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Photogrammetric Terminology: Third Edition
Article in The Photogrammetric Record · June 2016

DOI: 10.1111/phor.12146
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The Photogrammetric Record (2016)
DOI: 10.1111/phor.12146
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TERMINOLOGY: THIRD EDITION

Stuart I. GRANSHAW (stuart.granshaw@btinternet.com)
Editor, The Photogrammetric Record
Abstract
This contribution offers a considerably expanded and updated version of
“Photogrammetric Terminology: Second Edition” (2012), which was adopted as
an official document of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing (ISPRS). The aim is to assist authors and editors in preparing
contributions for publication and readers in the wider geomatics community in
understanding current photogrammetric terms and abbreviations.
Keywords: editing, English, geomatics, language, photogrammetry, terminology
Introduction and Background

ALMOST FOUR YEARS HAVE ELAPSED since the publication of the second edition of this guide
(Newby, 2012). Photogrammetry has changed significantly over those intervening years
and the associated terminology has altered considerably too, making a new edition
almost imperative if it is to remain relevant to current photogrammetric writing. From
today’s perspective it seems incredible that “structure from motion” did not appear in
the previous edition and is indicative of the pace of change, especially in low-cost
applications by non-specialists. In this third edition of the guide there is no intention to
include any lengthy discussion of the use of English, which has been adequately
covered by my predecessor in the two previous editions (Newby, 2007, 2012). Rather, I
have limited my comments to the rationale for the major changes implemented in this
new edition, devoting the vast majority of space to the extended listing covering actual
photogrammetric terminology. However, the Editorial in the same issue as this paper
(Granshaw, 2016) discusses certain issues in greater depth.
In the second edition of this guide, Newby (2012) stated: “At the outset there was no
intention that [the original guide] should include definitions and thereby become a
dictionary or even a glossary.” However, “the published listing included terms with no
comment at all . . . and some terms with explanations, occasionally already lengthy”. In the
interests of usefulness and greater consistency, I have included many further explanations in
this third edition. Thus, the (new) entry for “SfM” runs to several lines yet the previous
entry, “set-up, set up” occupies a single line with just two simple examples.
Progress Towards the Third Edition

Having inherited the original 2007 Terminology Guide on becoming editor and being
privileged to comment on the second edition prior to its publication, I was keenly aware of
© 2016 The Author

The Photogrammetric Record © 2016 The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Granshaw. Photogrammetric terminology: third edition
the value of these two guides when editing authors’ papers. It also became clear that the
geomatics community would benefit from greater standardisation of terminology. For
example, not only are lidar, LiDAR and LIDAR commonly used, but even unfortunate
terms such as t-LIDAR (terrestrial lidar) are now being published.
Which terms to include in a guide such as this is a thorny issue and exact content
varies with personal opinion. The listing contains very many new terms compared with the
2012 edition and other entries have been deleted. Thus, alternative forms for European cities
(such as Hanover/Hannover), all educational institutions (for example, ITC) and purely
British institutions (one instance is the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors)
have been removed. It is hoped that there is greater consistency and a more international
perspective due to such changes, but this also means that the Newby (2012) second edition
will remain useful for certain readers and can be consulted profitably in conjunction with
this new contribution.
New Terms, including those from Computer Vision

It is natural that, four years on from the second edition, new terms have become
acceptable and well-used within photogrammetry. However, it is apparent that many
close-range photogrammetric applications now use terms derived from computer vision
(such as extrinsic parameters), even when there are established photogrammetric
equivalents (exterior orientation parameters). Thus, even where these terms are not
recommended (and therefore, as in the second edition, in italics), they have been
included and can be identified by the letters CV. Conversely, there are some terms in
photogrammetry that have an entirely different meaning in computer vision; these are
indicated by CV. For a more comprehensive account of computer-vision terminology,
see Fisher et al. (2014).
Abbreviations and Acronyms as the Primary Entry

Having extensively used the second edition myself, one matter that occurred to me,
primarily from the perspective of ease of use, was that the listing was alphabetical in
providing the full “accepted, authoritative or preferred” term, whereas cross-references
often used abbreviations or acronyms (such as AVHRR or NURBS). I have therefore
made the decision to list terms where the acronym or abbreviation is widely used
by that acronym/abbreviation itself, and provide the full term in the subsequent
explanation.
Comments
The second column of the listing is headed “Comment, context . . .” As already
indicated, these are not definitions although, unlike the second edition, the vast majority of
entries have some explanation. Many areas are subjective and depend on the particular
context; limited space also means that comments are necessarily short and, hopefully,
succinct. Furthermore, seemingly innocuous near-synonyms such as altitude, elevation and
height can cause great friction amongst different professionals (see Granshaw, 2016). I have
also had interesting exchanges with The Photogrammetric Record’s French and German
abstract translators on related terms such as DEM, DHM and DTM where the English-
language preference for “elevation” in DEM is not reciprocated by our European
colleagues.
© 2016 The Author

2 The Photogrammetric Record © 2016 The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
The Photogrammetric Record
Hyphens
English does not lend itself well to compound nouns, at least with three or more
components. The German Zuordnungswahrscheinlichkeiten may be easily understood but
try closerangeleastsquaresmashup: is this the intended close-range least-squares mash-up
(all three terms in the listing) or the perverse closer angel east square smash-up? Two
entities can often be combined into a single word, such as spaceborne in the listing.
When this is not acceptable (Laserscanning may be used in German but a can of lasers is
yet to be marketed) a hyphen can be used, as in satellite-borne. This is a common cause
of difficulty, and not only to second-language users of English. An example is stereo,
with a variety of compound nouns (stereomodel, stereopair), separate words (stereo
overlap, stereo photograph) and hyphenated words (stereo-image, tri-stereoscopic).
Similarly, the separate entries for multimedia photogrammetry and multi-media
photogrammetry relate to two entirely different concepts. To this apparent confusion one
must add the democracy that the English language demonstrates in readily accepting
changes over time based on common usage. Thus, dataset of the second edition of this
guide was data-set in the first edition; both multiview and multi-view are currently used in
the literature and we have preprocessing yet post-processing. Add to this already turbulent
mix the (British) English disdain for multiple hyphens (high-resolution imagery yet very
high resolution imagery), a distinction which would be less troubling to our American
colleagues.
As well as the use of hyphens in nouns, adjectival hyphens are also important. In the
second edition Newby (2012) offered the example: “digitally derived data can result from
user-friendly real-time processing” (no hyphen required after adverbs such as digitally).
Another example is close range image measurement: close-range image measurement and
close range-image measurement are two very different things. This is further complicated
by frequent exceptions; thus, close range photogrammetry, like medium scale mapping,
traditionally – but inexplicably – uses no hyphens (but note close-range applications). The
listing uses the abbreviation -adj, meaning “hyphen when adjectival” to assist users in this
regard.
Commercial Products and Organisations

One difficult decision was whether to include commercial software, companies and
organisations. “All or nothing” is one mantra that is very attractive. To include all products
and organisations is impossible, even in the relatively small and specialised marketplace that
is devoted to photogrammetry (for example, AeroSys_AT is not listed under bundle-
adjustment software). The same applies to satellites, many of which are marginal in terms of
photogrammetric relevance. However, to include none of the major players is not helpful to
those not fully conversant with commercial photogrammetry. Similarly, it is tempting to
delete all references to “historic” companies (such as Helava Associates, ORBIMAGE or
Zeiss) or organisations (for instance, DFVLR or OEEPE). However, this would leave no
useful record of firms or institutions whose names still appear in recent papers as well as
those on archival photogrammetry (again space means such entries are highly selective). A
pragmatic approach has been adopted as to whether such entries have been included: if
several references to these organisations can be found in fairly recent issues of the journal
(say over the past decade) then they have generally been included. This is not to endorse
these companies, organisations or products over others: a line has to be drawn somewhere
and it is hoped that this approach is acceptable.
© 2016 The Author

The Photogrammetric Record © 2016 The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd 3
Other Changes
One simple change in this edition is to use bold text for all cross-references to primary
terms that are listed themselves. I have also increased the number of mathematical or
statistical terms, such as “matrix” or “CE90″, although it is recognised that this is not the
place for elaborate explanations. My final major change is to include, for selected entries,
references to actual usage of terms in The Photogrammetric Record (for example, the
Newby (2012) paper would appear as PR 27(139):360). In a few cases, important and
seminal references from other sources have also been included, such as Brown’s 1966 paper
on decentring distortion in Photogrammetric Engineering which is still widely quoted half a
century later.
Conclusions
Including new terms in this guide is a natural development from the second edition.
Many papers now refer to structure-from-motion software such as Bundler, or the Chinese
satellite ZY-3, that were not pertinent or current in the 2012 edition. However, many of the
entries are mere modifications to those in the second edition and are therefore attributable to
Paul Newby, as is the basic format. I hope the inclusions of further terms and more
extensive comments is helpful but that I have not made the guide too “encyclopaedic”
(despite its burgeoning size). I emphasise, once again, that comments are designed purely to
be indicative: they are not definitions.
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Simon Buckley, Clive Fraser, Derek Lichti, Paul Newby and
Stewart Walker for carefully looking at various drafts of this paper and making constructive
criticisms, including additional entries and certain deletions. The listing essentially follows
the format perfected in the two previous editions; thus, I am standing on the broad
shoulders of Paul Newby and Veronica Brown (who embraced the original concept of a
terminology guide). By extension, I wish to thank others who have also contributed either
to this new listing or the two previous editions: Jim Chandler, Ian Dowman, Armin Gruen,
Pierre Grussenmeyer, Eberhard G€ ulch, Hans-Gerd Maas, Tim McVicar, Laurent Polidori,
Grant Thomson and Dominik Vock.
references
Fisher, R. B., Breckon, T. P., Dawson-Howe, K., Fitzgibbon, A., Robertson, C., Trucco, E. and
Williams, C. K. I., 2014. Dictionary of Computer Vision and Image Processing. Second edition. Wiley,
Chichester, UK. 372 pages.
Granshaw, S. I., 2016. Editorial: Terminology dichotomies. Photogrammetric Record, 31(154): 116–120.
Newby, P. R. T., 2007. Technical terminology for the photogrammetric community. Photogrammetric Record,
22(118): 164–179.
Newby, P. R. T., 2012. Photogrammetric terminology: second edition. Photogrammetric Record, 27(139): 360–386.
© 2016 The Author

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TERMINOLOGY: THIRD EDITION (2016) LISTING

Notes on using the listing below:
(1) If you cannot find a multiple-word term, try the abbreviation formed from its initial letters. For example, for
“structure from motion” look up SfM.
(2) Terms in italics to be avoided. However, publications (e.g. The Photogrammetric Record) and mathematical
symbols (e.g. r) retain their italic form.
(3) Terms in bold have their own entries for cross-referencing (derived forms of words may be used). However,
matrix and vector symbols retain their conventional bold form, e.g. A and x.
(4) -adj means “hyphen when adjectival”, e.g. consumer grade, but consumer-grade camera.
(5) Cf. means “compare with”, implying a different (possibly opposite) term for comparison.
(6) CV indicates a term derived from computer vision.
(7) CV implies a term where its computer-vision and photogrammetric usage differ significantly.
(8) PR vv(ii):pp refers to a reference in The Photogrammetric Record, volume vv, issue ii, first page pp.
(9) US: primarily American (United States) usage.
(10) UK: primarily British usage. For non-technical terms The Photogrammetric Record will always use British
English (e.g. analogue, not US analog).
(11) The “ise” form (e.g. linearised) is used by The Photogrammetric Record, but “ize” (e.g. linearized) is
equally valid in UK English (with exceptions for a few words). US English only uses “ize”.
(12) Superscript numbers in brackets (e.g. contour(2)) refers to which entry (e.g. 2) in multiple usage.
Term/abbreviation Comment, context, full term, alternatives or comparisons (Cf.)

