HIGHLIGHT

Ordnance Survey Ireland and its Transition to Digital Photogrammetry

Introduction givsn a more independent status where a io~alresurvey of the Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi)is than is currently held; one that is country is underway using pho- the National Mapping Agency more appropriate to its current and togrammetric methods. [NMA)of Ireland, responsible for future business potential. As a re- Small-scale mapping incorpo- providing topographic information, sult, he appointed a board of direc- rates scales Eroni 1:10,000to in bath hardcopy and digital form, tors drawn from the public and pri- 1:1,OQ0,000.A new database to various specificatiops, of all areas vate sectors to advise on a corporate that was completely resurveyed of Ireland. Since 1980 it has adopted structure far OSi and oversee its using photogrammetric rneth- photogramnietry as the principal transition to the new status. The ods was completed at the end technique Ior capluring raw data for board is currently finalizing its rec- of 1998. The highly acclaimed input to its databases and gso- ommendations. Discovery Series at 1:50,000 graphic informatioil systems (GIs). Tho overall responsibilities of scale is the major product of A series of major investments fur- OSi were set out in a revised State- this database. nished the organization initially ment or Strategy. They are: All OSi mapping is in digital with a large auinber of analogue and provide a national, up-to-date form. The urban mapping, the restar- anilytical plotters. Most impor- database for users of mapping veyed rural mapping and the sntall- tantly, since a decision to "go digi- and CIS in support of national scale mapping are held in fully tal" in 1992. OSi has installed many economic and social develop- structured databases that provide ad- digital systems. It is now the world's ment; ditional benefits to the users. The largest user of digital photogram- develop the service to exploit older part ol the rural database is ill metric systems outside the National the potential of existing and raster lornl; i't was not considered Imagery and Mapping Agency new public and commercial economical to convert it to vector. (NIMA) ii the United States. OSi markets; As a result of the re-mapping pro- has achieved this in partnership within the context of develop- gram, OSi mapping is now cotnpatible with its supplier, LH Systems [for- ing the organization, develop with GPS. In addition, OSi proposes to merly Leica and Helava]. appropriate financial manage- base the resurvey of the remainder of This article briefly introduces ment systems, improve value the rural mapping program on the Eu- OSi, its mandate, sizo, finalices and for money, and reduce reliance ropean Terrestrial Reference Frame the change process it has undergone on the exchequer; (ETRFI, a prnciss realization of to make it one of the most com- implement policies so the( OSi WGS84, and store it in that form. pletely computerized mapping orga- has an adequate suppIy of There will be a dual service nf provid- nizations in the world. skilled and highly motivated ing date in eilher ETRF or National staff to deliver its key pro- Grid rherobg satisfying both traditionat Overview of Ordnance grams, and provide a satisfying and technology driven users. Survey Ireland working environment. Virtually all processes at OSi are OSi is currontly a department OSi is responsible for all national computerized. Data collection, pra- within the civil service responsible mapping in Ireland. It also has a ductian, publications and map sales to the Minister for Finance. There con~mercialmandate for activities outlets all have conlputerized sys- are some 300 people employed at related to national mapping. The na- tems that are fully integrated with seven locations illroughout the tional mapping program itself has each other and have comprehensive country. Headquarters are located in two major components for which links to the fulEy structured deta- the Phoeiiix Park, Dublin. Annual there are individual databases: bases. QSI is probably the most com- expenditure is £10 million ($15 mil- Largescalc mapping which in- prehensively and completely com- lion) and income in 1998 was ex- corporates scales from 1:500 to puterized mapping organization in pected to exceed E5.5 million ($8.3 l:lo,oao. This includes urban the world, when the level of integra- million]. In a 1996 reporl on the fu- mapping that is currently up- tion within the systems is consid- ture status of OSi, senior manage- dated on an annual basis. it ered, together with the complexity of ment recommended to the then Min- also includes rural mapping the databases. ister for Finance that OSi should be

