ot finished) 
mmetry Integration 
Architectural 
PA 2001 
8-20 September 
us Geländes, in 
ndung 
5, pp- 391- 
.., Ahunbay, Z., — 
bul Technical 
stanbul, 2001. Pp. 
'onservation of 
> Period of Five Year 
r, ITU Faculty of 
nning Department, 
enmeyer, P., Koehl, 
)n Three- 
ologic Approaches, 
New Millennium, 
NON-METRIC BIRD’S EYE VIEW 
Prof. A. Georgopoulos, M. Modatsos 
Lab. of Photogrammetry, Dept. of Rural & Surv. Engineering, 
National Technical University of Athens, 
9, Iroon Polytechniou, GR-15780 Greece - drag@central.ntua.gr 
Commission VI, WG V/4 
KEY WORDS: Non-metric aerial convergent photography, aerotriangulation, self-calibration, cultural heritage 
ABSTRACT: 
The combination of analytical photogrammetric methods and suitable software are a powerful tool for achieving almost the 
impossible. For the geometric documentation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem a planimetric view of the rooftops 
was required, among numerous other drawings. The complex of the main church and the surrounding buildings presented a rather 
difficult object to survey either with classical survey methods. Hence a photogrammetric solution was sought. 
Experience gained from other similar projects called for helicopter photography from such an altitude to ensure the necessary image 
scale. As such a possibility was out of the question, oblique amateur non-metric photographs in colour slides were the only data 
available. From a rigorous photogrammetric point of view, these data were completely useless for metric work. However, they were 
forming a network of, mostly oblique, photos over the area of interest and — at the same time — a scientific challenge. At the same 
time the work of the past years had already produced drawings of elevations and cross-sections of the monument, part of which 
concerned the rooftops. Hence some distances between points in space could easily be extracted off these drawings. At the same 
time, the BINGO-F software was also available. 
This combination proved quite miraculous. Careful and suitable extraction of object distances, together with digitally measured 
image co-ordinates were the observation data, which when introduced into the BINGO-F software supported the adjustment of the 
whole network. The results of this adjustment were the exterior orientation elements of all photographs used, the geodetic co- 
ordinates of a large number of characteristic points, which played the role of tie points. Interior orientation parameters were also set 
as unknowns and the adjustment was able to produce their values. Several series of adjustments were performed in order to achieve 
the desired optimum result. Numerous mathematical and geometrical parameters were tested and they were assessed according to 
their effect. For the compensation of image errors the best self-calibration parametric model, different for each image available, was 
sought and applied. From the adjusted co-ordinates of the numerous tie points, it was possible to compile the desired planimetric 
drawing of the rooftops. In this paper the whole project is presented and the results are discussed for their accuracy and reliability. 
1. INTRODUCTION as closters, mosques, shops, houses etc. The only façade 
exposed is part of the Southern elevation, where the main and 
1.1 History of the Project only entrance to the Church is situated. 
For seven consecutive years the Laboratories of General 1.2 Administrative Problems 
Geodesy and Photogrammetry of the Dept. of Rural & 
Surveying Engineering of NTUA carried out the huge and 
really challenging project of geometrically documenting the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The project was 
supported by the University of Athens, as far as the historic and 
architectural documentation were concerned. This work was 
realised under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate 
of Jerusalem with the kind permissions of all other religious 
Communities present in the area. For the completion of 
fieldwork seven months, one each year, for the consequtive 
years were needed. In the meantime processing of the collected 
data was performed at home. 
The geometric documentation comprised a series of drawings at 
a scale of 1:50. Among them plan drawings at different levels 
and elevations and at different locations through the monument. 
One of the desired drawings was the horizontal plan of the roof 
tops of the whole complex. It should be noted that the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre is situated in the Old Town of Jerusalem 
and is surrounded by numerous buildings of various uses, such 
The production of a roof top plan called for either aerial 
photography (Georgopoulos et al., 1999) or access to the roofs 
for intensive geodetic work. However, it was impossible to 
apply any of the above solutions. Access to a large proportion 
of the roofs of the Church was denied by the Muslims. This also 
made difficult the survey of several objects for the elevations, 
but it was rather easy to overcome the problem with terrestrial 
photography and suitable measurements from a distance. 
On the other hand, aerial photographs were only available, not 
without serious red tape problems, at very small scales, 
practically prohibiting the survey at the desired 1:200 scale. 
Moreover, permission was not granted for taking our own 
photographs from a helicopter, as local regulations would not 
allow the craft to fly at heights lower than 1000ft. Hence it was 
thought to abandon the production of this particular drawing. 
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