Sensor orientation via RPCs

The adoption of rational functions as a preferred sensor orientation model for narrow field of view line scanner imagery accompanied the introduction of commercial high-resolution satellite imagery (HRSI) at the turn of the millennium. This paper reviews the developments in ground point determination from HRSI via the model of terrain independent rational polynomial coefficients (RPCs). A brief mathematical background to rational functions is first presented, along with a review of the models for generating RPCs from a rigorous sensor orientation, and for geopositioning via either forward intersection or monoplotting. The concept of RPC block adjustment with compensation for exterior orientation biases is then discussed, as is the means to enhance the original RPCs through a bias correction procedure. The potential for RPC block adjustment to yield sub-pixel geopositioning accuracy from HRSI is illustrated using results from experimental testing with two Quickbird stereo image pairs and three multi-image IKONOS blocks. Finally, error propagation issues in RPC block adjustment of HRSI are considered.