PROGRESS IN SPACE PHOTOGRAPHY
KARL-HEINZ MAREK
Zentralinstitut für Physik der Erde
Telegrafenberg A17
0-1561 Potsdam
SUMMARY:
In the last decade a significant progress becomes in the
development and practical use of panchromatic and multi-
spectral space photography. The recent USSR space cameras
represent a complete photographic remote sensing system
with a gradation of parameters fulfilling the resolution
range from 5 to 20 meters i. e. between the airborne
systems and the space scanners. In present the multispec-
tral camera MK-4 possessing together both a mu1tispectral
and a spectrozonal mode shows the highest information po
tential. Indeed in case of digitalization of photographs
a possible loss of information has to bear in mind. In
practice considerable experiences exists in line and
image mapping up to 1:50 000 scale based on space photo
graphs .
KEY WORDS: Space cameras, information potential, digitali
zation, cartographic application
1. SPACE CAMERAS IN THE EIGHTIES
In the last time an intensive development of digital re
mote sensing from space (Landsat TM, SPOT) has taken place
For these systems a routine using was reached on commer
cial way. This progress was promoted above all by the de
velopment in the digital information processing technology
Especially the digital combination of the high resolution
SPOT data together with the LANDSAT TM data represents a
new quality of remote sensing products.
However the geometric resolution < 10 meters necessary
for a number of detail recognition and mapping couldn’t
reached yet. In addition the scanner systems are connected
still by considerable expenses both for the system man
agement and for the using of data. In both problems the
photographic systems appear to be a suitable alternative
in case of identification of non-operational processes
on the Earth’s surface recognizable in the visual and the
near infrared spectral bands. Because the efficiency of
the systems is exhausted not yet (shortening of the time
for data seize by the users, extension of the user areas,
improvement of the resolution and the information con
tent) the space photography will be keep their justifica
tion in the next time despite the expected space scanners
with 5 meter pixel size after the middle of ninethies.
In the last years predominantly 3 types of space photo-
