Geofit gains unprecedented levels of precision
30 July 2020
Thomas Laveille
GEOFIT EXPERT
Located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, Geofit Expert is a mapping and surveying organization that has traditionally served local governmental agencies with 2D aerial orthophotos. To this end, Geofit Expert initially invested in an UltraCam Eagle in 2017. As 3D modeling technologies have improved, population centers have continued to expand over the last two decades, the demand for accurate and photo-realistic 3D models has increased which lead Geofit to acquire an UltraCam Osprey in 2018. “In big metropolitans in France—Paris and Strasbourg, for example—clients are demanding 3D TINs for telecommunications, architectural and urban planning applications, to name a few,” said Thomas Laveille of Geofit Expert.
How has it gone so far?
Oblique images from the UltraCam Osprey Mark 3 Premium allowed us to reach unprecedented levels of precision in our products. The quality of texturing for existing 3D city models, creation of orthophoto and rendering of invisible elements on vertical images is unparalleled with what we tested to date.
Producing first-class data begins with best-in-class aerial camera hardware and ends with world-class processing software. For readers not familiar with Vexcel Imaging’s UltraMap workflow, the software consists of “stacked” modules that produce radiometrically-corrected and color-balanced stereo imagery, high-density point clouds, digital surface and terrain models, and 3DTINs from raw UltraCam data. The software can be purchased outright, or the different modules can be used through monthly subscription for “just-in-time” processing.
Vexcel Imaging has spent over a decade developing and fine tuning UltraMap. Since the introduction of the UltraCam Osprey and with the increased demand for oblique imagery and 3D models, UltraMap has been optimized to take advantage of the Osprey’s high-resolution, 45º oblique images to generate highly accurate and photo-realistic textured 3D models. From the Osprey’s photogrammetric-grade nadir imagery, the software generates precise geometry for the 3D scene and then textures it using the high-resolution oblique views that are captured simultaneously along with the nadir, providing real-world context to location-based applications.
Lyon, France in high resolution.
Aerial imagery from the city of Lyon, captured by Geofit in 2019 at 4 cm resolution.
The demand for efficiency
When our customers like Geofit Expert choose the UltraCam, an important consideration impacting their selection—besides the quality of data—is efficiency of operation. UltraCam systems feature large footprints and fast frame rates which mean less flight lines necessary to accomplish data acquisition missions. As Thomas Laveille shared, the Strasbourg collection alone was roughly 300-400 km². Less flight lines, means less time in the air and less fuel, helping Geofit Expert—and all UltraCam customers—to meet their goal of getting data products to their customers as quickly and cost-effectively as they can. But the volumes of data generated by the UltraCam systems must still be processed to produce the data products that will be delivered to end customers.
Optimized for UltraCam sensors, UltraMap is designed to handle all kinds of projects ranging from those with a few hundred images to projects with tens of thousands of images. The software is built on a distributed processing system that allows organizations to take full advantage of their complete IT infrastructure and process data in parallel across as many cores as can be made available to the software. UltraMap is highly scalable and can support up to thousands of cores in parallel. Tests have shown that a typical block with 2,000 images takes about 1-2 hours for tie point collection on a suitable PC environment. This translates into approx. 45 seconds for one image on a state-of-the art, multi-core PC. Meanwhile, accuracy is not sacrificed for speed. The accuracy achieved by UltraMap/AT for large UltraCam blocks of images is in the range of a sigma naught value of around 1 micron.
Vexcel’s investments in oblique and 3DTin support is ongoing. With the latest version of UltraMap — v.4.5 — improved overall georeferencing increases the precision of building textures, the enhanced accuracy of 3D models, and the precise measurements in nadir and oblique imagery.
Learn more about UltraMap 4.5
Thomas Laveille
GEOFIT EXPERT
Located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, Geofit Expert is a mapping and surveying organization that has traditionally served local governmental agencies with 2D aerial orthophotos. To this end, Geofit Expert initially invested in an UltraCam Eagle in 2017. As 3D modeling technologies have improved, population centers have continued to expand over the last two decades, the demand for accurate and photo-realistic 3D models has increased which lead Geofit to acquire an UltraCam Osprey in 2018. “In big metropolitans in France—Paris and Strasbourg, for example—clients are demanding 3D TINs for telecommunications, architectural and urban planning applications, to name a few,” said Thomas Laveille of Geofit Expert.
How has it gone so far?
Oblique images from the UltraCam Osprey Mark 3 Premium allowed us to reach unprecedented levels of precision in our products. The quality of texturing for existing 3D city models, creation of orthophoto and rendering of invisible elements on vertical images is unparalleled with what we tested to date.
A powerful synergy
Producing first-class data begins with best-in-class aerial camera hardware and ends with world-class processing software. For readers not familiar with Vexcel Imaging’s UltraMap workflow, the software consists of “stacked” modules that produce radiometrically-corrected and color-balanced stereo imagery, high-density point clouds, digital surface and terrain models, and 3DTINs from raw UltraCam data. The software can be purchased outright, or the different modules can be used through monthly subscription for “just-in-time” processing.
Vexcel Imaging has spent over a decade developing and fine tuning UltraMap. Since the introduction of the UltraCam Osprey and with the increased demand for oblique imagery and 3D models, UltraMap has been optimized to take advantage of the Osprey’s high-resolution, 45º oblique images to generate highly accurate and photo-realistic textured 3D models. From the Osprey’s photogrammetric-grade nadir imagery, the software generates precise geometry for the 3D scene and then textures it using the high-resolution oblique views that are captured simultaneously along with the nadir, providing real-world context to location-based applications.
Lyon, France in high resolution.
Aerial imagery from the city of Lyon, captured by Geofit in 2019 at 4 cm resolution.
The demand for efficiency
When our customers like Geofit Expert choose the UltraCam, an important consideration impacting their selection—besides the quality of data—is efficiency of operation. UltraCam systems feature large footprints and fast frame rates which mean less flight lines necessary to accomplish data acquisition missions. As Thomas Laveille shared, the Strasbourg collection alone was roughly 300-400 km². Less flight lines, means less time in the air and less fuel, helping Geofit Expert—and all UltraCam customers—to meet their goal of getting data products to their customers as quickly and cost-effectively as they can. But the volumes of data generated by the UltraCam systems must still be processed to produce the data products that will be delivered to end customers.
Optimized for UltraCam sensors, UltraMap is designed to handle all kinds of projects ranging from those with a few hundred images to projects with tens of thousands of images. The software is built on a distributed processing system that allows organizations to take full advantage of their complete IT infrastructure and process data in parallel across as many cores as can be made available to the software. UltraMap is highly scalable and can support up to thousands of cores in parallel. Tests have shown that a typical block with 2,000 images takes about 1-2 hours for tie point collection on a suitable PC environment. This translates into approx. 45 seconds for one image on a state-of-the art, multi-core PC. Meanwhile, accuracy is not sacrificed for speed. The accuracy achieved by UltraMap/AT for large UltraCam blocks of images is in the range of a sigma naught value of around 1 micron.
Vexcel’s investments in oblique and 3DTin support is ongoing. With the latest version of UltraMap — v.4.5 — improved overall georeferencing increases the precision of building textures, the enhanced accuracy of 3D models, and the precise measurements in nadir and oblique imagery.
Learn more about UltraMap 4.5
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