bitmap: Sets the last-created bitmap segment in the file specified for Global Color Balance Mask File as the global color-balance mask layer. All image pixels covered by the bitmap is excluded from the color-balancing calculation.
Specific Segment: Defines a specific segment in the file specified for Global Color Balance Mask File as the global color-balance mask layer. All image pixels covered by the mask area is excluded from the color-balancing calculation. When this option is selected, you must specify a value for Global Color Balance Mask Segment.

Global Color Balance Mask Segment

When Specific Segment is selected for Global Color Balance Mask Layer, this parameter specifies the number of the segment that contains polygons or bitmaps to use to mask pixels during color-balancing calculations.

Cutline Method

The cutline method used to generate polygons that enclose all the data from an image to be included in the output mosaic.

Supported methods are:

Minimum Squared Difference: Specifies the minimum-squared-difference method. This method is suitable for most mosaicking projects, and in most cases produces the cleanest cutlines. The algorithm determines a cutline in each overlapped area between two adjacent images, with minimum-squared differences of gray values at the same locations of the region in all image channels.
Minimum Difference: Specifies the minimum-difference method. This method is suitable for most mosaicking projects. The algorithm determines a cutline in each overlapped area between two adjacent images, with minimum differences of gray values at the same locations of the region
Minimum Relative Difference: Specifies the minimum-relative-difference method. This method is similar to Minimum Difference, but provides better output in cases where similar sections of data appear dissimilar in different images
Edge: Specifies the edge-feature method. This method provides better output in urban-area mosaicking or in images containing many linear features. The objective of the Edge method is to avoid placing cutlines across linear features.
Maximum Data: Specifies that cutlines is on the boundary of the real image pixels, meaning that NoData pixels is ignored when the image boundary is determined.
Import: Uses the specified polygons as cutlines exactly as they appear in the vector file.
File Extents: Specifies that the cutline is the extents of the input images and does not exclude NoData pixels from the cutline generation process.

Cutline Method Extra Options

Additional options for Cutline Method.

You can specify options related to constraining polygons, which define regions where cutlines are allowed for each image, so that the generated cutlines do not cross the specified boundaries.

Values you specify for this parameter take precedence over Auto Constrain and Factor.

With all options for Cutline Method, except File Extents, you can constrain the cutlines by specifying the following extra options:

[<vector_file>], [<field_name>], [<segment_number>]

Where:

vector_file is the name of an existing vector layer to use as a constraint polygon. Using a constraining vector layer is useful when at least some of the input images include features, such as clouds, that you want to exclude from the final mosaic.
field_name is the attribute field that contains the image source.
segment_number is the number of the vector segment that contains the constraint polygon.

The values in the attribute field, field_name, must correspond to the identity of one input source image. An input source image's identity is determined by:

the value of its file level metadata tag: SourceID, or if that tag does not exist, then
the base name, without the extension, of the input source image's file name.

If the field_name is not specified, MOSPREP searches the vector-segment attributes for a field named ImageSource. If the specified field name or ImageSource does not exist, an error occurs.

If the segment number is not specified, the algorithm uses the last segment from the vector file you specified. If the constraining polygon is larger than the image being processed, cutline generation is not constrained.

Auto Constrain

Select whether and how to automatically generate and apply constraint polygons when creating cutlines. Constraint polygons define regions where cutlines are allowed for each image, so that the generated cutlines do not cross the specified boundaries. You can opt to have them generated automatically based on the layout and arrangement of the images being mosaicked.

You can select from:

Automatic: Determine whether constraints are required and, if so, applies one for each input image.
Classic: Create one constraint polygon for each input image using PCI traditional algorithm that was developed for aerial images that are approximately square and contain a lot of overlap. You can adjust the option by specifying a value for the Thiessen Factor. If you do not specify a value, the default value of 50 is applied.
Strips: Create one constraint polygon for each input image using PCI algorithm that was developed for projects that have a clear pattern of strips, such as often seen with ADS data. Images must be of similar size and align in at least one direction from, for instance, aerial flight lines or satellite swaths. Cutline-constraining polygons is generated for each image based on where it and its neighbors have actual data. This method first tries to group the images in rows or columns, and chooses the strips with the most consistent distance between images. It then removes the overlap between images in each strip using, at most, two neighboring images. Finally overlap is remove between the different strips leaving a constraining polygon. The extents of the polygons can be manipulated by specifying a value for the overlap Factor. If you do not specify a value, the default value of 20 is applied.
No: Does not apply constraint polygons.

