PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING
priate filters to give a narrow-band input to
the film.
The stellar calibration of an aerial camera is
an ultra-precise method of camera calibration
by utilization more than two thousand photo
graphic images of more than 400 stars to
determine all the elements of interior camera
orientation and all metric lens defects with a
statistical validity of one or two microns. The
refinement is expected to result in significant
reduction of photogrammetric error propaga
tion and to lead, ultimately, to the qualifica
tion of aerial cameras as tools of geodesy.
A computer program in FORTRAN IV for
Multiple Station Analytical Triangulation
(MUSAT) computes the positions and at
titudes of the photographs simultaneously in
the coordinate system of the ground control
using the method of least squares. The final
position of unknown image points are com
puted by intersection using the final air
station positions and camera attitudes. The
programs are designed to accept a 100-photo
graph block with up to 100 image points per
photograph.
Analytic aerotriangulation was pro
grammed and documented for the entire prob
lem of systematic error compensation, three-
photo strip aerotriangulation, strip adjust
ments, and the simultaneous adjustment of
blocks of up to 200 photographs in any over
lapping configuration with any number of
horizontal and vertical control points. Provi
sion was made for varying the relative weight
of photograph images with radial distance,
the relative weight of photogrammetric and
geodetic ground positions, and the weight
which enforces the condition of colinearity on
control points. All programs have been pub
lished in Fortran language.
A Sequential Independent Model Block
Analytical Triangulation (SIMBAT) Com
puter Program is an integrated set of com
puter programs designed for the analytical
triangulation of a block of photographs using
sequential independent models. The programs
are coded in FORTRAN IV for operation on
the IBM 7090/7094 computer and in Auto
math 1800 for operation on the Honeywell
800 computer.
The equivalence of color and panchromatic
aerial photographic films with respect to
geometric fidelity has been established
through a series of tests conducted on several
brands of films. The tests included master
glass grid-plate exposures for the measure
ment and analysis of the nature of film dis
tortion, development of a mathematical
model for film distortion based upon eight
camera fiducial marks, evaluation of color
glass diapositives for emulsion creep, studies
of error progapation in analytic aerotriangu
lation, airborne tests of photographic resolv
ing power and airborne tests of metric aero
triangulation through the use of the Ohio
Camera Calibration Test Area.
The Stereo Image Alternator (SIA) was
designed to be attached to production-type
stereoplotting instruments to improve the
stereoscopic viewing of photo imagery. In this
system, the anaglyphic filters in projection
and viewing fields are replaced by synchro
nized shutters rotating at high speed which
allow rapid alternate projection of the left and
right diapositive imagery and synchronous
alternate viewing by the corresponding eye of
the operator. The system provides better
model resolution and brighter models. It
provides the capability of viewing and work
ing with color photography in projection-type
instruments. Manufacturers have provided
facilities for attaching the device to older
instruments.
Semianalytical methods of aerotriangula
tion were designed to use available computers
and stereoplotters, including the Kelsh, ER-
55, B-8, PG-2, C-5, and A-7 plotters. Attach
ments for these instruments have been de
signed for the readout of model or strip co
ordinates.
An Arizona photogrammetric test site is a
high-density control area which was estab
lished in 1965 within the existing Army Map
Service test area near Phoenix, Arizona, for
testing photogrammetric techniques and in
strumentation. The test site provides several
patterns of monumented and targeted (some
temporary, some permanent) horizontal and
vertical control points ranging from a 1/4-
mile grid spacing over a 2- by 3-mile area to a
4-mile grid spacing for the entire 16-mile-
square area.
A fully analytical aerotriangulation sys
tem—the Geological Survey’s direct geodetic
constraint method—has been used success
fully to provide photogrammetric control for
mapping two 7.5-minute quadrangles. The
X and Y photograph coordinates were mea
sured on the 1:24,000-scale glass-plate nega
tives with a monocomparator.
A graphic data recording system will accept
analog voltages as input from an electronic
stylus, cursor or other tracing device designed
to be used with a Cartesian plotter. The
analog input is converted to digital form and
fed into a logic system which minimizes the
number of points required to maintain a
plotting accuracy of +.005 inches. These
4