IMAGE ORIENTATION BY 
COMBINED BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT WITH FIXED IMAGERIES 
Xiuxiao YUAN Chou XIE Shugen WANG 
School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University 
129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430079, PR. CHINA 
yxxqxhyw@public.wh.hb.en 
Commission IT, WG II/1 
KEY WORDS: Photogrammetry, DEM/DTM, Orthoimage, Exterior, Orientation, Adjustment, Accuracy 
ABSTRACT 
According to self-calibration bundle block adjustment, a mathematical model which solutes exterior orientation elements of the new 
imageries by using fixed imageries in the same area is set up at first. The orientation parameters of the fixed imageries are previously 
obtained. Several sets of aerial imageries at different scales are simulated based on a piece of DOM (Digital Orthophoto Map) with a 
scale of 1:50,000 and corresponding DEM (Digital Elevation Model) with the interval of grid being 100 meters of some certain area. 
Finally, the exterior orientation elements of these new imageries and 3D coordinates of photogrammetric points are calculated by 
combined bundle block adjustment with the derived mathematical model. The empirical results show that the exterior orientation 
elements and the coordinates of the photogrammetric points are identical between the mentioned method and the conventional bundle 
block adjustment for the two periods of imageries at the same scale. However, when the image scales are different the adjusted 
accuracy has an apparent decrease but can still meet the specification of topographic maps. 
The experiment has verified that the determination of the orientation parameters of the new imageries by using the fixed imageries is 
correct in theory and is feasible in practice. And the accuracy of 3D coordinates of the photogrammetric points, which are purely 
gained by combined adjustment with two periods of imageries, satisfies the requirement of the specification of topographic maps. 
That is to say, aerial triangulation without ground control points (GCPs) can be truly realized. It will have glory application future on 
the map revision, the update of geographic spatial information database and automatic change detection of multi-temporal imageries. 
  
1. INTRODUCTION 
As is now well known, the key task for aerial photogrammetry 
is to determine the orientation parameters of aerial imageries 
quickly and correctly. For a long time, this goal has been 
indirectly achieved by aerotriangulation with a lot of GCPs. In 
order to reduce GCPs in photogrammetry, a combined block 
adjustment for photogrammetric observations and various 
auxiliary data was studied since the beginning of 1950s. 
Despite many attempts, none of these efforts was able to 
achieve a practical breakthrough because the used instruments 
were very expensive and the auxiliary data had poorer quality. 
In the 1970s, the USA developed GPS. It offers new 
possibilities to extremely precise positioning of airborne 
cameras and sensors during the photo flights. The technology 
of combined block adjustment with 3D coordinates of the 
camera stations, which determined by differential GPS 
positioning based on carrier phase observations, avoids hard 
field survey for GCPs and especially provides a topographic 
map. of inaccessible regions of the Earth. This is called 
GPS-supported aerotriangulation, which has led to a small 
technological revolution in aerial photogrammetry (Ackermann, 
1994). However, the superiority of GPS-supported 
aerotriangulation only lies in photogrammetric procedure of the 
great field, the medium and small scale, or inaccessible regions 
of the Earth (Yuan, 2000). In the 1990s, combined use of GPS 
and inertial measurement unit (IMU) was studied to determine 
the orientation parameters during the photo flights in aerial 
photography. According to current experiments, this combined 
system of GPS/IMU is too expensive and the accuracy of 
exterior orientation elements cannot satisfy the requirements of 
photogrammetry at large and medium scale (Cannon, 1996; 
Karsten, 2000; Gruen, 2001; Helge, 2002; Yastikli and 
Jacobsen, 2002). 
With the development and widely application of the digital 
photogrammetry, a great count of 4D products (DEM, DOM, 
DLG, DRG) has been produced and corresponding database 
have been set up. In these products, DEM database records 3D 
coordinates of ground objects, and DOM database stores the 
orthoimages. These data can be conveniently accessed and used. 
At the same time they need continual update. In addition, the 
aerial photography with GPS navigation system can take photo 
at an appointed position. It supplies fast technologies for 
revision of maps and update of geographic spatial information 
database. During these operations, if we can use some fixed 
imageries to get orientation parameters of the new imageries 
correctly, the aerial photogrammetry will become greatly 
simplified. Based on this thought, this paper studies how to set 
up a mathematical model which solutes exterior orientation 
elements of the new imageries by using fixed imageries in the 
same area, and how to determine the orientation parameters of 
the new imageries and the positions of ground objects by 
combined adjustment with two periods of imageries. The paper 
aims at using existing data of DEM and DOM in the same area 
and not using any GCP and data of GPS/IMU to determine 
orientation parameters of new aerial imageries quickly. It tries 
to verify the correctness and the feasibility of the theory 
presented in the paper by simulated experiments, and to realize 
really aerial triangulation without any GCP. 
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