You can adjust the effect of Auto Constrain by specifying an appropriate percentage value for Factor.

When a constraining layer is specified for Cutline Method Extra Options, do not use Auto Constrain; that is, select No.

Factor

The Factor is a percentage by which to adjust effect of the Auto Constrain option.

This is a value between 1 and 100, with larger values causing more overlap between the generated constraint polygons; that is, the cutlines is less constrained.

Simplify Cutlines

Selected by default, this check box causes the module to simplify the cutlines for the mosaic. Simplification is to remove unsuitable vertices from the cutline shapes computed initially.

You can use this parameter in conjunction with Simplification Level to set the degree of simplification you want.

Simplification Level

Available when the Simplify Cutlines check box is selected, you can set the level of simplification you want to use.

When the Simpify Cutlines check box is clear, no simplification level is applied. When the check box is selected, a default value of 1.75 for Simplification Level is applied; otherwise, the value you specify is applied.

To create cutlines from all of the vertices computed initially, enter a value of 0. A number greater than zero increases the amount of vector reduction; the cutlines will have fewer vertices. Generally, a value of n results in 1/n of the vertices being computed. For example, a value of 2 results in approximately one half of the vertices.

Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File

The file that, in conjunction with Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Layer and Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Segment, can be used to identify common regions in all source images to omit from cutline calculations. When a global cutline-avoidance mask is used, the image pixels in the masked regions are excluded from the cutline calculations wherever possible; if there is no better area in which to place a cutline, the cutline passes through the masked region.

When you specify a value for this parameter, you must also specify a value for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Layer.

Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Layer

The layer in the file specified for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File to use as the global cutline-avoidance mask. When no value is specified for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File, this parameter is ignored.

Global cutline-avoidance masks are used to restrict specific areas from cutline calculations; for example, to avoid cutlines crossing through buildings. When a global cutline-avoidance mask is used, the image pixels in the masked regions are excluded from the cutline calculations wherever possible; if there is no better area in which to place a cutline, the cutline passes through the masked region. A global cutline-avoidance mask applies to all source images that intersect the global mask layer.

Available options are:

Last Vector: Sets the last-created vector segment in the file specified for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File as the global cutline-avoidance mask layer.
Last Bitmap: Sets the last-created bitmap segment in file specified for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File as the global cutline-avoidance mask layer.
Specific Segment: Defines a specific segment in the file specified for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask File as the global cutline-avoidance mask layer. When you select this option, you must specify a value for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Segment.

Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Segment

When Specific Segment is selected for Global Cutline Avoidance Mask Layer, this parameter specifies the number of the segment that contains polygons or bitmaps to use to mask pixels to avoid when calculating cutlines.

Area of Interest File

A file that contains a single vector layer that defines the area to which the output mosaic is clipped.

The vector layer can contain one or more polygons.

Crop Tiles to AOI

Selected by default, this check box controls whether to crop the tiles to the area of interest (AOI) during processing.

Tile Base Name

The base name for file names of all tiles created during the mosaicking process.

Note: The value for this parameter cannot be the same as that of Input Scene File.

Tile Specification

The tiling scheme to use for the output mosaic.

Available schemes are:

Single Tile: Generates the output mosaic as a single tile.
Vector: Use when you have an existing vector-polygon layer that contains the tile definitions you want to use for the mosaic. When you select this option, you can add options for it with Tile File, Segment Number, Field Name, and Buffer Distance, respectively.
Dimensions: Creates tiles of a specific size. When you select this option, you can add options for it with Tile Height and Tile Width, respectively. When using this specification, the TileID values of the output tiles is generated using the convention <column_number>_<row_number>. For example, the upper-left tile always has a TileID of "1_1", the one immediately below is "1_2", and so on.
Script File: Use when you have a text file that defines the coordinates of each tile you want to create. When you select this option, you can add options for it with Tile File.

Height

The height of the mosaic tile, in pixels.

The union of the extents of all of the source images is divided into a series of evenly sized and abutting rectangular tiles with the specified dimension.

Only tiles that actually intersect at least one of the source images is present in the output. The tiles at the far right and on the far bottom may overhang the extents of the source images. This is done to ensure that all tiles have the same dimensions.

