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STANDARDS FOR LARGE-SCALE PHOTOGRAMMETRIC MAPPING
Frank A. van den Heuvel, Martin Salzmann
Department of Geodetic Engineering
Delft University of Technology
Thijsseweg 11, 2629 JA Delft, The Netherlands
E-mail: vandenheuvel@geo.tudelft.nl, salzmann@geo.tudelft.nl
Commission IV, Working Group 3
KEY WORDS:
Standards, Scanner, Rectification, Aerial Photogrammetry, Large-Scale Mapping, Digital Photo-
grammetry, Quality Control, Cadastral Mapping.
ABSTRACT:
Standards for the photogrammetric production process have been established during the development of a new
manual for the technical activities of the cadastral agency of The Netherlands. The paper gives an introduction to
this manual which focusses on the quality assurance of mapping processes and products. A consistent set of
standards and guidelines has been developed based on a systematic description of quality control. The manual is
based on a comprehensive unified approach to large-scale photogrammetric mapping and serves as a basis for
contracting out photogrammetric map production. As such this manual satisfies a widely felt need for standards
for aerial photogrammetry and other mapping techniques.
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper deals with the quality assurance of the
process of large-scale photogrammetric mapping and
the resulting products. In the last few years this topic
has been studied as part of the development of a new
manual for the technical activities of the cadastral
agency of The Netherlands (in Dutch: Handleiding
Technische Werkzaamheden or HTW). It has been
developed in close collaboration of the cadastral agen-
cy and Delft university.
The HTW has a long history starting in 1902 with the
publication of the first version of the manual. As tech-
nical activities and processes are subject to rapid chan-
ges their standardization will have to be updated on a
regular basis (Koen, 1995). It is obvious that the last
version of the HTW, published in 19586, is outdated.
The new HTW has a much broader scope than cadas-
tral surveying only. It can serve as a reference manual
for large-scale mapping independently of the measure-
ment technique applied. The manual contains back-
ground knowledge in the fields of adjustment and tes-
ting theory, geometric quality control and connection
of point fields. Furthermore it contains chapters on
control and field surveys (including GPS), map renova-
tion and large-scale aerial photogrammetry (Cadastral
agency of The Netherlands, 1996).
In the chapter on photogrammetry no distinction is
made between analytical and digital photogrammetry
as far as the photogrammetric process is concerned.
Digital aerial photogrammetry however (still) requires
the conversion of the photographs to digital images
using a scanner. Guidelines for scanning are part of
the manual.
Photogrammetric mapping and map revision are expli-
citely distinguished. The main reason is the introducti-
901
on of the digital photogrammetric technique called
mono-plotting that can be used for map revision.
Although height is dealt with in case of a three dimen-
sional measurement technique such as photogramme-
try, the HTW is basicaly restricted to mapping in two
dimensions.
The purpose of the manual is to guarantee the geome-
tric quality of cadastral products such as cadastral
maps, cadastral field sheets and control points. For
this purpose sets of guidelines have been developed
for all data capture and data processing techniques,
which are used by the cadastral agency. The guideli-
nes are based on the required quality of the cadastral
products.
A quality model has been developed to obtain a consis-
tent set of specifications and to facilitate the descrip-
tion of geometric quality (Salzmann, 1996). This model
is at the basis of the manual and underlies the descrip-
tion of the various techniques, which are treated wit-
hin the framework of a common procedure of data
capture and data processing. This paper focusses on
the standards that have been developed for quality
assurance of photogrammetric mapping.
2. LARGE-SCALE MAPPING IN THE
NETHERLANDS
In The Netherlands most large-scale topographic sur-
veys are linked, in one way or another, to the base
map of The Netherlands, which currently covers about
80% of The Netherlands and will be completed by
1999 or 2000. The map scales used are 1:1000 (built-
up areas) and 1:2000 (rural areas). The map is produ-
ced digitally and will be converted into an object-orien-
ted map in the future. Height is not an element of the
Dutch large-scale base map. The map is produced
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B4. Vienna 1996
