A GPS/INS/imaging system for kinematic mapping in fully digital mode

This paper describes the development and testing of a multi-sensor system for kinematic mapping in fully digital mode. The system consists of a navigation-grade strapdown Inertial Navigation System, two GPS receivers, and two high resolution digital cameras. The two digital cameras capture strips of overlapping nadir and oblique images. The INSIGPS-derived trajectory describes the full translational and rotational motion of the carrier aircraft. During postprocessing, image exterior orientation information is extracted from the trajectory. This approach eliminates the need for ground control to provide 3D position of objects that appear in the field of view of the system imaging component. Test flights were conducted over the campus of The University of Calgary. In this paper, the multi-sensor system configuration and calibration is briefly reviewed and results of the test flights are discussed in some detail. First results indicate that major applications of such a system in the future are the mapping of utility lines, roads, pipelines (at mapping scales of 1:1000 and smaller), and the generation of digital elevation models for engineering applications.