218 March 1999 PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING 8 REMOTE SENSING Under its public sector responsi- Specialists or other staff could a more efficient public service wilt, bilities and commercial mandat~ not be recruited and salary of necessity, mean that organiza- USi supplies maps and data to gov- scales were rigid. tions like OSi must look for more ef- ernmerit departments, local authori- * As a result, OSi made the fun- ficient operating conditions to pro- ties. utility companies, and engi- damental decision that contrac- vide greater returns on investment. neering, commercial, and financial tors would be responsible for The Market organizations. all development and imple- Regardless of government or EU mentation issues, attitudes, OSi must be able to meet Ongoing Change and Continuing staff wastage meant market demands for geospatial infor- Development at OSi that technology would be con- mation from both public and private Change has been an integral part tinuously introduced and up- sectors if it is to continue to have of the business of OSi for at least 20 graded as long as it offered relevance. It must be able ta provide years. In 1978, when OSi manage- productivity enhancements. information in a timely and suitable ment introduced profound techno- OSi should stretch the capa- manner and to be a market maker, logical innovation for the first time, bilities of hardware and soft- was rather than a market follower. The there a general realization that ware, and indeed contractors the NMAs of the future would have monopoiy de focto position of and consultants, sa that OSi under NMAs is no longer sustainable or a changed role and operate could create databases that desirable. different conditions. OSi manage- would stand the test of time, ment recognized that technology In recent years, a further set of Technology would revolutionize the demands of factors has influenced the on-going The ever decreasing costs together customers, that gavernments would development of OSi. NMAs world- with the increasing power and so- not continue to provide ongoing wide are grappling with complex is- phistication of systems create, on the large subsidies to NMAs and that sues on their future role and func- one hand, opportunities for OSi; but, unlimitad staff resources were no tion in an information society. Some on the other hand, threats. It will al- longer a reality. OSi management af the major factors that OSi has low greater uses to be made of developed a strategy for technologi- managed in charting the future of geospatial information but invariably cal change that would secure the the organization include: organization's position for the fu- introduce greater competition for in- European Union (EU] and gov- formation from other sources. OSi has ture. This strategy had to take into ernment attitudes to NMAs, account civil service policy con- to continue to use technological ad- effects of technology on infor- vances to its best advantage. straints of the time and the general mation availability, condition of apathy towards the market demands for informa- Internal Organization emerging GIs industry. The main tion, and The o~ganizationrtlstructure of constraint in relation to the civil the ability of NMAs to adapt to OSi must be suitable for the above service has been recruitment. Gen- rapidly changing conditions. challenges. OSi has used technology eral government policies have pro- to become more efficient and tn.. hibited recruitment or replacement EU and Government overcome recruitment difficulties. of staff for over 17 years. Salary Various EU directives and legisla- But these difficulties have left struc- scales for skilled professionals also tion affect NMAs and OSi, just as tural weaknesses in that business have been rigid. they affect most governmental bod- development is not currently ad- Key points in understanding ies. Deregulation, competition law, squately resourced and the skills USi's management of changes are: and continued use of subsidies are that are now necessary for service The main justification for such all beginning to influence the way development are scarce, fundamental change was based NMAs operate. Already, OSi must However aH of these issues are on productivity gsins. During tender for other government depart- now heing addressed. OSi is adopt- the long implementation phase ment mapping contracts, despite be- ing a more customer-focused ap- OSi lost almost 25% of its staff, ing the government agency for map- proach and a more proactive ap- yet output increased. ping. The question of how un- proach to business. It is a critical There was little interest from economic, yet nationally important, OSi objective, no matter what its fu- customers in digital products, mapping can be subsidized in the ture organizational form to be at the hence an argument that there future will be guided by EU regula- forefront of geospatial information was a demand for digital infor- tion. Recent experience has shown in Ireland. mation could not be effectively that the EU has an ambivalent atti- 170NTllVUED ON PAGE 221 made. tude towards NMA. The demand for

