On the positioning of multisensor imagery for exploitation and target recognition

Modern image exploitation tasks have evolved from the early single-image, pixel-based, and model-less methods to the current multi-image, multisensor, multiplatform, and model-based approaches. In this context, image positioning, which is the process of establishing the precise geometric relationship of an acquired image to the three-dimensional (3-D) world, has become an enabling technique for state-of-the-art multisensor data exploitation. Precise image positioning provides several benefits. Image registration, traditionally formulated as an image-to-image alignment problem, can now be carried out in accordance with interior and exterior sensor geometries. Images from sensors in arbitrary locations and orientations can be positioned with respect to a local vertical and geocentric coordinate systems. This paper presents techniques for positioning images derived from various sensors such as electro-optical (E-O), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR). Applications to model-supported image exploitation are also discussed.