Bundle block adjust satellite images

Author a mosaic dataset

The first step to bundle block adjust your satellite imagery is to create a mosaic dataset and load your satellite data into it.

1. Use the Create Mosaic Dataset tool to create an empty mosaic dataset container.
2. Open the Add Rasters to Mosaic Dataset tool.
3. Choose the appropriate Raster Type for your mosaic dataset.
4. Click the Raster Type Properties button to open, view, and edit the properties for the raster type.
5. In the Raster Type Properties, click the General tab and choose the Processing Template that you want to use, such as Pansharpen or Multispectral.
6. Click the Properties tab.
7. Optionally, edit the Stretch properties.
8. In the Orthorectification using elevation section, click the DEM option and specify your DEM input.
9. In the Elevation adjustment section, check the Geoid check box since the elevation used in the rational polynomial coefficients (RPC) model is based on an ellipsoid.
10. Click OK on the Raster Type Properties dialog box to accept the edits and return to the Add Rasters to Mosaic Dataset tool.
11. If the images within your mosaic dataset do not have pyramids, check the Build Raster Pyramids check box in the Raster Processing section.
12. Click the Environments button, which is located on the bottom of the tool, to open the Environment Settings window.
13. Expand the Parallel Processing section and type 100% to leverage all the cores on your machine.
14. Click OK to accept the settings and close the window.
15. Click OK to run the tool.

This tool may take a long time to complete if you have a large number of images. Once the tool has finished, it automatically appears in your display.

Note:

If there are many black borders in your output mosaic dataset, you need to run the Build Footprints tool on your mosaic dataset using the Geometry computation method. You are now ready to create and refine your control points.

Prepare your control points

The second step in the bundle block adjustment workflow is to create and edit your control points.

1. Open the Block Adjustment window.
2. Use the Layer List to choose the mosaic dataset that you have just created.

   When you run the block adjustment operations from the Block Adjustment window, you have the advantage of having default naming conventions defined for your outputs. These default names will also be recognized by the Block Adjustment window when specific inputs are needed within the block adjustment workflow. For more information about the output tables, see Schemas of block adjustment tables.

3. Click the Block Adjustment Tools list and choose the Compute Tie Points tool, and choose the appropriate Image Location Accuracy for your images.
4. Add your ground control points (GCP) into your block adjustment.
   • If you have GCPs in a text file or a table, import the GCPs using the Load GCP button .
   • If you have a good-quality reference image, use the Compute Control Points tool to automatically compute GCPs. Then run the Append Control Points tool to append the GCPs and tie points together into one control point table.
5. Optionally, you can run the Analyze Control Points tool and the Block Adjustment window to analyze point distribution and add more tie points when necessary.

Compute and apply the block adjustment

The third step is to compute the block adjustment. When you are satisfied with the computation, you will then apply the adjustment to the mosaic dataset.

1. Run the Compute Block Adjustment tool using the RPC method.

   The default value for the Maximum Residual is 0.5 (half a pixel) for RPC data. Adjust this value accordingly based on your accuracy requirement.

2. Run the Analyze Control Points tool to generate the coverage and overlap tables.

   If you open the tool from the Block Adjustment window, you will need to click the Reset button within the Block Adjustment window.

3. Examine the RMS and residual of the bundle block adjustment.
   • If there are specific residuals that are high, you should remove or edit those control points using the Block Adjustment window.
   • If there are areas that do not have any control points, you should add control points using the Block Adjustment window.
4. After you make any edits to the control points, recompute the adjustment.
5. Once the RMS is acceptable, use the Apply Block Adjustment tool on the mosaic dataset.
   1. If you data was added to your mosaic dataset with the Pansharpen template, then you need to set the Pan-to-MS Scaling Factor.