PHOTOGRAMMETRlC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING March I999 219 CONTINUED FROM PACE 2 I I added and, not much later, a Wild The emphasis on resurvey amse Role and Implementation of AMH. The organization adopted from several factors. The existing Phofogrammetry computer-assisted methods. The small-scale mapping went back to Photogrammetry has played a key analogue stereoplotters were the early 1900s at 1:126,720.Resur- role in advancing OSi. With the help equipped with PDPII computers vey appeared to be more economical of photogrammetry, OSi has under- and Kern MAPS200 software, and in than attempting to t~pdatethis map- taken a new compilation of its small 1980 the SysScan digital mapping ping. It was decided to create a data- scale and large-scale rural databases system was installed. Photogram- base using photogrammetry capable to provide geometrically consistent metric data were successfully trans- of output from 1:10,000to PDP11 geospatial information and, hope- ferred from the computers 1:500,000.In considering the large- fully, technology-proof databases hosting the analogue instruments to scale database, OSi tested a DSR the VAX machines of the SysScan into the future. Every development analytical plotter and found its pro- system. of photogrammetry has provided OSi ductivity to exceed traditional meth- The program accelerated after an- with an opportunity to introduce el- ods by 2:1, i.e, the economics other review in 1980. The focus was ements of improvement into the gen- strongly favored photogrammetric on reduction of Civil Service staff eration and maintenance of its data- resurvey instead OF revision by numbers, to which OSi was vulner- bases. The addition of encoders and ground survey. able owing to its small size. More- very basic computers allowed a real- In the late 1970s, OSi had con- over, its parent, the Department of istic approach to intelligent data tracted out some aerial photography Finance, did not accept the need for capture to introduced in early to commercial companies since the be the large scale mapping of the whole 1970s. Analytical plotters of the Air Corps' schedule often did not country. Decisions were made to: 1980s meet mapping requirements. For ex- enhanced that capability and maintain exisking 1:1,000 urban ample, the country was flown at also improved the speed with which mapping in a fully structured data could be captured. The addi- 1:30,000 by the French NMA, digital database and perform Institlkt Gbographique National, but tion of faster and more powerful photogrammetric resurvey, as in 1980 OSi decided to fly its own computers, together with the inte- required : photography with a hired aircraft gration of the analytical plotters * establish and maintain a RC8 with GIs systems, improved that ca- small-scale, fully structured and crew. The continued to be used and in the mid-2980s Carl pability further. Digital photogram- digital database from imagery, a Zejss Jena LMK metry has ndded even more. Auto- mostly aerial photography, ca- aerial camera was As matic DTM generation, super- pable of graphic output at purchased. n result, OSi became imposition, orthophotos and greater scales from 1:10,000 to the main provider of aerial photog- flexibility with data collection are 1 :50,000, with initial priority raphy in Ireland and began to sell some of the main advantages. given to publishing a new these servicss commercial1 y and Photogrammetry came to OSi in 1:50,000series; build n national nrchive of photogra- the 1960s,following a review in resurvey by photogrammetry phy. A second LMK camera and air. 1964 by a committee of map users. and establish a large-scale, craft were added in 1992. The immi- The recommendations included ur- fully structured digital data- nent installation of Carl Zeiss RMK ban resurvey at 1:1,000scale, new base, capable of graphic output TOP ~arnera'i~sterns,with inte- nationwide contouring, and a new at scales from 1:1,000 to grated GPS navigation and control, 1:50,000series. A Wild A8 was in- 1:10,000; wit1 further enhance OSi capabili- stalled in 1965 and the Irish Air support the private sector on a ties and improve efficiency. Corps supplied photography from a commercial basis with special In a series of procnrements begin- Wild RC8 aerial camera. The expan- purpose maps. ning in 1982, 11 Kern DSR analyti- sion of photogrammetry was exceed- The large-scale database was be- cal plotters and a GPl flathed plot- ingEy slow, however, and it was not ing constructed in a ful'ly structured ting tabie were purchased and 'until the mid 1970s that a Wild A10 vector format and the existing rural deployed not only in Dublin but was added. maps were scanned into a flexible also in Kiikenny. At the beginning of Towards the end of the 197Os, air raster database. Both the rural and the 1990s, 4 Carl Zeiss P3s and a survey benefited from an overall ex- urban mapping was combined in a Leica SD2000 were added. From the pansion in OSi. Aerial triangulation SysScan [now Sysdecol Telllrs data- software point of view, the analogue .was introduced with PAT-M$ run- haso of more than 150 GB, capable of instruments and DSRs were at first ning on a PDP 11/34. In 1979 a Kern mapping on demand in either equipped with the Kern MAPS200 PC2 analogue stereoplotter was hardcopy or digital form. CONTINUED ON PAGE 222

