Aerial Triangulation

Feature Description

Aerial triangulation is a surveying method that utilizes the spatial geometric relationship between aerospace images and the photographed targets, based on a few photo control points, to calculate the exterior orientation elements of the photos and the planar positions and elevations of other points to be determined. This function serves as the core computational hub for batch 3D reconstruction of UAV imagery, directly influencing the geometric accuracy of subsequent DSM and DOM.

Through this function, you will obtain the photography center coordinates (X, Y, Z), attitude angles (Yaw, Pitch, Roll), optimized camera interior orientation elements (principal point, focal length, distortion parameters), and encrypted point coordinates.

You may use this function in the following scenarios:

  • Before quickly producing standardized DOM data based on UAV data, aerial triangulation is needed to solve the relative relationships between images.
  • Fine-tune camera parameters for existing aerial triangulation results to avoid repetitive calculations and improve work efficiency.

SuperMap ImageX Pro  2026 version starts to support this.

Function Entry

UAV Data Processing Workflow tab -> Imagery group -> Aerial Triangulation.

Parameter description

Parameter Name parameter interpretation parameter type
Use Position Prior

Specifies whether to use the GPS coordinates in the image EXIF as initial values to participate in the adjustment.

  • Selected (default): EXIF coordinates are used as initial values, which can accelerate convergence and avoid local optima; suitable for most UAV images with GPS information.
  • Not selected: Relies entirely on tie points for relative orientation, suitable for special data without GPS information or with excessively low GPS accuracy.
Boolean
Optimize Principal Point

Specifies whether to optimize the camera principal point coordinates during the adjustment process.

  • Selected (default): Suitable for scenarios where camera calibration parameters are inaccurate or lens displacement occurs, which can improve the internal accuracy of the model.
  • Not selected: Fixes the principal point to the initial value, reduces the number of unknowns, and speeds up the solution.
 Boolean
Optimize Focal Length

Specifies whether to optimize the camera focal length.

  • Selected (default): Enabled when lens zoom or temperature changes cause focal length drift, which can significantly improve absolute accuracy.
  • Not selected: Fixes the focal length.
 Boolean
Optimize Distortion Parameters

Specifies whether to optimize the lens distortion coefficients.

  • Selected (default): Suitable for situations where the camera is not precisely calibrated or the distortion parameters change after lens impact.
  • Not selected: Uses the initial distortion parameters for faster speed.
 Boolean
Optimize Parameters Only

Applicable to already reconstructed models, only adjusts camera parameters without re-performing relative orientation.

  • Selected: Only optimizes camera parameters and does not perform aerial triangulation calculations. Suitable for workflows with existing aerial triangulation results.
  • Not selected (default): Simultaneously performs camera parameter optimization and aerial triangulation calculations.
 Boolean
Generate Quality Report

Specifies whether to automatically generate a quality assessment report after aerial triangulation is completed.

  • Selected (default): Generates a quality report for the aerial triangulation results, with the report name consistent with the workflow name.
  • Not selected: Only outputs the aerial triangulation results without generating a report.
 Boolean

Output Result

Tie point information after adjustment calculation.

After checking Generate Quality Report, a quality report content for the tie point information after adjustment will be generated.

Related Topics

Generate Connection Points

Generate DSM

Generate Orthophoto

Image Uniform Color

Image Mosaic