123D Catch Free SfM software from Autodesk. Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 29(145):30
1D One dimensional. A line (e.g. in image matching) or a function of time t. Cf. 2D, 25D, 3D, 4D.
2D Two dimensional. (x, y) for image coordinates; (X, Y) or (E, N) for planimetric coordinates (so no
vertical Z or H coordinate). Cf. 1D, 25D, 3D, 4D, coordinate systems, transformation.
25D Two-point-five dimensional. Surface where every point P(X, Y) can have only one Z value, making
explicit that the back of an object is not represented, e.g. range image. Cf. 3D.
3D Three dimensional. 1. GEOMATICS: Planimetry and height, (X, Y, Z). Cf. coordinate systems.
2. COMPUTER VISION: Truly 3D representation of an object where each (X, Y) value can have several Z
values. Cf. 1D, 2D, 25D, 3D model, 3D printing, 4D, transformation.
3D city modelling See city modelling.
3D imaging Techniques include holography, interferometry, lidar, moire imaging, radar (SAR), range imaging
(ToF), stereo photogrammetry, structured light, tomography, videogrammetry.
3D model, Spatial model formed, e.g. by point clouds from images, lidar and other 3D imaging techniques. Can be
3D modelling photo-realistic or not (DEM, mesh, NURBS, TIN, wireframe).
3D printing Used to construct a 3D model from successive layers under computer control. PR 29(146):241
4D Four dimensional, e.g. 3D plus time t: (X, Y, Z, t) for moving objects (e.g. videogrammetry, spaceborne)
and 4D SAR. See also homogeneous coordinates (kX, kY, kZ, k). Cf. 1D, 2D, 3D.
aberration Deviation of a camera lens from an ideal central perspective. Includes spherical and chromatic
aberrations, coma, astigmatism and lens distortion. PR 29(145):68; 26(135):339; 21(116):355
a posteriori Never hyphenated. Value after experimentation. Cf. a priori. PR 12(71):637
a priori Never hyphenated. Value before experimentation. Cf. a posteriori. PR 12(71):637
ABM See area-based matching.
abscissa x axis (horizontal axis) on a graph. Cf. ordinate.
absolute Part of exterior orientation applying a similarity transformation to a photogrammetric model. Uses 3
orientation rotations, 3 translations, scale. See also pose. PR 27(139):311; 16(94):617; 16(91):5
accuracy In so far as it can be known, the closeness of the result of a measurement, calculation or process to the
true, intended or standard value. Differs from precision due to systematic errors and gross errors. See
also error, ground truth, uncertainty. PR 28(141):96; 26(134):190; 13(77):645
ACM Association of Computing Machinery. Organises annual SIGGRAPH conferences and publishes various
well-known Communications and Transactions (e.g. Fischler and Bolles, 1981).
active contours CV. Commonly known as snakes. An energy-minimising spline guided by external constraint forces and
influenced by image forces that pull it towards features such as lines and edges. See also balloon snake,
contour(2). Cf. contour(1). PR 29(146):187; 26(134):154
© 2016 The Author


across-track Hyphen. Perpendicular to motion (aircraft or satellite). Also termed cross-track. See also lateral overlap
(sidelap). Cf. along-track. PR 29(145):10, 68; 27(139):272; 27(137):58; 20(109):27
additional Added to aerial triangulation (bundle adjustment) and self-calibration solutions to model systematic
parameters errors. May suffer from correlations, overparameterisation, projective coupling. PR 28(142):162; 28
(141):74, 86; 27(138):210; 27(137):58; 26(135):339; Brown (1971)
adjustment Fitting of overdetermined data to provide a unique solution, often using least squares and control
points. See also block adjustment, bundle adjustment. PR 26(136):422, 462
ADSxx Large-format aerial cameras from Leica Geosystems using linear arrays, with several variants, e.g.
ADS40, ADS80. Competitor to DMC and UltraCam. PR 28(142):145
aerial triangulation Also aerotriangulation. Historically, densifying sparse survey control points using aerial photos. Today,
determining exterior orientation (pose) of each image for absolute orientation of stereomodels using a
bundle adjustment. See also BINGO, BLUH, ORIMA, inBLOCK, direct georeferencing, DSO.
PR 28(142):145; 28(141):96; 27(139):311; 25(129):69, 76
aerial, airborne Sensor etc. in an aircraft or UAV (drone). See also ALS. Cf. spaceborne, satellite-borne.
aerial cameras Includes large-format and medium-format cameras from Intergraph, Leica Geosystems, Microsoft/
Vexcel, Optech, Phase One, Track’Air, Trimble, VisionMap, etc. UAVs may also use prosumer
cameras. See also ADSxx, DMC, UltraCam, RCxx, RMK, multi-camera.
affine Differential x, y (or X, Y, Z) scaling so shape is not preserved. Also affine distortion. See also bias
(transformation) compensation. Cf. transformation(1). PR 30(150):166; 29(146):167; 26(136):422; 26(135):307, 339
Airbus Responsible with CNES for Pleiades (1A, 1B) and SPOT (6, 7) satellites and constellation.
air/water interface Solidus (/), not en-rule (–). Cf. human–computer interface: reason for distinction unclear.
airspeed One word. Speed of an aircraft/UAV relative to the surrounding air. Cf. ground speed.
alias, aliasing The distortion of an image when too few pixels are used, e.g. smooth lines appear jagged. See also
downsampling, Nyquist frequency. Cf. anti-aliasing, upsampling. PR 19(105):22
along-track Hyphen. In direction of movement (aircraft or satellite). Cf. across-track. PR 27(137):58
ALOS Advanced Land Observation Satellite (Daichi) from JAXA. ALOS-1 (2006–11) had both 25 m optical
PRISM and SAR (PALSAR) sensors. ALOS-2 (2014–) has only PALSAR sensors. ALOS-3 (2016–) has
08 m PRISM-2. PR 27(139):311; 26(135):325; 23(123):255, 323
alpha compositing Combination of information about the transparencies of multiple images from alpha matting.
alpha matting, Image processing algorithm which handles occlusions caused by foreground objects in multiple images.
matte Used for image segmentation and extraction of the occluding objects based on their relative
transparencies and boundaries. See also alpha compositing, RGBA. PR 27(138):175
ALS airborne laser scanner, scanning. Cf. TLS; see also lidar, LAS. PR 28(142):196; 24(128):316
altitude 1. The vertical distance between an object (e.g. aircraft, spacecraft) and a reference datum (e.g. MSL or
land surface), where the object is not in direct contact with the reference datum.
2. Synonymous with elevation and sometimes with height (e.g. of ground surface).
anaglyph Separation of two images using mutually exclusive colour wavelengths (e.g. blue/red) to visualise a 3D
stereomodel. Historically used in certain analogue plotters. PR 29(146):206
analogue plotter, Former (to c.1980) instrument and method using film/glass imagery with mechanical and/or optical
photogrammetry restitution. Examples are Kern PG2, Wild A8/B8, Zeiss Stereoplanigraph C8. Cf. later analytical
photogrammetry and digital photogrammetry. Not analog (US). PR 16(91):93
analogue camera Pre-digital film camera. See also archival imagery. PR 24(128):332; 21(113):29; 20(109):27
analytical plotter, Former method (mid-1970s to 2000) using film/glass imagery but numerical restitution. See also Helava.
photogrammetry Cf. previous analogue photogrammetry and current digital photogrammetry. Examples are Kern
DSR11, Wild BC2, Zeiss Planicomp C100. PR 25(129):69; 17(97):7
anti-aliasing Hyphen. Smoothing where pixelation is otherwise apparent, e.g. in downsampling. Cf. aliasing.
APERO Open-source software for bundle adjustment produced by IGN France (producer of MicMac). Can
incorporate GCPs. Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 30(151):279; 29(146):144
aperture Of a lens: diameter of the entrance pupil (optical image of the physical diaphragm or aperture stop).
Strictly NOT (but erroneously used in common parlance as) the f-number, f/. Cf. relative aperture,
SAR. PR 29(147):317; 27(138):210; 25(130):197; 25(129):42
aperture stop In a camera, the diaphragm which limits the aperture and therefore the brightness of the image. See also
aperture, relative aperture. Cf. field stop.
approximate solution 1. Non-rigorous solution, e.g. if little ground relief or small photo tilt. See also rectification.
2. Initial parameters for rigorous iterative solutions. PR 26(133):58; 17(100):615; 7(38):157
Aqua NASA satellite (2002–), with MODIS sensor. Also called EOS PM-1. See also Terra.
© 2016 The Author


archival imagery, Use of historical imagery (often on film, e.g. RMK, RCxx) for long-term applications. PR 31(153):9;
photography 30(150):143; 29(145):108; 28(141):96; 26(133):111; 23(121):51; 14(80):207, 241
ArcGIS GIS software from Esri. Cf. photogrammetric software(6). PR 30(150):143; 26(135):307
area-based Radiometric similarity determination for image matching via cross-correlation (NCC) or least-squares
matching matching. PR 30(149):63; 29(146):144; 27(137):36; 22(119):238; 20(112):351
area measurement 20 mm 9 30 mm OR 600 mm2 are both acceptable, NOT 20 9 30 mm2. BUT 2008 9 2047 pixels. Note
that “10 metres square” is “100 square metres” (100 m2). See also CCD/CMOS sensor size.
ASPRS American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Official journal is PE&RS; also publishes
books, e.g. Manual of Photogrammetry (McGlone, 2013). Cf. CASM, CIG/ACSG, DGPF, ISPRS,
RSPSoc, SFPT. See also LAS. PR 29(145):108; 23(122):148; 22(119):203
ASTER Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer. US (NASA) 15-band 15 m
instrument with three separate Japanese infrared subsystems, onboard Terra satellite. See also CIR,
MODIS, NIR, SWIR, TIR, VNIR. PR 27(140):462; 27(137):58
atmospheric Ray deflection (refraction) at changes of density within the earth’s atmosphere. Particularly important
refraction with satellite-borne and airborne sensors and GNSS. PR 28(141):96; 23(123):255
attitude Orientation (rotation) of terrain slope or sensor system. See also pose, orbit-attitude model.
augmented reality real-world environment where the view of reality is supplemented by multimedia input (e.g. sound,
video, graphics, GNSS data). Cf. virtual reality. PR 28(141):27; 24(128):316
Australis Photogrammetric software(2) from Australian company Photometrix for 3D coordinate measurement and
camera calibration. Supports coded targets and 3D point clouds. See also iWitness. PR 28(143):261;
27(138):195; 24(128):332; 24(127):264; 22(119):226; 21(113):16
autocollimation Intersection of the optical axis of a camera with the image plane. In a perfect camera this will be identical
(point of) to the principal point. PR 21(113):16; 20(109):48
autocorrelation Cross correlation of a signal (image, SAR) at different epochs. PR 22(120):321; 22(119):238
AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer. Instrument providing multispectral image data from US
NOAA satellites. See also VHRR. PR 22(119):257
BAE Systems Current developer of SOCET SET/SOCKET GXP high-end photogrammetric software(1). See also
Helava Associates, LH Systems, Leica Geosystems.
balloon snake CV. Type of active contour model. See also snake. PR 29(146):187; 23(124):405
band Specific range of wavelengths in a given image. See also multi-band, spectral band.
base B. Line or distance between two camera stations. Cf. photo base, model base. PR 25(130):140
base station Fixed station to provide GNSS corrections. See also DGPS, DGNSS, GPS, RTK. PR 30(150):143
base-to-distance Equivalent of base-to-height ratio for terrestrial applications. Indicative of geometry and precision in
ratio direction of camera axes. PR 29(145):30; 27(138):195; 23(121):6; 22(118):121
base-to-height B:H ratio (also B/H ratio). Indicative of intersection geometry and heighting precision.
ratio PR 30(150):211; 30(149):63. Occasionally height-to-base ratio (e.g. PR 29(148):417).
Bayes theorem, Capital “B”. Probability of an event from concatenated probabilities of component causes. See also
estimation machine learning, segmentation. PR 31(153):29; 30(150):187; 25(132):356; 23(122):170
beamsplitter One word. Device separating a beam into two, e.g. in interferometry. PR 28(142):145
BeiDou-2 Chinese GNSS (also Compass), operational from c.2020. See also Galileo, GLONASS, GPS.
bench mark, 1. GEOMATICS: Two words in both UK and US English. Permanent levelling (height) mark.
benchmark 2. GENERAL: One word. Reference point, data or criteria, e.g. benchmark tests.
bias compensation Applying an affine (zero order) transformation with satellite imagery to correct for systematic errors in
RPCs when using an RFM. PR 27(137):58; 22(120):309; 20(112):366
bilinear constraint, Multiview constraint with two photos, as in epipolar constraint or coplanarity condition. Cf.
interpolation multilinear, trilinear constraint, quadlinear constraint. PR 27(137):74
BIM building information modelling (model). Integration of 3D models or point clouds with parametric tools,
relationships and construction attributes using specialist software. See also CAD. Cf. city modelling,
LoD. PR 30(152):339; 27(139):330; 25(132):339; 20(111):285
binary image Monochrome image where each pixel has only two values (black or white; 1 or 0) depending on the
original pixel intensity being above or below a threshold. PR 30(150):187; 29(145):89
binary logic Results have only two possibilities (true or false) as opposed to a range of values in fuzzy logic.
BINGO Bundle adjustment program developed by Kruck (Germany). Used in SOCET SET (not GXP),
Geomatica(1), etc. Cf. BLUH, inBLOCK, ORIMA, SSBA. PR 26(134):229; 20(111):241
binocular Relating to two eyes or images, with the possibility of providing a stereoscopic effect (though not
necessarily). Cf. monocular, multiview, trinocular. PR 3(16):357
© 2016 The Author