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC EWG1NEEAING & REMOTE SENSlNG March 19B9 221 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 221 grammetry. It was decided to go for In 1993-94, fdrther trials were run to package for feature collection, digital systems, for the following assess the potential of digital photo- which had no interactive graphics reasons: grammetry for feature collection for but relied on drum plotting for qual- * double the productivity For the large-scale database. Traditional ity check plots. The P3s were deliv- height generation compared to methods appeared to offer a slight ered wiih PHOCUS and the SD2000, that obtainable From analytical advantage, but OSi elected to go the with PC-PR06001'MicroStation. plotters; digital route because: Around 1993, the analogue instru- stereo superimposition, the cost differential was small, ments, the DSRs and most of the P3s orthophoto generation, easier given the need for superimpo- were upgraded with ATLAS, from training, greater flexibility in sition; the Boston software house KLT. The planning workflows; orthophotos were an added analogue and analytical plotters the high cost of workstations benefit; were heavily used for l:l,ooo urban and high cost of scanning if digital photogrammetry had resurvsy, establishing2he new each scanner Fed only a small unarguable advantages for spot 1:50,000series, and various commsr- number of workstations were heights, contours and DTMs; cia1 contracts, most of them at large fully understood; and, analytical photogrammetry was scales. the future benefits of digitai in the sunlrner or autumn of its photogrammetry and the addi- life cycle and was unlikely to Decision to go Digital tional benefits likely to accrue be blessed by further develop- A third program review took from R&D. ments, for which digital photo- place in 1992 as 0s;look note of Indeed, digital methods gave grammetry hati far greater po- the rapid development of digital benefits on the order of 4:l over con- tential; and, photogrammetry. The automated ventional methods across the entire investment in an old technol- generation of contours and DTMs flowline (loading and orientation of ogy was inappropriate since a was investigated first, because this images compilstion, editing, final new one had come on to the was a time consuming task and output of hardcopy, digital contours, market. seemed well suited to digital photo- and production of DTMs). Despite there being no clear win-

From the Inventor of' tl~cVX3000T" 1

I~riurcstrd?Heru IS rtrow: , Color or b&w, negative or positive, transparent or oplrlue Two native optical resolut~o~w: 5080 dpi/!i pm (e.g. fur aerial triangulations. FMC-l~nagery), 868 dp1/2Y pm (e.g. for ortkophotosl Format 13" x 17" (330 mm x 440 lnm) Technology w~tfrmult~ple-path linear array CCD, single-pass color Palettted geometric calibration technique 1 Unmatchwl color and radiometric capabrlities I Designed, developd artd markeled By Vexcel Imaging GmbH, Graz, Austria, a company created by Dr. Franz Leberl, founder of Vexcel Imag~ng THROUGHPUT>~MBPERSECOND Corp. and Vexcel Corp., Boulder (CO).and inventor of tan ortlwphutoscan it1 3 ~EIILU~PS) the VX-series of photugrammetric scanners {VX3000TM,

MarluJacturing contractor Wild-Austria (formerlv wart of Wild-Heerbruea)

