BASICS OF

PHOTOGRAMMETRY
 Photogrammetry
I n t r o d u c t i o n & B a s i c T e r m s o f Ph o t o g r a m m e t r y

U s e s & i m p o r t a n c e o f P h o t o g r a m m e t r y )

Ty p e s o f P h o t o g r a m m e t r y

Ty p e s o f P h o t o g r a p h s

S c a l e o f Ve r t i c a l P h o t o g r a p h

R e l i e f D i s p l a c e m e n t

I n s t r u c t i o n o n F i e l d Wo r k s
• Photogrammetric surveying or photogrammetry is the branch of
surveying in which maps are prepared from photo-graphs taken
from ground or air stati ons.

• With an advancement of the photogrammetric

techniques, photographs are also being used for the
interpretati on of geology, classifi cati on of soils a n d crops,etc.

• Is t h e scien ce of m a kin g m ea su r em en t s fr om ph ot ogra ph s,

especially for recovering the exact positi ons of surface points.

• Photogrammetry may employ high-speed imaging a n d

remote sensing in order to detect, measure a n d record
complex 2-D an d 3-D moti on fields.
Is t h e Art, Science a n d Technology of obtaining reliable
information a bout physical objects a n d t h e environment t hrough
processes of recording, m e a su ri ng a n d inte rpret ing photographic
images.

The principal point of each photogra ph is u se d a s a fixed

st a t io n a n d r a y s a r e d r a w n to get points of intersections very
simil a r to those u sed i n pl a ne table.
 Broadly Photogrammetry Requires:
•Planning & taking t h e photographs
•Processing t h e photographs
• Measuring t h e photographs & Reducing th e m e a s u re m e nt to
produce end results.

Field Applicati on of P h o to g ra m m e tr y :
•Used to conduct topographical survey or engineering surveys.
•Suitable for mountainous a n d hilly te rrain with litt le vegetati on.
• Used for geological mapping which includes identi fi cati on of land forms,
rock type & rock structures.
• Used for pr oject s dem a n din g h igh er a ccu r a cy, sin ce it pr ovides accurate
measurements.
•Used in u r b a n a n d regional planning applicati ons.
• Used mostly in Planning /designing in trans port planning, bridge,
pipeline, hydropower, u r b a n planning, security a n d strategic planning,
disaster manage ment, n at u ra l resources management, city models,
conservati on of archaeological sites etc.
 I m p o r t a n c e / A p p l i c a ti o n of p h o t o g r a m m e t r y
• Its applicati ons include satellite tracking of t h e relati ve
positi oning alterati ons in all E a r t h environments (e.g.
tectonic moti ons etc.),
• The quanti tati ve results of photogrammetry a re used to guide
a n d match t h e results of computati onal models of t h e n at u ra l
systems, t h u s helping to invalidate or confi rm new theories, to
design novel vehicles or new methods for predicti ng or/and
controlling th e consequences of earthquakes, tsunamis, any
other weather types.
•Photogrammetry also helps for t h e solving of triangulati on,
trilaterati on a n d multi dimensional scaling.
• I n t h e simplest example, t he distance between two points
t h a t lie on a plane parallel to t h e photographic image plane
can be determined by measuring their distance on t he image,
if t h e scale (s) of th e image is known.
Advantages

• Covers large area

•Less ti me consuming/fast
•Can ‘reach’ inaccessible and restricted area
•Cheap/cost effective for large area and in a long r un
•Easy to interpret, understand

Disadvantages

•Complex system, highly trained hum an resource needed

•Costly at the time of in stallation/in itiation
•Heavy and sophisticated equipments needed
•Lengthy administrative procedure for getting permission to fly
•Weather dependent
 T Y PES O F PHOTOGRA MMETRY /
P H OTO G R A P H S
• The photographs used in photogrammetry may be broadly
classified into two types depending upon the camera positi on a t
the ti me of photography.
•The types are- Terrestrial Photographs and Aerial Photographs
Terrestrial Photographs
• Photographs taken from camera stati on a t a fixed positi on on or
nea r the ground is known as Terrestrial Photographs.
• The photographs are taken by means of a photo-Theodolite
which is combinati on of a camera a n d a Theodolite.
• Based on the principle t h at “if the directi ons of same objects
photographed from two extremiti es of measured base are
known, their positi on can be located by the intersecti on of two
rays to the same object.
 TERRESTRIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

 Photographs are take n from elevated ground stations.

 Method is very similar t h a t the camera is in stationary position.
 It is much cheaper a nd can be carried out by individual surveying firms also.
 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
 Photographs t a k e n from a Aerial camera mounted on a aerial
vehicle
 Used for various purpose, mainly information extraction on
the ground surface
 Photographs are ta k e n from camera station in the air with
the axis of camera vertical or nearly vertical.
 This is the best mapping procedure yet developed for large
objects a n d are useful for military intelligence.
 According to the directi on of the camera axis a t the ti me of
exposure aerial photographs may be classified into:
Ve r ti c a l P h o t o g r a p h s
Oblique Photograph
Verti cal Photographs
• These photographs are taken from the air with the axis of
the Camera verti cal or nearly verti cal .
•A truly verti cal Photograph closely resembles a map.
• These are uti lized for the compilati on of topographic a nd
engineering surveys on various scales.
Oblique Photographs are taken from air with the axis of the
camera intenti onally ti lted from the verti cal.
• An oblique photograph covers larger area of the ground but
clarity of details diminishes towards the far end of the
photograph.
• Depending upon the angle of obliquity, oblique photographs may
be further divided into two categories.
Low oblique photographs :
• An oblique photograph which does not show the horizon, is
known as low oblique photograph.
• Such photographs are generally used to compile reconnaissance
maps of inaccessible areas
High oblique photograph:
An oblique photograph which is suffi ciently ti lted to show the
horizon, is known as high oblique photograph.
Such photographs were previously used for the extension of
planimetric and height control in areas having scanty ground
Oblique Photo Vertical Photo
 D E T E R M I N AT I O N O F A S C A L E O F T H E V ERT I CA L
PHOTOGRAPH

