One Laptop, One Weekend and 4,000 UltraCamX Large Format Aerial Photo

摘要

Creating accurate ortho-mosaic image maps from large volumes of aerial imagery using traditional methods is a time-consuming task, even when completed using high-end hardware and software systems. This article challenges the traditional methods and requirements. Over one weekend we push a laptop computer, configured with automated production software, to the edge by attempting to process 4,000 large format UltraCamX aerial photos, from elevation model creation to the final ortho-mosaic. We posed the following challenge: to process, in a fully automated workflow, 4054 UltracamX aerial photos (1,500GB or 1.5TB of input data) over a weekend. This processing includes utilizing stereo pairs to generate a Digital Surface Model (DSM) for the entire area of interest, filtering the DSM to a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), orthorectifying all of the images, color balancing, cutline generation and production of the final orthomosaic.