System for generating instant contours from stereo pairs of aerial photographs

Claim 1

A system for generating instant contours from stereo pairs of photographs comprising a monochromatic coherent light source, a first spherical lens adjacent said light source, a second spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first lens for producing in a first plane a Fourier transform of each of a pair of stereo photographs positioned between said first and second lens, a filter means located in said first plane for removing the direct current term from said transform, a third spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first plane for reimaging each of said photographs without said direct current term in a second plane, a second monochromatic light source located adjacent said third lens, a fourth spherical lens located adjacent said second light source, said second light source directing its light through said fourth spherical lens thereby forming a hologram of both said first photograph and its complex conjugate in said second plane, the imagery of said second photograph being multiplied times said complex conjugate of the imagery of said first photograph in said second plane, whereby those regions which correlate will form a plane correlation wave having the shape of the contour interval.

Claim 2

A system for generating instant contours from stereo pairs of photographs comprising a monochromatic coherent light source, a first spherical lens adjacent said light source, a second spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first lens for producing in a first plane a Fourier transform of each of a pair of stereo photographs positioned between said first and second lens, a filter means located in said first plane for removing the direct current term from said transform, a third spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first plane for reimaging each of said photographs without said direct current term in a second plane, a second monochromatic light source located adjacent said third lens, a fourth spherical lens located adjacent said second light source, said second light source directing its light through said fourth spherical lens thereby forming a hologram of both said first photograph and its complex conjugate in said second plane, the imagery of said second photograph being multiplied times said complex conjugate of the imagery of said first photograph in said second plane, whereby those regions which correlate will form a plane correlation wave having the shape of the contour interval.

Claim 3

A system for generating instant contours from stereo pairs of photographs comprising a monochromatic coherent light source, a first spherical lens adjacent said light source, a second spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first lens for producing in a first plane a Fourier transform of each of a pair of stereo photographs positioned between said first and second lens, a filter means located in said first plane for removing the direct current term from said transform, and a third spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first plane for reimaging each of said photographs without said direct current term in a second plane, a fourth spherical lens in optical alignment with and adjacent said second plane, a second monochromatic light source located adjacent said fourth lens, a fifth spherical lens located adjacent said second light source, said second light source directing its light through said fifth lens thereby forming a hologram in a third plane located in optical alignment with and adjacent said fourth lens, a Fourier transform of said second photograph being multiplied against the complex conjugate of the Fourier transform of said first photograph recorded on said hologram, whereby those portions of said two photographs which correlate will produce plane correlation wave fronts and each isocontour will produce a plane wave front moving in a slightly different direction.

Claim 4

A system for generating instant contours from stereo pairs of photographs comprising a monochromatic coherent light source, a first spherical lens adjacent said light source, a second spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first lens for producing in a first plane a Fourier transform of each of a pair of stereo photographs positioned between said first and second lens, a filter means located in said first plane for removing the direct current term from said transform, and a third spherical lens adjacent to and optically aligned with said first plane for reimaging each of said photographs without said direct current term in a second plane, a fourth spherical lens in optical alignment with and adjacent said second plane, a second monochromatic light source located adjacent said fourth lens, a fifth spherical lens located adjacent said second light source, said second light source directing its light through said fifth lens thereby forming a hologram in a third plane located in optical alignment with and adjacent said fourth lens, a Fourier transform of said second photograph being multiplied against the complex conjugate of the Fourier transform of said first photograph recorded on said hologram, whereby those portions of said two photographs which correlate will produce plane correlation wave fronts and each isocontour will produce a plane wave front moving in a slightly different direction.