222 Mdrch /YYY PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING HIGHLIGHT

ner in the tests, digital photogram- total, after three procurements. was Procurement continues. An order metry turned out ta provide a signifi- 25 workstations and two scanners, has recently been fulfilled For 10 cant advantage in production feature though the latter had been equipped more NT systems, seven of which are collection, owing mainly to superim- with SOCET SET and stereascopic installed in the regional office in position of the old raster database viewing. so were very flexible in Cork, two in Kilkenny and a; further during data capture. terms of capability according to one added to the Sligo systems. In Tests of automatic aerial triangu- workload requirements. The hard addition, as part of the OSi strategy Iation came later, but suggested a disk storage increased beyond 100 to migrate to NT, Four Unix systems productivity improvement of 4:1 ver- MB,to the current capacity of some have been replaced in Dublin and a sus analytical procedures. Adoption 205 GB in Dublin. By this time Sun monoscopic NT system added for of this approach has signaled the fi- Ultra 1 workstations were available. data preparation. All of the stereo nal demise of analogue instruments The fourth phase began in 1996 systems include PR0600, which now owing to the practical difficulty of and was concluded in 1997. This in- runs with Microstation@ transferring orientation elements ob- cluded 10 more workstations, bring- GeoGraphicsm. Since these systems tained from the digital triangulation ing the total to 27 and replacement will be heavily used for feature col- to these instruments. of the older DSW200 with a DSW300 lection, they will soon be upgraded with roll film capability. Seven of with the latest graphics cards and The Various Procurements the new workstations were Windows release 4.1 of SOCET SET, which Several competitive procurements NT systems, whereas all previous provides smooth image roaming have taken place over the last five ones had run on Unix. These sys- across the entire stereomodel. It is years. The first, in 1993, consisted of tems were supplied to the regional interesting that this roaming fea- four SOCET SET workstations on offices in Kilkenny and Sligo with ture, which was taken lor granted SPARCstation 10 hardware, three of PR0600, a SOCET SET compatible with analogue and analytical instru- them stereo and one mono, and a version of the software for feature ments, has proved so challenging in DSW 100 scanner with color kit. collection in the Microstation@ en- the digital environment. The data These were linked to each othor with vironment, RS already fitted on the flows are Forbidding when it is re- a 10-baseT network and to the SD2000 and one of the analogue in- membered that image refresh rates Sysdeco digital map and database struments. The remaining three of around 60 Hz for each eye are system by means of a LAN bridga. workstations in this procurement necessary to give the impression of This snsured considerable indepen- were Unix systems installed in the silky smoothness. Equally, [he host dence from the main network, so that Dublin headquarters. where the processors are powerful: most likely the latter would not be compromised complement of systems at the time these new workstations will be in performance during transfers of of writing is 20, including the two based on Dell high end PCs with large images between the photograrn- scanners. The Unix hosts were a va- duel 450 MHz processors, 256 MB metric systems. riety of Sun workstations and the RAM and 18 GB high performance The second phase in f 994 added a PCs, as in all the Windows NT pro- hard disk storage per seat! These DSWPQO scanner and six stereo curements, were simply the most workststions, therefore, take the to- SOCET SET workstations on powerful "off-the-shelf" PCs cur- tal to 38 and for the first time the SPARCstation 20 hardware. The rently available. Disk capacity in digital photoghrnrnetry rooms in the newer scanner proved enormously the Region Offices are 25 GB in Dublin headquarters experience a faster and also capable of superior Sligo and 35 GB in Kilkenny, with mixed UnixJWindows NT environ- image quality than the DSW 100. tape drive units for each location to ment and, inevitably, some issues of Since the SOCET SET workstations transfer made1 and control files to efficient data transfer between the were to be used for feature colIection and from the scanners and aerial tri- two platforms. The ever expanding for the large-scale database, they angulation systems in Dublin. An work programs at OSi, the increase were equipped with hand controllers additional feature of thiiprocure- in scan resolution and improve- and ATLAS software, ment was to trade in seven analyti- ments in the workflow of imagery The third phase, in 1995, included cal plotters (six DSRs and the since the introduction of digital five mare SOCET SET stereo worksta- SDZOOO]. aerial triangulation software requite tions and many upgrades, inctuding In April 1998. PRO600 was in- the increase of disk capacity from conversion of the mono station to stalled on all the Unix systems in the current 205 GB in Dublin to stereo and replacement of the DSW Dublin, except the scanners, so that over 300. 100 by n second DSW200. The net- all systems would have the same CONTINUED ON PACE 225 work was upgraded to 100-baseT. The software for feature collection