BIPM Bureau international des poids et mesures. International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Ensures
uniformity of SI units. See also GUM, ISO, JCGM, NSSDA, OGC, VIM.
bit depth Numerical value of radiometric resolution, e.g. 0–255 for an 8-bit image. PR 30(149):100
black and white -adj (e.g. black-and-white image). See also monochrome, panchromatic. PR 29(148):402
blimp Non-rigid airship that can be used as a UAV/UAS. Cf. drone. PR 26(136):400
blob CV. Region of interest in image matching. Adjacent pixels that are lighter/darker than surroundings. May
use ORB, SIFT, SURF. See also ABM, patches. PR 30(150):166; 29(147):337
block A large group of component photographs (images) to cover the ground or an object, composed of strips
that overlap. See also aerial triangulation, block adjustment, CMVS, UAV.
block adjustment Adjustment of a block of photography to control points. See also aerial triangulation, bundle
adjustment, strip adjustment. PR 29(148):383; 29(145):68; 28(143):312; 28(142):162
block triangulation Today implies a bundle block adjustment. See also aerial triangulation, multiview stereo.
BLUH Bundle adjustment software (University of Hannover). See also self-calibration. Cf. BINGO, ORIMA,
inBLOCK, SSBA. PR 29(146):224; 28(144):362; 20(111):274
blur Measure of sharpness in an image, due to motion, etc. See also IMC, FMC. PR 29(148):434
bootstrap, One word. Statistical resampling technique that allows estimation of the sampling distribution of a statistic.
bootstrapping PR 28(142):196; 28(142):211; 23(121):36; 23(121):36
boresight One word. Compounds are two words, e.g. boresight alignment. Discrepancy (offsets) between axes of
(alignment, angle, different instruments, e.g. aerial photo or ALS with an IMU or INS. See also direct georeferencing,
calibration) DSO, ISO, mobile mapping. PR 29(148):383; 28(142):145; 27(139):272
BRDF bidirectional reflectance distribution function. PR 29(146):144; 26(134):229
breakline One word. An enforced edge (e.g. change of slope) in a TIN. PR 29(146):144; 28(142):196
B-spline basis spline. Used to fit smoothing curves to datasets. See also NURBS, snake. PR 30(152):339
bundle adjustment, Method of block triangulation or multiview adjustment based on the collinearity equations, involving
bundle block all images simultaneously. Can incorporate control points or direct georeferencing (GNSS/IMU data).
adjustment Programs include BINGO, BLUH, inBLOCK, ORIMA, SSBA as well as components of other
photogrammetry software(1–6). See also aerial triangulation, block adjustment, additional
parameters, Levenberg–Marquardt. Also used in image-matching and SfM. PR 30(149):63; 28
(144):396; 28(142):162; 28(141):96; 26(135):339
Bundler Basic SfM software using a simple camera model. GCPs not supported. Produces sparse point clouds
using a bundle adjustment; dense point clouds generated using, e.g. CMVS, PMVS.
Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 30(151):279; 29(146):167; 29(145):30; 25(132):356
CAD computer-aided design. One hyphen. Uses a GUI and NURBS. Example software includes AutoCAD by
Autodesk and MicroStation by Bentley Systems. PR 29(147):317; 28(144):342
cadastral, cadastre Establishment of property boundaries. Cf. topographic. PR 27(137):29; 24(125):23, 23(124):372
calibrated focal Mainly US. Symbol c or f. Identical to principal distance thus a specific value (e.g. 5023 mm). Cf. focal
length length (e.g. 50 mm). PR 30(150):211; 29(147):297; 29(146):167; 29(145):108
camera calibration CV. Determination of the inner (interior) orientation and lens distortion parameters of a camera. See
also goniometer, plumb line, self-calibration. PR 30(149):82; 29(148):434; 28(141):27; 26(135):339
camera constant Avoid if possible; principal distance preferred (contrary to German-language usage) because not, in
general, constant. See also calibrated focal length, focal length.
camera-to-object Two hyphens. General term, accommodating close range photogrammetry. Equivalent of flying height
distance in aerial photography. PR 29(148):434; 29(146):241, 434; 26(135):339
camera station Perspective centre position in object space where a photograph is exposed. Object coordinates X0, Y0,
Z0. PR 30(150):227; 29(147):278; 27(138):210; 26(135):339; 26(133):111
Canny operator, CV. First modern edge detector, used for feature extraction. See also corner detector, interest point.
edge detector PR 30(151):263; 28(143):240; 28(141):7; 27(139):293; 20(112):366; Canny (1986)
canonical CV. Computer-vision term for normal case where the camera employs parallel axes. See also near-
configuration vertical photograph. Cf. oblique photograph, convergent imagery. PR 29(146):241
Cartesian Upper case “C” (after French scientist Rene Descartes). 2D (x, y) or 3D (X, Y, Z) positions in Euclidean
coordinates space. Cf. coordinate systems.
cartography Geomatics discipline of map design and production. Includes topographic and thematic maps.
Cartosat Series of Indian IRS mapping satellites. Cartosat-1 (formerly IRS-P5) (25 m, 2005–), -2
(2007–), -2A and -2B (2008–) have PAN sensors. Cartosat-3 launch expected 2018 with
PAN, MSS and hyperspectral (SWIR) sensors. See also ISRO. PR 27(137):58;
23(123):290, 305
© 2016 The Author


CASM Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping. See also CNSA, NASG. Cf. ASPRS, CIG/ACSG, DGPF,
ISPRS, RSPSoc, SFPT.
CCD charge-coupled device. One hyphen. Detector in digital cameras and satellite pushbroom systems. Cf.
CMOS. See also CCD/CMOS sensor size. PR 29(145):68; 22(119):203
CCD/CMOS Should be given in the form 718 mm 9 532 mm. If using the (misleading) “type” designation
sensor size (e.g. 1/18″), also use the actual sensor size above. See also area measure, CCD, CMOS.
CD-ROM compact disk – read-only memory; also disc. Hyphen in abbreviation but en-rule – in full term.
CE, CE90, CE95 Circular error (2D) (with 90%, 95% probability). Substitute for error ellipse. RMSE, standard deviation,
standard error preferred. Cf. LE. PR 30(150):211; 27(139):293; 20(112):366
central perspective Ideal camera model where light rays pass from the object point through the perspective centre to the
(transformation) image point in a straight line. See also pinhole image. PR 29(147):278; 21(115):198
centroid Use in all geometrical contexts; NOT centre of gravity, centre of mass or barycentre unless mass is in fact
involved. PR 29(148):417; 29(147):337; 29(145):89; 24(126):171; 23(121):19
change detection Changes over time (map, image, ground). See also temporal resolution. PR 26(136):384
check point Point whose coordinates are known, used to verify (check) the results of photogrammetric or other survey
work, but not to provide the initial spatial reference for that work. May not be error-free, but an order
of accuracy higher. Used to determine RMSE. See also ground truth. Cf. control point, pass point, tie
point. PR 30(150):143; 30(149):63; 29(148):383
chirality condition CV. Object points must be IN FRONT of a camera to be valid. PR 28(144):396
CIG/ACSG Canadian Institute of Geomatics/Association Canadienne des Sciences Geomatiques. Publishes
Geomatica(2). Cf. ASPRS, CASM, DGPF, ISPRS, RSPSoc, SFPT.
CIPA 1. Comite Internationale de Photogrammetrie Architecturale, the International Committee for
Documentation of Cultural Heritage, established by ICOMOS in collaboration with ISPRS.
2. Camera & Imaging Products Association, responsible for Exif standard. PR 28(144):436
CIR colour infrared. Cf. false colour, infrared, NIR, RGBN, SWIR, TIR, VNIR. PR 23(124):372
CityGML 3D city modelling GML with 5 LoD adopted by OGC and ISO. PR 27(137):29; 23(124):372
city modelling, 3D model of an urban area. Uses different LoD, e.g. using CityGML. May use 80% forward overlap.
city models Cf. BIM. PR 26(135):361; 26(134):190; 23(124):372; 20(111):285; 19(108):360
client–server En-rule preferred, NOT hyphen - NOR slash or solidus /. Clients are PCs which communicate with server
architecture computers, e.g. over the Internet, for handling large datasets. PR 24(127):280
clinometry Measurement of slope (geomatics) or strata inclination (geology). In photogrammetry, deriving elevation
data from a single image on the basis of shading. Also inclinometer. PR 26(133):111
close range By historic convention, three words, no hyphen; but close-range applications (-adj). Preferred term to non-
photogrammetry topographic photogrammetry or terrestrial. Cf. aerial, airborne, spaceborne.
cluster, Grouping of data with similar properties, e.g. using Hough transform, k-means and fuzzy c-means. See
clustering also CMVS, superpixel. Cf. segmentation. PR 30(150):166; 28(144):342; 27(139):330; 27(138):137;
25(129):5; 23(122):208
CMOS complementary metal oxide semiconductor. Detector in some digital cameras and other devices. See also
CCD/CMOS sensor size. Cf. CCD. PR 29(147):278; 28(144):375; 22(119):203
CMM coordinate measurement machine. PR 29(148):417; 27(139):253; 26(135):293; 23(122):194
CMVS Clustering Views for Multi-view Stereo. Extension of PMVS for managing the generation of point clouds
from large blocks of input imagery. See also SfM. PR 30(151):279; 29(145):30
CMY, CMYK Cyan/magenta/yellow; cyan/magenta/yellow/black. Subtractive colour models. Cf. RGB, HSI.
CNES Centre national d’etudes spatiales (National Centre for Space Studies). French organisation responsible for
Pleiades and some SPOT satellites. See also Airbus. Cf. CNSA, DLR, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, NASA.
CNSA China National Space Administration. Launched ZY-3. Cf. CNES, DLR, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, NASA.
coangularity Angles at the perspective centre (nodes) between two points in the object space, model space and
image space are the same. Cf. collinearity. PR 17(100):619
coded targets Targets that can be automatically identified by suitable software. See also retrotarget, signalise.
PR 30(152):387; 30(150):227; 29(147):337; 26(133):73; 21(116):340, 355
collinear, NOT colinear (US) NOR co-linear. Three or more points in the same straight line, as used in the
collinearity collinearity equations. Also non-collinear. Cf. coangularity, multilinear. PR 21(114):110
collinearity Equations relating image coordinates to perspective centre coordinates and object (or model)
equations coordinates, used, e.g. in a bundle adjustment. PR 30(149):63; 28(143):293; 26(133):7
collineation Linear mapping using homogeneous coordinates in projective space. PR 7(37):39
collocation Least squares interpolation technique used in physical geodesy. PR 13(77):645; 11(63):303
© 2016 The Author


