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PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND FIELD COMPLETION - AN INTELLIGENT 
APPROACH. 
Yaron Felus, Theo Bouloucos, and Klaus Tempfli 
Department of Geoinformatics 
International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, P.O. Box 6 
7500 AA Enschede The Netherlands 
E-mail: felus@shani.net, bouloucos@itc.nl, tempfli@itc.nl 
XVIII ISPRS Congress, Commission IV, Working Group 1 
KEY WORDS: Mapping, CAD, GIS, Spatial Database, Field Completion 
ABSTRACT 
The evolution of geographic information systems has created new customers for digital topographic databases, 
those clients have very demanding requirements particularly in the large scale domain. The typical major parts 
of geospatial database production are; photogrammetric data collection, editing and insertion of additional 
information from existing maps or other sources, and field completion. The last part is the most accurate source 
of information both thematically and positionally, but it is also the most expensive one. We are proposing a new 
approach that will make field completion work more efficient and cost effective. Use of spatial analysis techniques 
allows the identification of areas to be completed, optimization of field completion missions --routing, selection 
of methods and instruments, costing, etc.-- and eventually provides the necessary quality indicators. This has 
been achieved utilizing GIS/CAD software tools. The developed software provides analysis tools that inject 
intelligence in the planning and in every step of the field completion operation. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
Large scale mapping is a very long, multistage and 
costly process especially when we consider the term 
mapping in its broader sense that is spatial database 
production. 
The typical major parts of geospatial database 
production are; photogrammetric data collection, 
editing and insertion of additional information from 
existing maps or other sources, and field completion. 
The process of photogrammetric data collection has 
been developed rapidly in the last years with the 
introduction of high quality modern cameras with 
forward motion compensation and the modern 
analytical plotters and digital photogrammetric 
workstations. 
With the new hardware we can achieve high positional 
accuracy, whereas with the superimposition (image 
injection) techniques we can check the completeness 
of the database while with the available zoom options 
we can enlarge our viewing ability, interpret the model 
space, identify objects and extract features rather 
easily. 
In a large scale mapping environment maps may have 
to satisfy a variety of purposes: 
- planning of city development 
143 
- management of public properties 
- execution of construction work 
- GIS databases for municipalities and utility 
companies for their specific application (electricity, 
gas, cable TV, telephony, water e.t.c) 
The characteristics of large scale urban maps are: the 
very high density of objects per unit of surface in the 
terrain that have to be represented on the map, the 
survey of invisible objects such as the cable-, pipe-, 
and wire-conduits and the high accuracy required 
especially when construction work have to be carried 
out --widening of streets, renovation of city quarters, 
construction of subways, etc.--. 
Moreover, in urban areas, changes may occur rapidly 
requiring much effort to keep the map up-to-data (old 
buildings being demolished new buildings being 
erected, but also sudden "letdown" of squatters may 
be observed). 
The survey and mapping of the multitude of objects 
that are necessary in the large scale domain, can be 
done either by terrestrial methods or in combination 
with photogrammetric stereo restitution. Application of 
photogrammetry, as compared with the use of field 
survey exclusively, aims primarily to a faster 
production rate, the maps become available earlier, 
and secondly aims to the redaction of costs. 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B4. Vienna 1996