An Integrated Sensor Orientation System for Airborne Photogrammetric Applications

There are now available excellent integrated sensor orientation systems for the direct measurement of sensor position and attitude using GPS and IMU technology. With the maturity of these systems has come a wider interest in using this technology in an everincreasing range of applications. With a variety of applications, there becomes a need for a variety of solutions, balancing quality and cost. The Geospatial Research Centre (NZ) Ltd (GRC) has been developing integrated sensor orientation technology and exploring the applications for low cost but effective solutions. A range of sensors has been considered including thermal cameras and digital single lens reflex cameras. At the present time there is a rapid pace of development in digital single lens reflex cameras which is providing them with added photogrammetric potential. The result of the work by GRC is an integrated sensor orientation system for a range of uses including airborne applications with a digital single lens reflex camera sensor. The system has been operational on a number of flight trials and The University of Nottingham have been investigating the potential of the system for photogrammetric applications. The paper will introduce the system and operation, and then present the results to-date produced by The University of Nottingham for photogrammetric applications. * Corresponding author.