combined model Mixed model of both observation equations and condition equations. Solves overdetermined systems
f(x, l) = 0 (unknowns x; observations l) providing a unique least squares adjustment.
commission error Incorrect inclusion of data (false positive). Cf. omission error. PR 31(153):29; 27(138):137
comparator (Historic) instrument for measuring photo coordinates. PR 26(133):91; 4(21):194; 1(2):35
Compass Chinese GNSS (BeiDou-2), planned to be operational from 2020. See also GPS, GLONASS.
computer vision Processing of image data, distinguished from, e.g. machine vision and photogrammetry by an emphasis
on underlying theories and theoretical (as opposed to commercially exploitable) algorithms.
PR 30(149):3; 29(146):144, 167; 29(145):30; 27(137):74; 25(130):140
concatenation A series of (multiple) operations, such as with transformations or rotations, e.g. R = RxRφRj.
condition equations Overdetermined equations relating observations where unknowns do not appear in the functional model.
Unique solution via normal equations. Cf. observation equations, combined model.
conflation Combining various multisource datasets; involves data integration and/or data fusion; also merging
semantic information. See also interoperability, registration. PR 28(142):130
conformal Transformation in which shape is preserved. See also Helmert transformation, similarity
transformation transformation. Cf. affine transformation. PR 29(145):30; 20(109):48
conjugate point, Image points (or small region) corresponding to the same object point (or region) on two or more images.
conjugate region See also homologue, corresponding ray. PR 30(150):166, 187; 27(137):74
constellation Two or more satellites that operate together, e.g. COSMO-SkyMed; Pleiades/SPOT 6/7; RADARSAT;
RapidEye; Sentinel; TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X/PAZ. See also GNSS.
consumer grade -adj. Non-specialist camera and other (e.g. GNSS, IMU) systems. Often exhibits greater lens distortion,
(camera etc.) instability and other systematic errors compared with a metric camera. See also dome effect, off-the-
shelf camera, COTS, non-metric camera. Cf. large-format, medium-format, prosumer.
PR 30(149):63; 26(133):16; 23(121):6; 22(118):121; 22(117):10
continuous wave CW. Electromagnetic wave with a constant amplitude and frequency, used by SAR and some laser
scanners. See also phase shift. Cf. ToF, triangulation. PR 27(138):155; 21(115):269
contour 1. GEOMATICS: Level line (constant orthometric height) above a reference surface, often MSL.
2. COMPUTER VISION: Object’s outline in an image. See also active contour, snake, silhouette.
control Geometrical information (often point coordinates) for spatial referencing of photogrammetric work. At the
model level includes pass points and tie points from a block adjustment. See also control point,
georeferencing, ground control, reference point. Cf. check point, direct georeferencing, DSO,
geolocation. PR 31(153):88; 28(142):130; 26(135):307
control point Point with known, directly measured or surveyed coordinates which enables spatial referencing and
adjustment of photogrammetric work. In topographic applications, often ground control point. See
also control. Cf. check point, pass point, tie point. PR 30(149):63; 29(145):10
convergent Images with camera axes intentionally non-parallel, often in close range photogrammetry, SfM and
imagery urban imagery. See also oblique photograph. Cf. vertical photograph, normal case, parallel axes,
canonical configuration. PR 31(153):9; 29(148):417; 26(133):16; 23(121):6
convolution Function involving the product of two functions (one modified). Often used for image degradation and
blur using a PSF. PR 30(149):100; 28(141):7; 27(138):155; 26(136):488
coordinate, Noun and verb, no hyphen. NOT co-ordinate. PR 27(139):253; 27(138):137; 26(136):384
coordinates, 1. 2D COORDINATES: Image coordinates or photo coordinates (x, y); line–sample (l, s) or row–column
coordinate systems (r, c); polar coordinates (r, h). Also planimetric coordinates (X, Y), (E, N), (φ, k).
2. 3D CARTESIAN COORDINATES: Ground coordinates (E, N, H); model coordinates (x, y, z); object
coordinates (X, Y, Z). IMU system: north-east-down. See also world coordinates.
3. 3D GEOGRAPHICAL (GEODETIC) COORDINATES: Latitude, longitude, elevation (φ, k, H). See also ECEF,
ECI, ETRS89, ICR, ITRF, WGS 84 and ellipsoid, geoid, orthometric height.
4. 4D COORDINATES: (X, Y, Z, t); homogeneous coordinates (kX, kY, kZ, k) or (x, y, z, w).
coplanarity, The condition that the two conjugate image rays from a common model point and the camera base lie in the same
coplanarity epipolar plane, e.g. used in relative orientation. Can be formulated as x0 TBx = 0 where B contains 5 of the
condition independent elements of the two camera rotations and model base. Later developed by computer vision as the
essential matrix and fundamental matrix. See also bilinear, dual quaternion. Cf. collinearity, coangularity.
PR 30(151):300; 28(143):293; 27(137):74; 26(133):32; 25(130):159; 23(121):90; 21(115):211; 20(109):27
co-polarisation Hyphen. Transmitted and received SAR polarisations identical (HH, VV). Cf. cross polarisation.
co-registration Hyphen. Registration of two different data sources. PR 30(149):63; 27(140):462; 21(115):232
corner, CV. Common type of interest point (keypoint). See also Harris detector, edge, blobs, primitive, SIFT.
corner detector PR 30(150):166; 28(141):7, 166; 25(129):24; 22(120):321
© 2016 The Author


correlation, Lack of independence between parameters. Can be determined by a variance–covariance matrix. See
correlated also autocorrelation, correlation coefficient, covariance, cross correlation, NCC, overparameterised,
projective coupling. PR 30(150):143; 30(149):30; 28(141):86; 29(147):337
correlation A scalar value between 0 (no correlation) and 1 (full correlation). Symbol q. High values (e.g. > 08)
coefficient imply certain linear dependence (e.g. between additional parameters) and overparameterisation. Also
cross-correlation coefficient. PR 30(150):143; 28(144):362
corresponding ray A ray to an image from the same object point as a ray to another image. See also conjugate point,
homologue, want of correspondence, y parallax. PR 29(147):278
COSMO-SkyMed Constellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation. Four Italian SAR satellites:
COSMO-1 (2007–), -2 (2007–), -3 (2008–), -4 (2010–). Three SAR imaging modes. Part of Franco-
Italian ORFEO collaboration. PR 29(146):224; 27(137):94; 26(135):325
cost function CV. Equation for quantifying a parameter to be minimised, optimised (e.g. via a voting scheme). Cf. least
squares (but a wider concept). PR 30(152):363; 29(147):317; 29(146):187; 27(137):8
COTS commercial off-the-shelf; two hyphens. See also off-the-shelf. PR 23(123):290; 22(120):309
covariance, Degree of correlation between two parameters. See also overparameterisation and variance–covariance
covariance matrix matrix. PR 30(151):300; 29(147):278; 26(135):339; 13(77):645; 12(71):637
coverage factor In uncertainty, multiplier from standard uncertainty to expanded uncertainty. JCGM (2008).
CPT CV. central projection transformation. Feature-extraction method which computes a 1D feature vector
from an image. PR 30(150):187
cross correlation -adj. Similarity of two entities. Method of area-based (intensity-based) matching for image patches. See
also autocorrelation, NCC, PMVS. PR 29(146):144; 27(137):36; 25(132):356
cross polarisation Transmitted and received SAR polarisations are orthogonal (e.g. HV, VH). Cf. co-polarisation.
cross ratio -adj. In projective geometry ratio of distances on an image plane and object plane is a constant.
cross section -adj. 2D section through a 3D object. See also tomography. PR 29(148):402; 28(142):211
cross strip -adj. Photos aligned orthogonally to main direction of strips in a block. See also tie strip.
crowdsourcing One word. Collection of large amounts of information by a group (crowd) to gain a more precise and
complete overview of a topic or event than is possible by one individual.
cylindrical Panoramic view covering 360° horizontally but where the vertical extent is more limited than in a
panorama spherical panorama. See also image stitching.
damping Modification to Gauss–Newton optimisation of least squares adjustment. PR 28(144):396
data Treat as a collective noun taking a singular verb. If the context demands a plural, try datasets.
database One word. Computer infrastructure (often relational) that uses datasets. See also metadata.
data capture, data -adj. Two words. Data fusion involves merging information from, e.g. multisource imagery that requires
cloud, data fusion registration. PR 30(151):263; 29(145):10; 26(136):462
data mining Extraction of useful information from large datasets. See also deep learning, machine learning.
dataset One word. Simply a collection of data. May contain metadata and be used in a database.
data snooping Method of gross error or outlier detection. Cf. robust estimation. PR 28(144):362; 25(132):356
datum The underlying geometrical information providing the spatial reference frame in which coordinates are
computed; plural datums. Also height datum, coordinate datum. See WGS 84, ETRS89, ITRF. Cf.
data. PR 29(147):317; 28(142):145; 28(141):74; 26(135):339
datum problem, Singular (rank-deficient) solutions that may demand a free network using inner constraints (e.g. SfM
datum defect with no control points). In 3D space, 3 translations, 3 rotations and a scale factor define the
coordinate datum. PR 28(144):362; 28(141):78; 20(111):241; 13(77):645
dB decibel. Logarithmic ratio scale for measuring, e.g. noise, PSNR, signal-to-noise ratio.
decentring Symbolised as p1, p2 (also P1, P2). Avoid decentering (US). Now also sometimes decentric. Misalignment
distortion (lens) of lens elements causing both tangential distortion and radial distortion. See also camera calibration,
self-calibration. PR 28(141):86; 27(138):210; Brown (1966).
deep learning CV. Branch of machine learning where efficient algorithms are used for hierarchical feature extraction.
See also data mining. PR 30(150):187
degree Angular measure; symbol ° (NOT deg. or deg). 360° = 400g = 2p rad. Cf. gon, radian.
Delaunay Mathematically equivalent to Thiessen, Dirichlet, Voronoi and other processes producing TINs (mesh)
triangulation from point clouds. See also triangulation. PR 28(142):211; 27(139):253, 293, 330
DEM digital elevation model (NOT Dem NOR dem). All of the D*M entries are close equivalents.
In line with elevation as the vertical distance between the ground surface and a reference datum (thus
NOT including trees, buildings, etc.), DEM is the preferred generic term. Cf. DGM, DHM, DSM,
DTM, nDSM. PR 30(150):143; 29(148):383; 28(144):362; 20(145):49
© 2016 The Author