FHOTOGRAMMETRlC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING March 1999 223 HIGHLIGHT

CONTINUED FROM PACE 223 data provider. Different skills are re- aticaI when thousands are involved. Practical Aspects of Adoption quired with systems, networking, With so many systems installed, For-t he small-scale database, workflow, and management exper- one of the major annual tasks is the planimetric data are typically cap- tise proving far more apposite than negotiation and management of matntenance contracts. This covers tured on analytical plotters, and mere stereoscopic vision. This cul- heights on digital photogrammetric tural transformation has not been not only software support and hard- workstations. The large-scale rural easy and OSi probably underesti- ware repairs but also extends to database is captured on a mixture of mated its magnitude in the early training and other technical site vis- its, which currently rltn at around the two types of workstations. Both days. Thorough training is a sine flowlines have bi-directional, on- qua non and it is easy to underrate nine working days per month. Each year proportion of the monies in line connections with the main vec- the requirements or make insuffi- a tor and raster databases and a Barco cient allowance for this activity in the contract is allocated to hardware map publishing system (consisting of the production environment, The repairs and upgrades. The deploy- Barco map editing workstations with operators themselves have adapted ment of licenses across workstations must necessarily evolve as demands MERCATOR software, an IRIS vari- well to the new systems and now and workflows change. On the hard- able inkjet plotter for proofing and a prefer them to their analytical and ware side, there is a general trend Barco Megasetter laser raster plot- analogue predecessors. Advantages such as ease of use outweigh the towards Windows NT, as part of the ter). The interfaces between the sys- overall IT strategy. On the other tems are complex and demand effort, "softer" image viewed in the digital hand, significant benefits will ac- goodwill, and commitment by all systems (though this difference has systems contractors. Without these narrowed as scanners and monitors crue if the hosts on the two scanners are upgraded from SPARCstation 20s smooth, bi-directional flows of infor- have improved over the years]. to current Unix boxes, i.e. Ultra 60s. mation, digital photogrammetry There is a tendency for operators to One concomitant of the lower would not be efficient or productive. do too much interactive editing, es- Indeed, the decision to go digital pecially of DTMs, resulting in a prices is that digital photogramme- digital product well within specifi- try becomes more easily available to was courageous. The requirement was for extensive, immediate produc- cation, but at too high a cost. Close a much wider community of users. The quality of the data becomes all tion, surely a prima facie case for supervision and good management the more important as they are so sticking with existing, proven tech- of people and targets have slowly easily generated on digital systems. nologies. Without an R&D depart- overcome this. Specifications, tolerances, and accu- ment, OSi had to demand that the Current Status and racies must be defined and appro- system vendors take responsibility the Near Future priate metadata entered in the data- for ensuring that their systems Though OSi has purchased bases. This is critical, as the new worked and wero linked together into orthophoto generation software- for technology hecomes avaiiable to all. smooth workflows. In practice, the many of the SOCET SET worksta- With the probable approval of the new digital systems worked well, but tions, it has not yet done more than expanded rural mapping program, extensive refinement was required to dabble with this aspect of digital the digital systems at OSi are likely achieve adequate productivity. photogrammetry. Nevertheless, a to expand further. This wilt impose The advantages of digital photo- major orthophote project is now im- additional pressure on OSi and its grammetry for generating height in- minent, which itself has exposed suppliers to develop and maintain formation and orthophotos are unar- new problems. Extensive work is re- the systems required to manage the guable. Yet significant development quired to automate the flowline and increasing complexity of the overall still is required for flowline tools. avoid laborious input of parameters organization. With the massive stor- The continuing absence of tools for for one orthophoto at a time, in fa- age and transfer demands of such an automated feature extraction, espe- vor of huge batch jobs with scripts expansion, and the introduction of cially in view of OSi's huge feature gsnerated automatically. Software digital photogrammetry to OSi re- collection effort for the large-scale tools need to be added for simple gional offices, the development of database, is disappointing. Progress tasks such as ensuring that the im- the wide area network and cornmu- in these areas is not fast enough. ages and DTMs required for each nication systems is imminent. Ease On the personnel side, the adop- orthophoto are present and for quaI- of access to data and information is tion of digital photogrammetry ne- ity control of both geometry and ra- key to meeting these demands for ;essitates a shift in attitudes. The diometry. While this sounds trivial both staff and customers. The intro .role of the photogrammetry depart- for a few orthophotos, it is problem- CONTINIIED ON PACE 2226 ment evolves beyond that of a simple

