FROM PHOTOGRAMMETRY TO INCONIC INFORMATICS — ON 
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND 
REMOTE SENSING 
Li Deren 
Department of Photogrammetry and Remote Sening 
Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping, 
WUHAN, China 
Invited paper of Comm. VI ,ISPRS Congress , Washington D. C. 
Abstract 
This paper gives a review about historical development of photogrammetry and remote sensing and the increasing 
combination and integration of photogrammetry , remote sensing with Geographic Information System (GIS). This 
development indicates that our discipline has being now in drastic changes from photogrammetry that belongs to 
classical geometry science to iconic informatics that belongs to modern information science. 
1. Three Developoment Stages of 
Photogrammetry - Analog, 
Analytical and Digital Photogrammetry 
If we count from the invention of photography in the 
year of 1839, the discipline of photogrammetry has 
had a 153 years long history. It can be devided into 
three development stages; analog photogrammetry 
(1856 — 19607) , analytical photogrammetry (from 
1957 — ) and digital photogrammetry (from 1964 
y 
In the 19805 the general trend of the development of 
digital photogrammetry used nowadays can be 
interpreted either as a type of computer - aided or 
copmputer - controlled topographic data acquisition 
from a photogrammetric instrument, or as 
photrogrammetry with the use of digital or digitized 
images. The former is what the photogrammetric 
production units have now commonly adopted in 
their mapping process, while the latter still remains in 
the developing and experimental stage and is 
sometimes called ” Fully Digital Photogrammetry” 
using digital photogrammetric systems. It is just the 
digital Photogrammetry that leads to the drastic 
changes in the development of photogrammetry. ” 
306 
Real - Time Photogrammetry” falls into this category 
of "Fully Digital Photogrammetry” ‚and in the form 
of " Computer Vision" particularly, has made rapid 
progress mainly through investigation from experts in 
other fields outside photogrammetry. 
For GIS data 
photogrammetric systems there remain at least two 
acquistion from digital 
main technical problems; 
* automatic object reconstruction and location by 
using image matching techniques; 
* automatic image interpretation and identification 
by using image understanding techniques. 
2. The Development of Rmote Sensing 
and its Integration with Photogrammetry. 
— From "Photogrammetry" to 
” Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing”. 
During the 1960s there appeared the space aviation 
and the term ” remote sensing” was then introduced 
for the first time by an American geographer who 
simply intended at that time the 
traditionally used one, called ” aerial photo - 
Afterwards the term 
sensing” directed at the technology of detecting objects 
to replace 
interpretation ". " remote