A method for rigorously reshaping a pair of overlapping digital images using a Digital Photogrammetric Workstation (DPW) is disclosed. The overlapping images are imported into the DPW as a pair of originally distorted images having an associated sensor model. The original images are triangulated to adjust sensor parameters. Orthophotos are created with a flat digital terrain matrix (DTM) to leave terrain displacements within themselves, and according to a sensor model and formula for exact projective computations. The orthophotos are aligned by rotation, and interior orientation coordinates of the equivalent vertical frame images are determined. The orthophotos are imported as a pair of overlapping equivalent vertical frame images according to the interior orientation coordinates. A digital terrain model is generated in the DPW using the overlapping equivalent vertical frame images. Another orthophoto is produced using the digital terrain model to remove the measured terrain displacements. In an alternative embodiment, the equivalent vertical frame images are aligned by using the classical pair-wise rectification method or by separately rotating each image without aligning the orthophotos by rotation during their creation. In each embodiment, the sensor model of the original distorted images is dissociated from the orthophotos for subsequently greater distribution and usage of the stereo imagery.

An apparatuses and methods for correcting parallax information between pixels obtained by stereo image processing to more reliable values, wherein first a first parallax is calculated by establishing correspondence between pixels of a standard picture and pixels of a reference picture by an area base matching method using a predetermined evaluation function, a detected corresponding point is evaluated to be correct when the value of the evaluation function indicates a high correlation and then the calculated first parallax is used as it is, while when the value of the evaluation function shows a low correlation, the detected corresponding point is evaluated to be unreliable, the pixel exhibiting the highest correlation is found based on the value of the evaluation function between pixels contained in a predetermined pixel block having the pixel having the unreliable correspondence as a center pixel and the corresponding points, then the first parallax is replaced with the parallax of the found pixel for the correction.

An image processing apparatus for effecting a series of processes for capturing an image and scrutinizing the captured image is disclosed. Each process in series of processes is selected from different modes of processes. Selector selects a mode of process for each of the series of processes. A preselected number of parameters are set for each of the selected mode of processes, and the set parameters are stored in a parameter memory sequentially. Mode data indicative of the selected modes for the series of processes are stored in the mode memory. A parameter number table informs the number of parameters necessary for each mode in each of the series of processes. When the parameters and the mode data are read from the parameter memory and said mode memory, respectively, parameter allocator allocates and produces proper parameters to corresponding modes of processes with reference to the parameter number table.

A method of detecting relief contours in digital images representing an aerial or satellite view of the ground includes the steps of calculating a digital elevation map from two stereoscopic images of the terrain, extracting crest lines in the digital map, projecting the crest lines into one of the stereoscopic images, calculating contours in the image and deciding that a contour is a relief contour if the distance to the closest projected crest line, in the sense of a particular affinity criterion, is below a particular threshold.

A method of obtaining a 3-dimensional shape of an object from a sequence of image frames includes the steps of a) generating a tracking matrix which has matrix elements representing coordinates of feature points of the object tracked through the sequence, and has each row representing a corresponding image frame and each column representing a corresponding feature point, wherein some of the matrix elements are missing, b) generating an estimation matrix as a sub-matrix of the tracking matrix by selecting rows and by selecting a column of a given feature point and columns of a predetermined number of feature points closest to the given feature point, such that the estimation matrix has matrix elements thereof missing only for the given feature point in a single image frame, c) calculating estimates of the missing matrix elements of the estimation matrix, d) repeating the steps b) and c) to obtain estimates of remaining missing matrix elements of the tracking matrix, and e) obtaining a 3-dimensional shape of the object from the tracking matrix having the missing matrix elements thereof estimated.