Advances in Close-Range Photogrammetry

This paper presents a general overview of notable developments in close-range photogrammetry (CRP) over the past four decades, during which time both automated processes were introduced and the full transition from film-based to digital imaging cameras occurred. With these developments and more recent innovations centred upon so-called structure-frommotion approaches to network orientation, along with dense image matching, CRP has over recent years attracted a broader user community who are applying the technology across a host of new application areas. The focus of the paper is upon the evolution from manual to automatic image orientation, and from manual feature point measurement through to automatic generation of dense 3D point clouds. Three main orientation and 3D point determination data processing options are discussed, along with the need to consider processing pipelines that integrate these three principal workflows, which are illustrated via practical examples. The paper highlights that while targetless multi-image orientation and dense matching have provided significant impetus to CRP, such fully automatic photogrammetric measurement does not necessarily provide a panacea for all measurement ills.