demosaicking Process needed to reconstruct a full colour image from the colour channels of a digital sensor. Cf.
(unrelated) mosaicking. PR 25(131):283
denoising Removal of unwanted noise in an image. See also wavelet transform. PR 26(134):171
dense point cloud Point cloud with a huge number of close X, Y, Z data points. Also dense image matching.
depth map CV. In image space, pixel values representing distance from the sensor. See also range image. Cf. 3D
point cloud in object space. PR 29(146):144, 241
depth of field Hyphens when adjectival. In object space for a fixed sensor, the range of camera-to-object distances that
appear in sharp focus. Cf. depth of focus. PR 29(147):317; 27(138):210
depth of focus Hyphens when adjectival. In image space for a fixed object, the range of principal distances or image
planes where the image appears in sharp focus. Cf. depth of field. PR 27(138):210
DFVLR Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt f€ur Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Research and Development
Institute for Air and Space Travel). From 1989 DLR. PR 11(66):667
DGM digital ground model. Frequent historically, e.g. in civil engineering applications; now generally
unnecessary because identical to DEM. May still be preferred when discussing a translation from the
German digitales Gel€andemodell. Cf. DEM, DHM, DSM, DTM, nDSM.
DGPF Deutsche Gesellschaft f€ur Photogrammetrie, Fernerkundung und Geoinformation (German Society for
Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation). Official journal is PFG. Cf. ASPRS, CIG/
ACSG, CASM, ISPRS, RSPSoc, SFPT. PR 28(142):145; 27(137):8
DGPS, DGNSS differential GPS, GNSS. NOT dGPS, dGNSS. GPS (GNSS) using fixed base station(s) and a rover, e.g.
in mobile mapping, RTK. PR 30(150):143; 28(143):240; 28(141):96
DHM digital height model. Generally unnecessary because identical to DEM and inconsistent with height(1).
May be preferred when, for example, translated from the German digitales H€ohenmodell (as in
swisstopo’s DHM25). Cf. DEM, DGM, DSM, DTM, nDSM.
diapositive Positive photograph on film or glass, used, e.g. in archival photogrammetry. PR 28(141):96
differential Same as orthorectification. Correction for both tilt in an aerial image and ground relief to form an ortho-
rectification image. Cf. rectification (no relief correction). PR 29(145):49; 28(141):27
digital camera Modern camera using CCD or CMOS detectors. Specialist large-format and medium-format camera
manufacturers include Hexagon/Leica Geosystems; Microsoft/Vexcel Imaging; Optech, Phase One,
Track’Air, Trimble, VisionMap. Close range photogrammetry and UAVs also use DSLR, COTS
and prosumer cameras. Cf. analogue camera.
digital Current method (mid-1990s on) using digital imagery and restitution. Cf. former analytical
photogrammetry photogrammetry, analogue photogrammetry. See also DPW. PR 30(150):143; 13(77):765
DigitalGlobe Upper and lower case. US owner of IKONOS, QuickBird and WorldView high-resolution imaging
satellites. Merged with GeoEye in 2013. PR 27(137):58; 28(144):362; 27(137):58
DInSAR differential InSAR (differential interferometric SAR). Not dinsar, DINSAR nor dinSAR. Detects ground
movement during the time between two SAR acquisitions, e.g. landslide, earthquake.
direct Direct measurement of the pose (position, rotation) of a sensor, generally using a GNSS/IMU, rather than
georeferencing indirectly via ground control points. May obviate the need for aerial triangulation. See also DSO,
georeferencing, ISO(2), mobile mapping. PR 30(150):211; 30(149):63; 29(148):383; 28(144):416;
28(142):130; 23(124):372; 23(123):255, 323; 23(121):69
DLR Deutsches Zentrum f€ur Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center). Before 1989 DFVLR. Launched
TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X. Cf. CNES, CNSA, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, NASA.
DLT direct linear transformation. 11-parameter (5 interior orientation and 6 exterior orientation) projective
transformation for an uncalibrated camera, requiring 6 3D control points. See also homography.
PR 27(137):58; 21(115):211; 17(100):619; Abdel-Aziz and Karara (1971)
DMC Intergraph (formerly Z/I Imaging) (large-format) aerial cameras. Competitor to UltraCam, ADSxx.
See also Hexagon Group, RCxx, RMK. PR 26(134):229; 23(124):353; 22(119):203
DOM digital orthophotomap. PR 29(148):383; 27(137):94; 26(134):190
dome effect Systematic error in a DEM due to unmodelled lens distortion in prosumer or consumer-grade
cameras. PR 30(151):279; 27(137):111; 26(133):16; 25(131):240; 23(121):6; 22(118):121
dominant scatterer In SAR imagery, a resolution cell (pixel) containing a primary signal, not a complex speckle response.
See also InSAR. Cf. scatterer, persistent scatterer, PSInSAR. PR 21(113):61
Doppler, Capital “D”. 1. Change in frequency of an electromagnetic wave due to relative movement and used, e.g.
Doppler shift, in SAR. PR 28(143):312; 26(135):325; 21(113):61. 2. Historic satellite positioning systems (GNSS), e.g.
range-Doppler Transit/NAVSTAR, based on Doppler principle. PR 4(24):443
downsampling One word. In signal processing, reducing the sampling rate from the original signal, which requires anti-
aliasing. See also aliasing, image pyramid. Cf. upsampling. PR 26(134):171
© 2016 The Author


DPW digital photogrammetric workstation. Former hardware running photogrammetric software(1–3) (e.g.
DPW750 from BAE Systems running SOCKET SET). Use now waning as computer hardware and
software diversify. Cf. previous analytical plotter and analogue plotter.
drone Colloquial term for UAV. See also blimp, RPAS, RPV, sUAS, UAS, UVS.
DSLR digital single-lens reflex. Camera with a CCD or CMOS detector. See also COTS, MILC, non-metric
camera, off-the-shelf camera, prosumer, SLR. 27(139):253; 27(138):195, 210
DSM digital surface model. Refers to uppermost surface of both topography and features (buildings, vegetation,
etc.) as seen on an aerial/satellite image or first-return pulse from a laser scanner. German digitales
Oberfl€achenmodell; French modele numerique de surface. Cf. DEM, DHM, DGM, DTM, nDSM, point
cloud. PR 29(146):144; 29(145):49; 27(139):293
DSO direct sensor orientation. Direct determination of the exterior orientation (pose) of a sensor (camera,
lidar, SAR, etc.), using GNSS and IMU rather than via, e.g. block triangulation. See also boresight,
direct georeferencing, ISO, RPC. PR 30(149):63; 20(111):274
DTM digital terrain model. Strictly refers only to the bare terrain (topography), after eliminating heights of
buildings, trees, etc. and thus identical to DEM. The use of “terrain” means a DTM is easily confused
with both DEM and DSM, so best avoided. However, DTM translates more consistently from the
German digitales Gel€andemodell and the French modele numerique de terrain. Cf. also DGM, DHM,
nDSM. 27(137):36; 25(132):382; 23(124):387; 23(122):170
dual quaternion An ordered pair of quaternions containing eight real parameters that can be used in relative orientation
and space resection. Cf. Euler angles. PR 30(151):300
EARSeL European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (NOT EARSEL nor Earsel).
earth (the) All lower case, NOT Earth in normal photogrammetric contexts. See also ECEF, ECI.
easting Object coordinate in east–west or X direction. Symbol E as in (E, N, H). Cf. northing.
ECEF, ECI earth-centred earth-fixed, earth-centred inertial coordinates. See also ETRS89, ITRF, WGS 84.
edge, CV. Common type of interest operator. Edges can be classified as concave, convex or tangential. See
edge detector also blobs, Canny edge detector, corners, Harris detector, image matching, primitive.
PR 31(153):29; 28(143):240; 28(141):7
edgel edge element. Pixels with edge-like features. Cf. groundel, pixel, surfel, voxel.
EDM electromagnetic distance measurement (strictly NOT electronic). Component of a total station.
egomotion CV. The motion of a sensor (camera or eye) within a scene or environment.
eigenvalue, An eigenvector v of a square matrix A satisfies Av = kv where scalar k is an eigenvalue of A. Aligns
eigenvector with principal data orientation. Applications include covariance matrix, error ellipses, interest points,
PCA. PR 30(149):46; 29(147):317; 28(144):342; 28(142):162; 20(111):218
element 1. PICTURE ELEMENT: See pixel. Also edgel, groundel, surfel, voxel.
2. LENS ELEMENT: Single component of a compound lens. See also decentring distortion.
3. MATRIX ELEMENT: The individual numbers or symbols in a matrix or vector. Symbol, e.g. m3,5 for
element in 3rd row, 5th column of matrix M.
elevation The vertical distance between a point (normally on the land surface) and a reference surface, usually
MSL. See also altitude, DEM, DTM, ellipsoid height, height, orthometric height.
ellipsoid Also spheroid. Regular earth reference surface used by, e.g. ETRS89, ITRF, WGS 84 for GNSS, and
latitude, longitude in geodesy and cartography. Cf. coordinate systems, geoid.
ellipsoid height Elevation relative to an ellipsoid rather than the usual height (orthometric height) above MSL.
endlap Mainly US. Along-track overlap in direction of flight/orbit. Identical to forward overlap and fore-and-
aft overlap. Cf. sidelap, lateral overlap. PR 26(134):190; 24(126):139
end user Two words. Someone who uses the final product, rather than an intermediary. PR 27(139):272
E, N, H easting, northing, height. 3D object coordinates that are georeferenced. Cf. X, Y, Z.
ENVI Geospatial software by Exelis (part of Harris) with photogrammetric software(6) components.
Envisat Satellite from ESA (2002–12) using SAR. Predecessor was ERS; successor is Sentinel-1.
PR 28(143):312; 27(137):94
Entropy Information content of a random variable, as used in Harris detector. PR 30(150):166
EO 1. REMOTE SENSING: earth observation. 2. PHOTOGRAMMETRY: exterior orientation.
EOS Earth Observing System. NASA’s coordinated series of satellites for long-term global observation.
Includes Aqua, ICESat, Landsat, RADARSAT, SRTM, Terra. Not to be confused with Canon EOS
DSLR cameras or Eos Systems (producer of PhotoModeler).
ephemeris Plural ephemerides. Table/dataset of positions of astronomical bodies or satellites over time.
© 2016 The Author