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERkNG & REMOTE SENSING Msrclr Ir$Y'I 225 CONTINUFII FROAI PACE 225 Conclusions satisfactorily, given [heir size and duction of hand-held pen cornpulers OSi has undergone a level of cotnplexity. 1:urrhcr protluctivily will further enhance tho digital flow- technological change few orgnniza- improvemetrts art?. I~owever,always lines. Existing systoms currently rely tions complete as successfutly. possible. There remains some poten. on one stage of rieldwork and sabse- With the more recent business and ti~lto be realized. and digital plio- quent digitizing. Within a year Ihis organizational change programs, togramnietry must undergo consid- will no longer be the case, with OSi is a challenging but exciting or- ernhfe development before its full field surveyors directly amcnding ganizalion with which to be in- po~entialis senlized. In the case of digital data on scree11 in the field. volved. There is no doubt that tho automatetl Feature extraction, at The introduction of GI's control into irnplen~enlationof digital technolo- Icnst, inajor brsnkthroughs are un- aerial triangulation will F~lrthorre- gins at OSi has plncsd it in gooti likt:ly and i~~crcnientalprogress is duco the iielrl elcment and t.n;hble stead for r~rt~irochnllcngcs. worryingly slow. OSi to index photogr~pl~ydigitally Ovorell OSi is satisfied with iis into its mela-databases. 111 the progress in implementing the tech- Ionger term, the developmant of nologicat strategy adoptad, of digital cameras is inevitable. Con- which digital photogrammetry is an Michael J. Cory and Richard A. tinuing retine~ne~its,improvements, imporlant element. OSi has thus Kirwan, 0rrl11anc.eS~irvey Ireland, and developmenls in the surveying placed considerable faith in digital Dublin, Irelatld. and mapping [or geomatics) fields photogrammetry. Ins~allalionsand are monitored cnrclully by OSi for training courses have gone well in A. Stewart Walker, LH Systerns, ways in wllich production can be mos! cases and the systems work LLC, San Diego. California, USA improved.

ATLAS Photogrammetric software

ATLAS MAPPING ATLAS ORTHO TINS from Planimetry Automatic Terrian Modeling TINS from Existing DTM's Smooth real-time Pan Gridded DTMs from TIN Model to Model Panning On-Sine data verification Orientations from DSP Progressive sampling Exterior Orientations Contour Interpolation Color 3D Superimposition Volumes AT Measurement & Adjustment

ATLAS data collection Otthos from TINS BATCH off-line EDITING Mosaics Translators Radiometric Correction Analog Orientations True Orthophoto Seamless Map Data Vector Raster Overlay Continuous data - Heads-up. Digitizinq- - Integrity ATLAS TIN DIGITAL STEREO PLOlTER

Workstation Performace on a PC & Windows NT 200 Corporate Place INTEGRATION SOLVED Peabody, MA 01960 TEL: 978-536-9100 E-Mail: [email protected] FAX: 978-536-9110 WEB: www.kltassoc.com

226 March 1999 PHOTOGRAMMETRlC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING