International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B4, 2012 
XXII ISPRS Congress, 25 August - 01 September 2012, Melbourne, Australia 
379 
USAGE OF STEREO ORTHOIMAGE IN GIS: 
OLD CONCEPT, MODERN SOLUTION 
K. Pyka a , M. Slota 3 , M. Twardowski 3 
a Dept, of Geoinformation, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing of Environment, 
Faculty of Mining Surveying and Environmental Engineering, AGH University of Science and Technology, 
Krakow, Poland - krisfoto@agh.edu.pl 
Commission IV/II, WG IV/1,4,5,11/2,6,8 
KEY WORDS: Photogrammetry/GIS, Visualization, Orthorectification, Stereoscopic 
ABSTRACT: 
The main goal of this paper is to find answer for two questions: why stereo orthoimage (orthophoto) was forgotten, and furthermore, 
what conditions have to be fulfilled for this particular technique to be reanimated? 
Stereo orthophoto concept was first introduced by Collins, during late seventies of last century (Colins, 1968). It has ignited huge 
interest, and many researchers were looking forward for its development (Blachut 1976, Kraus et al. 1976). However, after around 
twenty years, interest in stereo-orthophoto has shrunk, and during eighties of XX century it was almost extinct. Despite of fact that 
digital photogrammetry provides better conditions for it now than ever, it has never got chance for reactivation. There was but few 
papers about stereo orthoimage, and they are proposing continuous stereo ortho-mosaic generation while preserving its metric value 
(Li et al 2002, Wang 2004). 
Reasons of downfall of this interest were examined, and it has been concluded that the main cause was usage of this technique in 
conjunction with analog photogrammetry. The radiometric value of orthophotomaps and stereo components developed on 
photosensitive paper were very low during that time. Equipment for observation and measurement were simply very big and 
therefore impractical. Authors have concluded, that nowadays sum of gains outweighs its (laws and it is reason enough to go back to 
it. But in a time of digital vector 3D models there is a need for proper strategy for popularization stereo orthophoto. 
Main point of this strategy would be encapsulating stereo orthoimage method into GIS tools, optimally open source. GIS have large 
numbers of consumers whom regard for orthophotomap (or orthoimage) is very high. If they were to be proposed with possibility of 
using stereo orthoimage inside a GIS tool, as a complementary to the orthophotomap, probably they would recon how much 
stereoscopy helps with interpretation of an image. 
Authors have planned to develop software for utilization of stereo orthoimage available from the Quantum GIS interlace, and test 
version is to be based on anaglyph stereoscopy. Value of creating continuous stereo-mosaic composed from many 3D models was 
assessed. Consensus was, however, that this solution surprises us with frequent perspective changes which leads to discomfort. As an 
outcome it was decided to focus on single stereo orthoimage pairs. When area constrains are specified for single model, one can load 
them as requested by an user. In case of increased lateral and longitudinal coverage, which is more common in modern aerial 
photogrammetric flights, every localization will be accessible for visualization using several models, and there will be less concealed 
areas. 
Few algorithms for generation of parallax arc tested. After completion of sets from a dozen or so example models of interesting areas 
are gathered, there will be release. Authors are confident that stereo orthoimage may prove more useful for GIS users than true 
orthophotomap. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The concept of stereo orthophoto technique published by 
Collins 44 years ago (Collins, 1968) quickly became a subject 
of research and implementation. A number of devices with 3D 
stereo orthophoto measurement capabilities have been built. 
Accuracy of those devices has been tested (Real et al 1974, 
Jachimski 1978, Kraus et al 1979) and possible application 
areas have been indicated (Blachut, 1971, 1976). However after 
about 10 years, further development of the stereo orthophoto 
technology had been discontinued, probably because of the 
occurring disadvantages, such as very large size of measuring 
devices or poor quality of available photographic materials. 
These disadvantages discouraged potential users, which would 
have been architects, geologists, foresters, topographers, etc. 
This slightly forgotten technique was reinstated in the 90s, 
when GIS had been already well developed (Sarjakoski, 1990, 
Baltsavias, 1996, Li et al 1996). In the last decade some visible 
attempts to return to the stereo orthophoto technique with a 
greater emphasis on GIS applications have been made(Li et al 
2002, 2009, Wang, 2004, Chang et al 2008). While orthophotos 
have been firmly established in the GIS environment, stereo 
orthophotos are still scarcely used. 
The purpose of this article is to present possibilities of broader 
use of the stereo orthophoto technology in GIS. According to 
the authors ,the original Collin’s and Blachut’s idea to 
introduce the stereo orthophoto to the wide range of users is 
worth reinstating. It could be achieved by strong technique 
implementation in the GIS technology. 
2. STEREO ORTHOPHOTO PRINCIPLES 
The term stereo orthophoto refers to the pair of images, where 
one of the images is a classic orthophoto and the other one is a