TileID values are generated using the convention <column_number>_<row_number>. For example, the upper-left tile always has a TileID of "1_1", while the one immediately below it is "1_2", and so on.

For example:

Width

The width of the mosaic tile, in pixels.

The union of the extents of all of the source images is divided into a series of evenly sized and abutting rectangular tiles with the specified dimension.

TileID values are generated using the convention <column_number>_<row_number>. For example, the upper-left tile always has a TileID of "1_1", while the one immediately below it is "1_2", and so on.

For example:

Vertical Overlap

The vertical overlap of each tile, in pixels.

Note: The Width parameter value is considered sacrosanct and is always honored. Thus, setting the Vertical Overlap to something other than zero causes the mosaic tile positions to be adjusted, rather than changing the tile widths.

Horizontal Overlap

The horizontal overlap of each tile, in pixels.

Note: The Height parameter value is considered sacrosanct and is always honored. Thus, setting the Horizontal Overlap to something other than zero causes the mosaic tile positions to be adjusted, rather than changing the tile heights.

Tile File

The name of the text file containing the tile-definition layer.

Each line in the text file contains five elements separated by spaces: the first two define the upper-left coordinate in the x and y dimension, respectively. The next two define the lower-right coordinate in the x and y dimensions, respectively. The last one specifies the output file name of the tile. If the file name includes an extension, the extension is removed when the value is stored as the 'TileID' attribute in the tile-definition polygon. If the file name includes a path, the entire path is transferred and appended to the output folder.

The values specified in the text file can be in one of these coordinate types:

RASEXT: Raster extents
GEOEXT: Geocoded extents
LNGLATEX: Longitude and latitude extents
RASOFFSZ: Raster offset and size
GEOOFFSZ: Geocoded offset and size

The RASEXT and RASOFFSZ coordinate types make use of pixel/line raster, as defined by the union of the extents of all input source images. If a coordinate type is not specified, it is assumed to be GEOEXT. For example:

Segment Number

In the tile file you specified, the number of the vector segment to use. If no segment number is specified, the last segment in the specified tile file is used.

Field Name

Name of the field (attribute) that has unique identifiers for each tile. The module uses the values in the field to form the names of the mosaic tile files. If no field name is specified, the attribute ShapeID is used.

Coordinate Type

When Tile Specification is Script File, the type of coordinates in the script.

You can select from the following:

Geocoded Extents
Geocoded Offset & Size
Long/Lat Extents
Raster Extents
Raster Offset & Size

Blend Width

The perpendicular distance from the cutlines over which image blending occurs.

Image blending is to average the gray value of each pixel in the blending strip along a cutline from both overlapping input images. If no value is specified for this parameter, no blending is performed.

Create Source Map

Select this check box to create a source map on output along with the mosaic.

A source map is a polygon layer created and stored in a separate file, which contains an attribute that identifies the predominant source input image used for each pixel in the output mosaic. As images are added to the mosaic, the source image is recorded in a separate raster, which is converted to a polygon layer at the end of the process.

The polygon layer contains three attributes (fields):

SourceID: a text field that contains the SourceID of the source image.
SourceFile: a text field that includes the full GDB string including path to the source input image.
Z-order: an integer field that records the z-order of the predominate source image. The word "predominant" is used because, in the case of blending along cutlines, the source scene which had the largest contribution is the one indicated.

The source map layer is created in a file with the same name as the output mosaic file(s), but with _SourceMap.pix appended to it.

Existing Tile Rule

Select an action to perform when an output tile already exists.

Available options are:

Skip: No change is made to the existing tile and no new processing is performed. This option is useful when you do not want to modify your existing mosaic output.

Note: When an existing tile is skipped, it is not checked to see if it is empty. The tile is never deleted, regardless of the value of Delete Empty Tile.
Regenerate: Any existing tile is deleted, and then a new tile created. Unlike Skip or Update, the output is in the same projection and extents as the new polygon-tile definition.
Update: An existing tile is updated with any new information. The existing information is not overwritten; rather, the file is appended with any new information resulting from the mosaicking. Any existing georeferencing is safeguarded.

Delete Empty Tiles

Select whether to delete empty tiles. A tile is considered to be empty if all pixels in it have the value defined as NoData.

Mosaic from Level 3 Airphotos module

Description

Parameters

Parameter descriptions

Details