Photogrammetric device for aircraft and spacecraft for producing a digital terrain representation

Abstract

Abstract A sensor device of the type to be carried on aircraft or spacecraft which avel along an arbitrary flight path, operates to provide data corresponding to the course and orientation of the craft, and a digital display of the terrain over which the craft is traveling. The device includes at least first, second and third sensor lines comprising rows of photosensitive semiconductor elements, arranged transversely of the flight path in an image plane. Each of the sensor lines provides line images corresponding to a terrain image projected onto the sensor line. At least one of the sensor lines extends in the image plane to form angles relative to the other sensor lines, so that the terrain line images produced by the angled sensor line intersect the terrain line images produced by the other sensor lines. This arrangement results in establishing clearly defined connecting points of the images, and provides high accuracy in the determination of the orientation data and of the terrain.

Inventors

• 👤 Otto Hofmann

Bibliographic Details