Calibrating the new UltraCam Osprey oblique aerial sensor

Abstract

We present methods and results to calibrate the new oblique sensor UltraCam Osprey which was presented for the first time at the ASPRS 2013 conference and exhibition in Baltimore, MD, March 2013. Even if this was not the first time when oblique sensors were introduced into the market, the UltraCam Osprey did show several new conceptual details which are illustrated in this presentation. The design of the camera is focusing on two important characteristics, a metric nadir component which has been derived from the UltraCam Lp sensor, and collection efficiency through very large swath width. The nadir sensor consists of the 90 megapixel panchromatic camera, true-color RGB, and a near-infrared camera. Adding six oblique camera heads, with two each in forward and backwards direction, results in unmatched oblique collection efficiency. We first explain the camera and cone configuration along with the geometric layout of the sensor system. Then we describe the laboratory setup for geometric calibration of the UltraCam Osprey and the calibration process along with the actual results of one such calibration showing sub-pixel accurate image geometry. This proves that the UltraCam Osprey is a fully calibrated metric camera system suitable for photogrammetric survey applications.