epipolar constraint, For any point in one image, the possible image matching points in the second stereo-image must lie
epipolar geometry along the epipolar line, thus reducing the search to 1D. See also bilinear. Cf. trilinear, quadlinear.
PR 30(150):166; 28(143):240; 27(139):293; 27(137):36; 20(109):27
epipolar line Intersection of the epipolar plane with a given image plane. PR 28(143):293
epipolar plane Plane through a model (object) point and two camera perspective centres. PR 28(143):293
epoch 1. GNSS: The instant of time at which an individual GNSS observation is made (e.g. in J2000).
2. GENERAL: Usages may range from a period of time in its entirety to the instant at which a distinctive
period of time begins. PR 30(150):143; 26(136):384, 422, 439
ERDAS, ERDAS IMAGINE is geospatial software. In 2001 Leica Geosystems acquired ERDAS and since 2010
ERDAS has been part of Intergraph (Hexagon Group). Software has links to ArcGIS. Cf. photogrammetric
IMAGINE software(6). PR 30(150):153; 29(146):167; 16(93):519
EROS Earth Remote Observation System. Israeli commercial satellites with PAN camera. EROS-A (2000–15)
2 m GSD, -B (2006–) 07 m, -C (2016–) 05 m. PR 27(137):58
error Difference between a measurement and its (usually unknown) true value. Normally subdivided into
random errors, systematic errors and gross errors. See also accuracy. PR 12(71):637
error ellipse, Ellipse (2D) or ellipsoid (3D) used to visually depict errors or residuals at representative points. See also
error ellipsoid accuracy, error, precision. Cf. (unrelated earth) ellipsoid, CE. PR 31(153):71; 28(142):178, 196, 211;
25(129):24; 24(127):246; 22(117):22; 20(111):205
error theory, Traditional approach to accuracy in surveying and geomatics, including photogrammetry, characterised
theory of errors by the use of Gaussian statistics and the analysis, elimination or minimisation of sources of error. Cf.
uncertainty approach promoted by ISO, JCGM and BIPM. See also gross error, least squares,
precision, maximum likelihood, random error, RMSE, standard deviation, standard error,
stochastic, systematic error, variance. PR 12(71):637
error-free Hyphen when used adjectivally; otherwise “free of error” preferred. See also check point.
ERS European Remote Sensing satellites from ESA. ERS-1 (1991–2000) and ERS-2 (1995–2011). Uses SAR;
successor was Envisat. PR 28(143):312; 27(137):94; 26(135):325; 21(114):124
ESA European Space Agency. Multi-national organisation. Satellites include Envisat, ERS, Galileo, Sentinel.
Cf. CNSA, DLR, ESA, ISRO, JAXA, NASA. PR 23(123):275
Esri Environmental Systems Research Institute. US producer of ArcGIS software. Not ESRI.
essential matrix CV. A special case of the fundamental matrix for calibrated cameras (interior orientation known);
symbol E. Roughly equivalent to coplanarity condition in photogrammetry and satisfying x0 TEx = 0.
Requires five points. PR 29(147):278; 25(130):140; 21(116):355
ETRS89 European Terrestrial Reference System; coincident with ITRF89 on epoch 19890 but then fixed (unlike
ITRF) to the Eurasian tectonic plate. Cf. WGS 84. PR 28(142):145; 28(141):96
Euclidean space, Capital “E”. Normal real-world representation in 2D or 3D, often using Cartesian coordinates. Cf.
Euclidean distance projective space, projective transformation. PR 30(150):166; 29(146):144
Euler angles Conventional angles in a given sequence about the X, Y, Z axes (x, φ, j) to form rotations. See also roll,
pitch, yaw. Cf. quaternion, dual quaternion. PR 30(151):300; 28(144):396
EuroSDR European Spatial Data Research. Formerly OEEPE (1953–2003). PR 28(142):145; 27(137):29
Exif Exchangeable image file format: standard for digital still images, audio data and metadata. Capital E; Exif
image file preferred to Exif file; NOT EXIF, Exi file. See also CIPA(2), JPEG.
expanded In uncertainty, the standard uncertainty multiplied by coverage factor (cf. 3r). JCGM (2008)
uncertainty
expectation Unbiased estimate of a variable (e.g. mean) in a stochastic model. Symbol l. PR 12(71):637
exterior orientation EO. 1. Combined relative orientation and absolute orientation of a photogrammetric model.
2. Pose of an image, i.e. position (translation) and orientation (rotation).
exterior orientation Six parameters defining a camera’s rotation and perspective centre position (translation).
parameters Also extrinsic parameters (CV). See also pose, orbit-attitude model.
external parameters See exterior orientation parameters (also extrinsic parameters in CV).
extraction, To be deprecated in the context of real-world objects (which remain in place); it is information about
extraction them which is extracted. However, in alpha matting “extraction” may be required in the context of
image segmentation and extraction of occluded objects. See also feature extraction, modelling,
reconstruction. PR 30(150):187; 27(139):293; 26(134):149
extrinsic parameters CV. In photogrammetry use exterior orientation parameters. Also external parameters.
facßade Rare example of cedilla correctly used in English; “facade” also acceptable. PR 31(153):29
© 2016 The Author


false colour, -adj. False colours may be used to display multispectral images, especially to render non-visible bands,
false-colour such as the NIR, visible to the human eye (e.g. often displaying NIR in red). See also colour infrared,
composite infrared, RGBN. PR 26(136):439; 22(119):203
false negative Incorrect rejection of a good result, causing an omission error (- for +). Cf. false positive, true positive,
true negative. PR 30(150):187; 27(139):330; 25(132):339; 22(117):53
false positive Incorrect inclusion of a poor result, causing a commission error (+ for -). Cf. false negative, true
positive, true negative. PR 30(150):166; 30(150):187; 27(139):330; 25(132):339
FARO US manufacturer (1981–) of terrestrial laser scanners (TLS). Cf. laser scanner manufacturers.
FBM 1. See feature-based matching. 2. Geodesy and land surveying: fundamental bench mark(1).
feature See also feature extraction, FBM(1). Cf. object, object-based data, object oriented.
feature extraction, Object detection and recognition. But NOT building, road, tree extraction! Methods include Canny
recognition operator, F€orstner operator, Harris detector, Hough transform, SIFT. See also extraction, machine
learning, modelling, reconstruction. PR 30(150):166; 27(137):36
feature-based Extraction of interest points/keypoints for image matching. Local matching assumes relative
matching orientation is (closely) known; global matching assumes no prior knowledge. Features include patches
(blobs), edges, corners. PR 30(149):8; 29(146):144; 27(137):36; 25(129):24
fiducial marks Crosses or dots in the corners or sides of an analogue camera whose intersection indicates the principal
point. See also archival imagery, RCxx, RMK. PR 31(153):9; 28(141):96
field of view -adj. Overall angular limit of an imaging system. See also field stop, IFOV. Cf. depth of field.
field stop Structure which limits the field of view of a lens. See also relative aperture. Cf. aperture stop.
FIG Federation Internationale des Geometres. International Federation of Surveyors. Worldwide organisation
dealing with land surveying, geodesy, etc. Cf. IAG, ISPRS, RICS.
finite element Numerical technique for finding approximate solutions to boundary-value problems containing partial
method differential equations. PR 27(139):253; 25(131):283; 21(115):269; 17(100):651
first-return pulse Return from first surface detected by a laser scanner signal such as the top of a fence or a tree. Can form
a DSM. One hyphen. Cf. last-return pulse, full waveform. PR 21(116):373
flying height Symbol H. Widely used, despite inconsistency with height(1) and altitude(1). Normally above ground
surface (cf. camera-to-object distance, orbital altitude) but sometimes above MSL (especially in
mountainous terrain). PR 30(150):143; 28(144):416; 28(142):145; 28(141):27
flight management Hardware and software systems for implementing flight planning. PR 28(141):27; 23(124):372
fly-through Noun, one hyphen. Computer animation over a model or DEM, DSM, DTM. PR 22(117):10
FMC forward-motion compensation. Offsets movement of sensor which may cause blur. Mechanical in
analogue cameras; digital cameras may use digital processing. See also IMC. PR 14(79):5
f-number f/ (NOT italic), e.g. f/8, f/4. See relative aperture, speed. Cf. aperture. PR 27(138):210
focal length f (constant for a prime lens, variable for a zoom lens). General figure (e.g. 50 mm) at infinity focus as
opposed to the precise (but focus-dependent) principal distance or calibrated focal length
(e.g. 5012 mm). See also camera constant, camera calibration. PR 29(145):49, 68; 27(138):210
focus, focused One “s” in every case. Also focusing, foci, focuses. See also blur, depth of focus, focal length.
F€
orstner operator CV. FBM operator for junction, circular point and corner detection in image matching. Complements
SIFT. See also feature extraction, Harris detector, edge, blobs, interest point. PR 28(141):7;
26(133):111; 25(129):24; 20(110):162; F€orstner and G€ulch (1987)
fore-and-aft overlap, Along-track overlap between successive images; both terms acceptable. Generally between 60%
forward overlap (topographic mapping) and 80% (city modelling, UAV). Same as endlap (US). Cf. lateral overlap,
sidelap. PR 30(149):63; 28(141):27; 26(133):58; 23(124):372
FormoSat Satellites (2 m PAN; 8 m MSS) from Taiwan’s National Space Organisation. FormoSat-1 (1999–2004),
-2 (2004–). Later satellites (FormoSat-3 to -7) are meteorological. PR 27(137):58
Fourier transform Common processing tool; decomposes a signal or image into sine and cosine components. Cf. wavelet
transform. PR 30(149):100; 23(123):290; 22(119):238; 21(114):161; 20(111):241
FPGA field programmable gate array. Integrated circuit to be programmed on site. PR 29(146):144
frame array, -adj. Also matrix array. A conventional rectangular (2D) array of CCD or CMOS detectors, as in a DSLR
frame-array camera or aerial large-format cameras such as DMC or UltraCam. Cf. linear array, pushbroom.
PR 28(142):162; 22(119):203; 20(109):27
freeform One word. An irregular shape not conforming to mathematical functions such as NURBS.
free network -adj. Inner constraint adjustment, independent of choice of control points or arbitrary choice of 7
(adjustment) parameters (scale, rotation, translation), e.g. in a close-range bundle adjustment, relative orientation
or SfM. Produces optimum covariance matrix. See also datum problem.
PR 28(142):145, 211; 29(147):278; 28(142):211; 21(115):198; 20(111):285, 241; 10(56):181
© 2016 The Author


free of error See error-free.
full waveform (laser -adj. Type of laser scanning where the complete waveform of each backscattered pulse is analysed.
scanning) Provides more information in the interpretation of surfaces than first-return pulse or last-return pulse,
e.g. for a DSM or DEM. PR 31(153):88; 27(139):272; 24(125):66
fundamental matrix CV. Basic matrix relating two images from non-calibrated cameras (interior orientation unknown);
symbol F. Roughly equivalent to coplanarity condition and satisfying x0 TFx = 0. Cf. essential matrix.
PR 30(150):166; 29(145):10, 30; 27(137):74; 25(132):356; 25(130):140
fusion Part of multisource data conflation, after integration, where the identity of the component datasets is no
longer maintained. See also interoperability, mash-up. PR 29(145):10
fuzzy c-means CV. Note italic c. A clustering algorithm that differs from k-means as data elements can belong to more
than one cluster (soft [fuzzy] clustering). PR 30(152):363; 28(144):342; 27(139):330
fuzzy logic Rather than the absolute true or false of binary logic, a range of truth values can be returned.
PR 27(139):330; 27(137):8; 23(124):441; 21(113):44; 17(100):651; 17(99):493
FWHM full width at half maximum (-adj). A measure of the spectral resolution of an optical sensor to resolve
spectral details. Cf. spatial resolution. PR 25(130):119; 20(111):218
Galileo European GNSS from ESA, not operational until 2020. See also BeiDou-2, GLONASS, GPS.
Gaussian function Bell-shaped distribution. Many applications, e.g. a normal distribution. PR 31(153):88
Gaussian map, -adj. CV. Projection of an object’s surface normal vectors onto a unit (Gaussian) sphere for point cloud
image, sphere segmentation. PR 28(144):342; 24(127):246; 23(122):208
Gaussian noise Random errors that are normally distributed. PR 30(149):100; 28(142):162; 28(141):86
Gauss–Markov Errors have a zero expectation, are not correlated and have equal variance, thus normally distributed.
theorem, model Best solution is least squares. PR 31(153):29; 28(144):396; 23(124):441
Gauss–Newton Classical method of solving a least squares adjustment. See also damping. PR 28(144):396
GB 1. Great Britain, e.g. OSGB. 2. Gigabyte: nominally 109 bytes. See also kB, MB, TB, BIPM, SI.
GCP ground control point. In non-topographic applications, simply control point. See also control, ground
control. Cf. check point, pass point, reference point, tie point. PR 30(150):143
genetic algorithm Search method simulating natural selection in evolution. PR 30(149):46; 29(147):317
generalised point Employs points on straight lines and curves, plus vanishing points, rather than individual points. Uses
photogrammetry only one (x or y) of the collinearity equations. PR 31(153):29; 28(142):130
geocentric Origin at the earth’s centre, as used in ITRF, ETRS89, WGS 84. See also ECEF, ECI.
geocoded image Image corrected for all distortions including relief displacement, thus synonymous with ortho-image. Cf.
geolocation, georeferencing, geopositioning. PR 27(139):311; 27(137):58
geocoding Attaching geographic coordinates (e.g. eastings, northings) to other data (e.g. a postal address). Cf.
geolocation, georeferencing, geopositioning. PR 29(146):167, 224; 28(142):130
geocorrection A misleading, disputed term, so best avoided; has been used to describe a rubber-sheet transformation
of aerial images (correct only where transformation constraints are applied).
geodata Data relating to the earth. See also geomatics, geoinformatics, geospatial. PR 28(141):43
geodesy, geodetic, High-accuracy surveying over large areas. Earth curvature, gravitational field, network design, etc. is
geodetic surveying inherent in the methodology. Uses geocentric frameworks (e.g. WGS 84, ETRS89, ITRF). See also
FIG, geomatics, GNSS, IAG, land surveying, RICS, surveying.
GeoEye GeoEye-1 satellite (2008–) (formerly OrbView-5): 046 m PAN, 165 m MSS. GeoEye Inc. (USA), name
since 2006 of ORBIMAGE, owner of IKONOS and OrbView satellites, with funding by NGA and
Google. In 2013 GeoEye and DigitalGlobe merged and GeoEye-2 (proposed for 2016–; 034 m PAN)
was renamed WorldView-4. PR 28(144):362; 27(137):58
geoid Irregular geopotential surface at MSL above which conventional heights (orthometric heights) are
measured. See also geoid undulation, geoid–ellipsoid separation. Cf. ellipsoid.
geoid–ellipsoid At any point, the distance between the ellipsoid surface and the geoid surface. Used to convert ellipsoid
separation heights (e.g. from GNSS) to orthometric heights. Same as geoid undulation.
geoid undulation Same as geoid–ellipsoid separation. Also geoid height (confusing term as not height(1) nor (2)
).
geoinformatics Uses information science for geoscience problems. See also geoinformation. PR 26(136):488
geoinformation, One-word usage prevalent and acceptable, e.g. Swiss Geoinformation Act (2007). See also
geo-information geoinformatics, PFG, SIS. PR 29(148):383
geolocation An approximate location of an image, without any correction applied; thus normally to be avoided in
photogrammetry. However, applied to satellite data without control points. Cf. geopositioning,
georeferencing, geocoded image. PR 31(153):88; 23(123):305; 23(121):69
© 2016 The Author


