105 
AEROPHOTOGRAMMETRIC IMAGES IN A QUALITY REGIMEN 
Lorenzo Leone, Giuseppe Mussumeci, Giuseppe Pulvirenti 
Faculty of Engineering, Catania, Italia 
ISPRS WG VI/3 
KEY WORDS: Quality, aerophotogrammetry 
ABSTRACT 
The ISO 9000 rules, which have introduced the “Quality System” for the production of goods and services, have been 
taken up by the more industrialised countries with the objective of assuring the level of necessary prerequisites through 
control procedures and eventual corrective action during the work cycle. 
In the field of numeric cartography, the approach according to standards of quality includes all the stages: design and 
drawing up of specifications, flight, photogrammetric imaging, acquisition of the photographs, positioning, contouring, 
printing and final inspection. 
Applying a series of programmed “on line” checks to the production cycle, according to the fundamental principles 
introduced by the Quality rules, assures the achievement of the required specifications, while not waiting for the final 
inspection phase for verification that could come too late. 
In this paper we review the guidelines of the ISO 9000 publications and we analyse some critical aspects of the 
production cycle. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The ISO 9000 legislation that has introduced the 
“Quality System”, parallel to the extension of the market 
towards greater and more international dealings, has 
changed the strategies for production and the 
development of companies. 
The creation of a company policy aimed at the 
production of a “Quality System” requires a new 
organization of work in the company, which starts at the 
managerial level and includes all those who take part in 
the production process. 
In particular, it is important to guarantee that the 
product or service that is provided satisfies the needs 
that are expressed or implied by the client, in order to 
create trust both inside and outside the company, be it 
public or private. 
In the area of numeric map making using 
aerophotogrammetric pictures, the management of the 
quality involves all the construction phases: the project, 
realization, testing. 
To subject the production cycle of map making to a 
series of “on-line” programmed checks, according to 
the fundamental principles of the legislation, assures 
the fulfillment of the specific requests. 
This aspect is particularly important for the production 
cycle under examination, in as much as the traditional 
methods of testing can lead to a late recognition of 
errors that cannot be modified and therefore prejudice 
the correctness of the map. 
2. REQUISITES FOR A QUALITY SYSTEM 
ISO 8402 defines system quality as the organizational 
structure, the responsibility, the procedures, the 
processes undertaken for the management of the 
company for quality. 
From this definition it is clear that quality is not referred 
only to products/services, but to the entire management 
and control of the activities present in the company, by 
which the production of the product is reached. 
The legislation of the ISO 9000 family (figurel) give the 
principle rules both for the definition of a quality system 
and for its relative application, giving a guide to the 
management of quality and the general requisites for 
guaranteeing it. 
In particular, the ISO 9000-1 is the instrument for the 
approach to the whole legislative packet, in as much 
as: 
• It clarifies the principal concepts connected to 
quality and the relative distinctions and 
interrelations; 
• It gives a guide for the choice and use of the ISO 
9000 legislative family for a correct running of the 
company for quality. 
In general the creation of a System Quality is a 
complex process and aimed at the improvement of the 
level of a product or service, and it develops through 
the phases of: plan; do, check, and act, following the so 
called Shewart cycle or Deming’s ring. 
All this can be translated in the creation of a quality 
plan, that, in relation to the product/service, establishes 
the operating methodology, resources and the 
sequence of activities that influence the quality of the 
product. In particular the plan defines: 
• The objectives of quality to carry out; 
• Distribution of responsibility; 
• The procedures and the work instructions to apply; 
• Control methodology. 
At the same time a “Quality Manual” is created that 
illustrates the quality program of the company and the 
criteria to establish it, therefore becoming an 
instrument of presentation for the company to the 
outside world.