The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) - Digital 3D-Image Acquisition, Photogrammetric Processing and Data Evaluation

Abstract

Digital techniques replaced more and more the analogue photogrammetric analysis in daily work during the past years. The consequent way to complete the digital line is to per-form digital data acquisition. Since digital frame cameras for photogrammetric purposes will not be available within the next years, digital line scanners can fill this gap. At the Institute of Planetary Exploration of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has been designed for international missions to planet Mars. During the past two years an airborne version of this camera, the HRSC-A, has been successfully applied in many flight campaigns and in a variety of different applications. The HRSC-A fulfils all requirements of a photogrammetric sensor. It is based on the along-track triple-stereo principle even using 9 CCD arrays and combines 3D-capabilities and high resolution with multispectral data acquisition. Variable resolu-tions depending on the camera control settings can be generated. A high-end GPS/INS system in combination with the multi-angle image information yields precise and high-frequent orientation data for the acquired image lines. In order to handle these data a completely automated photogrammetric processing system has been developed in cooperation between the Department for Photo-grammetry and Cartography of the Technical University of Berlin and the DLR. This system is capable to generate impressive multispectral 3D-image products of the HRSC-A data combined with accuracies in planimetry and height of better than 0.1 thousandth of the flight altitude, accuracies which have been confirmed by detailed investigations.