Geomatica 1. Photogrammetric software(6) developed by PCI Geomatics. Offers a single integrated environment for
photogrammetry, remote sensing, GIS and cartography.
2. Geomatics journal with some photogrammetric content published by CIG/ACSG.
geomatics Umbrella term embracing the measurement and mapping of the earth, and especially harnessing
information technology. Includes cartography, geodesy, geoinformatics, GIS, hydrography, land
surveying, photogrammetry, positioning, remote sensing. See also SIS.
geopositioning Similar meaning to the (preferred) georeferencing.
georeferencing Preferred term for fixing an image, model, DEM, etc. to a geodetic framework. Greater accuracy than
geolocation. A georeferenced image has been corrected for all distortions except ground relief. See also
direct georeferencing, geopositioning, geocoded image. PR 30(150):211; 29(148):383; 29(147):297; 29
(146):167; 28(143):276; 26(135):307; 26(134):250; 26(133):58
geospatial Implies georeferenced data. Strictly relates only to the earth – thus excludes many close range
photogrammetry applications (use “spatial” here). See also OGC, SIS. PR 28(141):43
GeoTIFF Geomatics tagged image file format. Image interchange format incorporating georeferencing information
into a TIFF file. Cf. JPEG, JPEG 2000, NITF, XML. PR 20(110):130
GIS geographical information system(s) (sometimes science). Many organisations have adopted geographic
(US). See also photogrammetric software(6). Cf. SIS.
GLAS Geoscience Laser Altimeter System. Lidar instrument on NASA’s ICESat. PR 31(153):88
global matching Image matching if sensor parameters or relative orientation are unknown. Global search space using,
e.g. blobs or corners, ORB, SIFT, SURF. Cf. local matching, SGM. PR 27(139):311
GLONASS ГЛOHACC, Глoбaльнaя Haвигaциoннaя Cпyтникoвaя Cиcтeмa
(Global’naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema). Russian satellite navigation and positioning
system analogous to GPS. Preferred to full English translation, to avoid possible confusion with generic
GNSS. See also BeiDou-2 (Compass), Galileo. PR 26(136):400
GML Geographic Markup Language. See also CityGML. Cf. XML. PR 27(137):29
GNSS global navigation satellite system(s). Preferred generic term covering satellite navigation and positioning
systems, currently GLONASS and GPS combined. Galileo and BeiDou-2 are GNSSs not operational
until 2020. See also base station, direct georeferencing, geodesy, kinematic, land surveying, mobile
mapping, multipath, RTK. Receiver manufacturers include Leica Geosystems, Topcon, Trimble.
PR 30(151):263; 25(130):140; 27(140):443
GNSS/INS, Combination of GNSS with an INS (IMU) to complement each other (e.g. GNSS counters IMU drift;
GNSS/IMU IMU bridges GNSS signal loss). See also boresight, direct georeferencing, DSO, ISO(2), mobile
mapping. PR 30(149):63; 28(143):276; 28(142):162; 26(134):229; 20(111):274
gon Angular measure; symbol g. Also grad, grade, gradian. 400g = 360° = 2p rad. Cf. degree, radian.
goniometer Laboratory instrument used for camera calibration, especially by manufacturers. PR 25(130):140
goodness-of-fit Two hyphens. Closeness of data to, e.g. a regression line. PR 30(149):30; 28(142):130
Google As well as Google Earth and Google Maps, has a stake in GeoEye-1 satellite and owns SkySat.
GPS Global Positioning System. The original US satellite navigation and positioning GNSS system, sometimes
providing control points and check points. See also BeiDou-2, DGPS, Galileo, GLONASS, GNSS/
INS, GNSS/IMU. PR 26(135):307; 24(126):139; 20(111):274
GPU graphics processing unit. Renders images on a PC. See also FPGA. PR 29(146):144; 27(138):175
grey level, greyscale Two words (-adj) and one word. NOT gray (US). Pixel value based on illumination received. See also
radiometric resolution, bit depth. PR 30(151):263; 21(113):44; 20(111):241
gross error Mistake, blunder, outlier or invalid measurement. Should be removed, e.g. using data snooping, GTM,
RANSAC. Cf. robust estimation, random error, systematic error. PR 12(71):637
ground control Points with known, surveyed coordinates enabling the georeferencing of photogrammetric work. See also
(point) control, control point, GCP. Cf. check point, pass point, reference point, tie point.
ground coordinates Normally E, N, H (3D, upper case italic) or φ, k, H (topographic mapping); sometimes X, Y, Z. See also
object coordinates, world coordinates (CV), latitude, longitude, easting, northing, height, WGS 84,
ETRS89, ITRF. Cf. image coordinates, model coordinates.
groundel ground element, cf. edgel, pixel, surfel, voxel. PR 29(146):144
ground speed Two words. Speed of an aircraft relative to the ground, not the surrounding air. Cf. airspeed.
ground truth -adj. Reference data derived by a method with greater accuracy (higher order) than the technique being
evaluated. See also check point, RMSE. PR 28(144):396; 27(146):144
Gruber points, 6 standard positions in a stereo overlap, conventionally used for relative orientation and also as pass
von Gruber points points. From the German Otto von Gruber. PR 28(141):96; 23(124):353; 23(121):19
© 2016 The Author


GSD ground sample distance; NOT sampled or sampling. In aerial or satellite-borne digital imagery, the pixel
size expressed in ground (object space) units by reference to the image scale. NOT equivalent to the
(more complex) spatial resolution achieved by the entire imaging system, which is limited by the PSF
(ISF). In equivalent close range photogrammetry “pixel size in object space units” may be preferred.
See also object pixel resolution. Cf. image patch, resolution, spatial resolution. PR 30(149):63;
28(144):362; 26(134):212; 25(129):42
GTM graph transformation matching. Outlier rejection method. See also gross error. PR 30(150):166
GUI graphical user interface (no hyphens). Interaction on a computer via icons and other visual indicators
rather than text-based commands. See also CAD. PR 28(142):178; 25(132):339, 402
GUM Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement. Produced by JCGM (2008) in cooperation with
BIPM, ISO and other organisations (but NOT ISPRS or FIG). Cf. error theory, VIM.
Harris detector CV. Type of interest point by Harris and Stephens (1988). See also corner, edge, blobs, image
matching. PR 30(150):166; 29(147):297; 25(132):437; 25(129):24; 22(120):321
height 1. The vertical distance between the top of an object (e.g. a tree or building) and the land surface, where
the object is in direct contact with the ground. Symbol h.
2. Synonymous with elevation and implicit in 3D ground coordinates (E, N, H) and flying height.
Symbol H. Normally means orthometric height above MSL not ellipsoid height.
See also DEM, DHM, easting, northing. Cf. altitude, DGM, DSM, DTM, nDSM.
height displacement The apparent leaning outwards of high objects (e.g. buildings) from a photograph’s plumb point (nadir
point). The along-track component (x parallax) can be used to measure heights.
Helava, Inventor of analytical plotter (Dr Urho Helava) and historic company (1979–86, when acquired by GDE
Helava Associates Systems). Links to Leica Geosystems and BAE Systems. Instrumental in the development of digital
photogrammetry, SOCET SET and DPW via LH Systems.
Helmert 2D/3D similarity transformation, so shape is preserved. Same as conformal transformation; often used
transformation in geodesy. Cf. affine transformation. PR 30(151):279; 30(149):63; 21(115):255
Hexagon, Founded in 1992 in Stockholm, Sweden. Many brands in numerous countries. On acquiring Leica Geosystems
Hexagon Group in 2005 it placed this company in a new Hexagon Geosystems division (Heerbrugg, Switzerland) and the
Hexagon Geospatial division (Atlanta, USA) concentrated on software development. In 2010 Hexagon
acquired Intergraph (Geospatial division) and moved ERDAS from Leica Geosystems to Intergraph and
also Z/I Imaging sensors from Intergraph to Leica Geosystems. Major competitors include Trimble, Topcon.
Hexagon Geospatial Part of Hexagon Group, including Intergraph. Deals with GIS, photogrammetry and remote sensing
software including ERDAS IMAGINE, IMAGINE Photogrammetry, ImageStation.
Hexagon Part of Hexagon Group, including Leica Geosystems (Switzerland) and Z/I Imaging. Essentially
Geosystems Hexagon’s hardware division; non-sensor software in Hexagon Geospatial.
high altitude -adj. Applies to aerial, not spaceborne, sensors (use high orbit). Cf. low altitude.
high resolution -adj. Normally implies high spatial resolution. See also HRI, VHRI, VHRR, AVHRR.
hill shading One cartographic/GIS method of displaying relief. Alternative/complementary to contour(1).
holography 3D imaging using interferometric patterns from two light paths. PR 11(65):605; 8(46):389
homogeneous A 3D point with Cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z) in Euclidean space has 4D homogeneous coordinates
coordinates (kX, kY, kZ, k) in projective space. (x, y, z, w) or (w, X, Y, Z) also used. See also quaternions, relative
orientation. PR 29(147):278; 26(136):422, 439; 7(37):39
homography Projective transformation between any two images of the same planar surface in projective space. See
also DLT, rectification. PR 30(149):82; 29(147):278; 26(136):439; 24(128):316
homography matrix Matrix defining a homography using homogeneous coordinates. Symbol H. H has order 393 with a
2D homography between lines, or 494 for a 3D homography between points or planes.
homologue, A point or line on one image that corresponds to the same point or line on another image. A homologous
homologous (ray, ray is the same as a corresponding ray. See also conjugate. PR 30(150):143; 30(149):63; 29(147):297;
point, primitive) 29(145):10; 25(132):356; 22(117):53; 20(109):69
Hough transform CV. A feature-extraction technique to find primitives by a voting procedure in parameter space. See
also clustering, feature extraction, image matching, template matching. PR 28(144):342;
28(143):240; 27(139):330; 23(124):441; 23(122):208; 19(108):311; Hough (1962)
HRI high-resolution imagery. One hyphen preferred except in compounds which would need more than one
(cf. VHRI, VHRR), and in given names of specific instruments such as AVHRR. Note: aerial HRI
generally has a better spatial resolution than spaceborne VHRI.
HRV high resolution visible. No hyphens. Also a specific sensor on French SPOT satellites.
HSI, HSB, HSL hue/saturation/intensity, hue/saturation/brightness, hue/saturation/lightness. Two solidi / in each case. Types
of colour space. Cf. RGB, CMY. PR 30(150):187
© 2016 The Author