The scale of t h e verti cal photograph is t h e rati o of a distance on t h e

photo to t h e corresponding distance to t h e ground.
Let N = Perspecti ve centre
H= flying height of t h e ca m e ra
f = focal length of ca m e ra
h= height of ground above m e a n sea level

Constructi on :
Dr a w BK per pen dicu la r t o N V m eet in g a t K
From similar triangles NVB a n d NKB,

Scale of Photograph ( S A ) = f/(H- h )

If the terrain is perfectly fl at or

plane a t the m ean sea level t hen
h=0,
So, Scale of photograph =f/H
 Relief Displacement

• The scale of an aerial photograph is partly a function of flying height.

• Thus, variations in elevation cause variations in scale on aerial
photographs.
• Specifically, the higher the elevation of an object, the farther the object
will be displaced from its actual position away from the principal point of
the photograph (the point on the ground surface that is directly below the
camera lens).
• The lower the elevation of an object, the more it will be displaced toward
the principal point. This effect, called relief displacement.
• Note that the effect increases with distance from the principal point.
• Ground relief is shown in perspective on the photograph due to which
every point on the photograph is displaced from their true orthographic
position.
 Derivation of Relief Displacement
d = r(H-h)/f * fh/H(H-h)
Let r = radial distance a from k = rh/H
Ro = radial distance of a0 from k
R = K0A0 Also, d = r0H/f * fh/H(H-h)
= r0h/(H-h)
Then from similar triangles,
f/(H-h) = r/R
Þr = Rf/(H-h) -----(1)

Also, f/H = r0/R => r0 = Rf/H ----(2)

ÞRelief displacement (d) is given by

d = r – r0
= Rf/(H-h) – Rf/H

d = Rfh/H(H-f) -----(3)

Bur R = r(H-h)/f = r0H/f

Substituting the values of R in (3)

 Relief Displacement

• Relief displacement increases as the distance from the principal point

increases.
• Relief displacement decreases with the increase in the flying height.
• For point above datum, the relief displacement is positive being radially
outward.
• For point below datum (having negative value), relief displacement is
negative, being radially inward
• Relief displacement of the point vertically below the exposure station
is zero.
The distance from the principal point to an image on a photograph is 6.44cm
and the elevation of the object above the datum is 250m. What is the relief
displacement of the point if the datum scale is 1/10000 and the focal length
of the camera is 20cm

The datum scale is given by Sd = 1/10000

But scale = f/H

1/10000 = (20/100)/H

From which H = (20 * 10000)/100

= 2000 m above msl

Relief displacement (d) is given by

d = rh/H
= (6.44 * 250)/100 * 2000
= 0.805cm
 Computation of flight plan

The following data is required:

1) Focal length of the camera lens
2) Altitude of the flight
3) Size of the area to be photographed
4) Longitudinal overlap
5) Lateral overlap(Side )
6) Position of outer flight lines with respect to the boundary
of the area
7) Scale of the flight map
8) Ground speed of aircraft
 No of photographs required
Let A = total area to be photographed l= length of photograph in the direction of flight
w=width of the photograph normal to direction of flight S= scale of the photograph
L = net ground distance corresponding to l W = net ground distance corresponding to w
a=net ground area covered by each photograph = L * W
Pt = percentage overlap between successive photographs in direction of flight
Pw = side lap

Since each photograph has a longitudinal overlap of Pl, the actual ground length (L) covered by
each photograph is given by

L = (1-Pl)sl

Similarly , the actual ground width (W) covered by each photograph is given by
W = (1-Pw)sw

Hence ground area covered by each photograph

a=L *W = (1-Pl)sl * (1-Pw)sw

Number of photographs required

(N) = A/a
The scale of an aerial photograph is 1cm = 100m. The photograph size is
20cm * 20cm.Determine the number of photographs required to cover an
area of 100sq.km, if the longitudinal lap is 60% and side lap is 30%

l=20cm, w=20cm,Pl = 0.60, Pw = 0.30,s=100

The actual ground length covered by each photograph is

L = (1-Pl)sl = (1-0.60)*100*20 = 800m or 0.8km

The actual ground width covered by each photograph is

W = (1-Pw)sw = (1-0.30)*100*20 = 1400m or 1.4km

Net area covered by each photograph is

a= L * W
= 0.8 * 1.4
=1.12 Sq.km

Hence no of photographs required is N = A/a = 100/1.12 = 90

 BASIC TERMS USED IN PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Tilted Photograph:
An aerial photograph taken with a camera having it’s optical axis tilted usually
less than 3º from the vertical is known as tilted photograph.
Exposure (or air) station :
The exact position of the front nodal point of the lens in the air at the instant
of exposure.
Flying height (H)
The elevation of the air station above the mean sea level is known as flying
height of the aircraft.
Nadir Point (Plumb Point):
The point where a plumb line dropped from the front nodal point strikes the
Photograph
Camera Axis
It is the line passing through the centre of the camera lens perpendicular both to
the camera plate (negative) and the picture plane (photography).
Fiducial mark
A fiducial mark is one of two, three or four marks, located in contact with
the photographic emulsion in a camera image plane to provide a reference
line or lines for the plate measurement of images.
Principal Point
The point where a perpendicular dropped from the front nodal point strikes
the photographs is known as principal point of photograph
Focal length
It is the perpendicular distance from the centre of the camera lens to either
the picture plane or the camera plate.