Positional Accuracy Evaluation of Declassified Hexagon KH-9 Mapping Camera Imagery
This paper examines the positional accuracy of the declassified KH-9 Hexagon imagery and derived DEM. Aimed at geodesy and mapmaking, the KH-9 program (1973 to 1980) resulted in an image archive with worldwide stereo coverage at 6 to 9 m. We used six KH-9 images acquired in 1980
over two testfields in Central Asia. Using reseau marks on the scanned KH-9 frames, we found and corrected image distortions. In bundle orientation with Ground Control Points (GCPs) from QuickBird images, we achieved horizontal accuracies below 6 m for a flat terrain testfield and approximately
10 m for a mountainous terrain testfield. With three GCPs the image orientation horizontal accuracy degraded by only 20 percent. We generated a DEM from the KH-9 images and estimated its vertical accuracy using IceSAT laser altimetry data and an additional DEM from 1:25 000 topographic maps.
The DEM RMSE was 6.18 m over flat terrain and 20.0 m over mountainous terrain.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 May 2010
- The official journal of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing - the Imaging and Geospatial Information Society (ASPRS). This highly respected publication covers all facets of photogrammetry and remote sensing methods and technologies.
Founded in 1934, the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) is a scientific association serving over 7,000 professional members around the world. Our mission is to advance knowledge and improve understanding of mapping sciences to promote the responsible applications of photogrammetry, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and supporting technologies. - Editorial Board
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