human–computer Also human–machine interface. Example of use of en-rule –, NOT hyphen - NOR solidus /, when linking
interface independent entities. Cf. air/water interface, GUI.
hyperspectral High spectral-resolution scanners capturing hundreds of narrow (3–15 nm) spectral bands. See also
(scanner) multispectral, spectroscopy, ultraspectral. PR 29(146):167; 29(145):10; 26(134):212
IAG International Association of Geodesy. See also geodesy, geomatics. Cf. FIG, land surveying.
ICESat Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (2003–10). Uses lidar (GLAS) to measure DEMs. ICESat-2 from
2017. Part of NASA’s EOS programme. Cf. LIST, ALS. PR 31(153):88
ICL iterative closest line, CV. Three words. Similar to ICP but with lines, not points. PR 28(143):276
ICOMOS International Council on Monuments and Sites. See also CIPA. PR 28(144):436
ICP iterative closest point, CV. Minimises the difference between (multisource) datasets by repeated
translation, rotation (scaling) of one dataset based on the other’s nearest points. See also ICL,
conformal transformation, registration, surface matching. Originally developed by Besl and McKay
(1992). PR 30(152):387; 30(151):263; 29(147):297; 27(139):311; 25(130):105
ICR in-track, cross-track, radial. A satellite coordinate system. Cf. ECEF, ECI.
identity matrix A square matrix with ones (1) on the leading diagonal and zeros (0) for all other elements. Also unit
matrix. Symbol I (sometimes E). Note AI = A. PR 29(147):278; 28(142):162
IDRISI See TerrSet. Former GIS/remote sensing software. See also photogrammetric software(6).
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. US publisher of many Transactions related to
photogrammetry and many other areas (e.g. Canny,1986; Furukawa and Ponce, 2010).
iff “if and only if”. As a mathematical symbol or as a conjunction in strictly mathematical contexts.
IGN Institut Geographique National in France (developer of MicMac and APERO) and Belgium. Instituto
Geografico Nacional in Spain. National mapping organisations. Cf. OS, NASG, NMA, USGS.
PR 29(145):108; 27(137):29, 58; 25(132):402; 24(127):280; 23(124):387
IFOV instantaneous field of view. Angle subtended by a pixel at the perspective centre in a camera or
equivalent in a laser scanner. PR 21(114):141; 20(111):218
IKONOS First civilian high-resolution satellite and imagery (08 m). NOT Ikonos. Originated under Lockheed
Martin Corporation. IKONOS-1 launch (1999) failed; IKONOS-2 (renamed IKONOS) (1999–2015) by
partner Space Imaging Inc. Acquired by ORBIMAGE in 2005, itself becoming GeoEye then
DigitalGlobe. PR 27(139):293; 27(137):36, 58; 22(117):75
image More general term than photograph, encompassing satellite and other digital pictures (e.g. hyperspectral,
SAR) and thus often used in current literature in preference to photograph. See also 3D imaging.
image coordinates Normally x, y (2D only, lower case italic); origin normally at principal point (thus identical to photo
coordinates) but sometimes arbitrary. Preferable to image-space coordinates. See also line–sample,
row–column. Cf. coordinate systems, polar coordinates. PR 29(147):278, 297
image interpretation Identifying features on an image as opposed to determining their metric properties. Identical to photo
interpretation. See also remote sensing, semantic information, terrain analysis.
ImageMaster Photogrammetric software(2) from Topcon, based on PI-3000 (in collaboration with Agisoft).
image matching CV; -adj. Also stereo correspondence problem (CV). Important procedures for identifying corresponding
(homologous, conjugate) features in two or more stereo-images. PR 29(146):144; 27(137):36
1. GENERAL CATEGORIES: Global matching, local matching, SGM.
2. MATCHING TECHNIQUES: Area-based matching, feature-based matching, intensity-based matching,
least-squares matching, relational matching, template matching.
3. DETECTOR METHODS: Canny operator, F€orstner operator, Harris detector, Hough transform, MSER,
NCC, ORB, RANSAC, SIFT, SURF, etc.
4. FEATURES: Interest points, keylines, keypoints and primitives used include: blob, corner, edge, patch
(also image patch), region. See also photogrammetric software, SfM.
image patch A small area of adjacent pixels. Used in some image matching methods, including template matching.
See also blob, patch. PR 30(149):63; 27(136):36; 25(130):197; 25(129):42
image plane Plane of a photograph’s film, or CCD or CMOS sensors. See also cross ratio. Cf. object plane.
image point 2D point in image space. See also image coordinates. Cf. model point, object point.
image processing General term covering the manipulation of pixels in a digital image. See also remote sensing.
image pyramid CV. Repeated downsampling (by 2n, n = level(2)) to reduce the number of pixels in an image.
image scale Equivalent to photo scale, e.g. 1:17 000, though approximate as varies with tilt and relief. For aircraft
computed from f/H where f is principal distance and H is flying height above terrain.
image segmentation CV. See segmentation.
image space On a 2D image, as opposed to (3D) model space or object space. See also image coordinates.
© 2016 The Author


ImageStation Photogrammetric software(1) from Intergraph for high-volume production photogrammetry. Widely used
by NMAs, other government agencies and private companies. Cf. IMAGINE Photogrammetry (LPS),
Inpho, SOCET GXP. PR 28(144):416; 20(112):335; 21(116):329
image stitching Combining multiple images via common points (cf. pass points) in (forward) overlaps to produce a
segmented panorama, spherical panorama or composites. PR 29(146):206; 28(143):293
image triplet Three images as used in trifocal tensor, trilinear constraint, tri-stereoscopic. Cf. stereopair.
IMAGINE Note case. Prior to 2014 LPS. Photogrammetric software(1) from ERDAS under Intergraph, for a wider
Photogrammetry range of users than ImageStation. See also Hexagon Geospatial, Leica Geosystems, ORIMA.
Cf. Inpho, SOCET GXP. PR 30(150):143; 30(149):63; 26(136):488
imaging spectroscopy Remote sensing utilising spectroscopy, generally synonymous with hyperspectral imagery.
IMC image motion compensation. Counteracts aircraft movement. Equivalent to FMC. See also blur.
IMU inertial measurement unit. Part of an INS with three accelerometers, three gyros and electronics in a north-
east-down coordinate system. See also GNSS/IMU. PR 28(142):145; 27(139):27
inBLOCK Bundle block adjustment software in Inpho from Trimble. Developed from PAT-B.
inch ( 254 mm) Symbol ″. Non-SI unit used as general descriptor of focal length of aerial analogue cameras, e.g. 12″
(305 mm; normal angle), 6″ (152 mm; wide angle), 3½″ (88 mm; super-wide angle).
infrared One word. The near infrared (NIR) (reflectance; optical) should be clearly distinguished from the thermal
infrared (emission). See also ASTER, CIR, LWIR, MWIR, SWIR, VNIR.
in flight, in orbit -adj. NEVER on flight or on orbit. PR 30(150):211; 29(145):68; 23(121):69
in-flight calibration Aerial camera self calibration in the air rather than in a laboratory. PR 24(126):171; 23(121):69
inner constraints Matrix G to solve the 7-parameter datum problem in a free network adjustment. Commonly used in
close range photogrammetry and vision metrology. PR 28(141):74; 26(135):339
inner orientation IO. See interior orientation.
Inpho Photogrammetric software(1). Originally a German company INPHO, producing PAT-B and PAT-M
block triangulation and other software. In 2007 acquired by Trimble as part of its late entry into
photogrammetry to compete with Hexagon etc. Includes MATCH-AT and inBLOCK (block
triangulation). PR 28(144):416; 28(143):261; 25(132):339; 20(112):351
in-plane distortion CV. One hyphen. Terms b1 and b2 (also B1 and B2) used to model affinity and shear in a CCD array. See
also out-of-plane distortion, camera calibration. PR 28(141):86; 22(118):135
INS inertial navigation system. Has two elements: IMU; navigation processor that converts IMU north-east-
down coordinates to E, N, H. See also GNSS/INS. PR 28(144):416; 20(111):274
InSAR interferometric SAR (NOT IfSAR, IFSAR, INSAR, insar). Interferometry method using two or more
SAR images to form DEMs, interferograms, etc. See also DInSAR, PSInSAR. PR 29(146):167, 224;
26(135):325; 22(119):238; 21(115):232; 21(113):61; 18(104):308
integration Part of multisource data conflation, prior to fusion, where the identity of data sources is retained. See
also interoperability, mash-up, registration. PR 29(146):167; 29(145):10
intensity-based Method of image matching based on a matrix of grey levels. See also area-based matching, cross-
matching correlation, least squares matching. Cf. feature-based matching, relational matching. PR 27(137):36;
25(129):24; 20(111):241
interest point, CV. Point-like features used in image matching. Similar to keypoint. See also blobs, corner, edge,
interest operator feature-based matching, Harris detector, SIFT, SURF, SfM. PR 30(150):166; 26(136):439;
25(132):437; 25(129):24; 22(120):321
interferogram A displacement/deformation interferometric image, frequently using InSAR, DInSAR, PSInSAR.
PR 29(146):167, 224; 26(135):325; 22(119):238; 21(115):232; 21(113):61
interferometry, 3D imaging using superimposition of electromagnetic waves. See also holography, interferogram,
interferometric InSAR, moire imaging. PR 29(146):167, 224; 26(135):325; 21(115):232
Intergraph, Founded in 1969 in USA. Photogrammetry divisions of Intergraph and Zeiss formed Z/I Imaging in 1999
Intergraph which became wholly owned by Intergraph in 2002. In turn acquired by Hexagon in 2010, marketing
Corporation ERDAS and Intergraph software (including ImageStation).
interior orientation IO. Same as inner orientation. Also intrinsic parameters (CV). Determination of principal distance and
(parameters) principal point (3 parameters). In a DLT 5 parameters (additionally, affine y scale difference and shear).
See also camera calibration, decentring distortion, lens distortion, self-calibration. Cf. exterior
orientation. PR 27(138):210; 22(118):135
internal parameters See interior orientation parameters (intrinsic parameters in CV). Also inner orientation.
Internet Upper case I. Public networking infrastructure (for PCs and other online devices) using various protocols.
Component elements include email and the World Wide Web. Cf. intranet.
© 2016 The Author


interoperability One word. Ability of various (multisource) datasets to be interfaced or combined without restriction. See
also conflation, fusion, integration, mash-up, registration. PR 30(152):339
intersection 1. Projection of rays from oriented images to form object points. See also space intersection,
triangulation (CV). PR 29(147):278; 28(144):362; 28(143):240; 15(88):561.
2. Junction of two or more geometric entities (e.g. lines, surfaces). PR 27(139):272, 330
intranet Lower case i. Private computer networking infrastructure within an organisation. Cf. Internet.
intrinsic parameters CV. In photogrammetry use interior orientation parameters. See also inner orientation.
Invar Upper case I. Nickel–iron alloy with a low coefficient of thermal expansion. Traditionally used for precise
length measurement using bars, wires, tapes or levelling staves. Cf. EDM.
IO See interior orientation or inner orientation.
IRS Indian Remote Sensing. Series of satellites from ISRO, including Cartosat. PR 25(132):422;
23(123):290, 305; 23(121):69; 22(120):309
ISF image spread function. Smallest discernible object, equivalent to the GSD divided by the image scale
denominator; alternatively ISF = GSD(f/H). See also PSF, MTF.
ISO 1. International Organization for Standardization; NOT International Standards Organisation. See also
uncertainty, BIPM, GUM, JCGM, NSSDA, OGC, SI, VIM.
2. integrated sensor orientation. Mitigates errors when combining different data sources, e.g. GNSS/IMU
or GNSS/INS. See also boresight, direct georeferencing, DSO. PR 30(149):63
ISO speed Sensitivity of camera film, CCD or CMOS sensors to light (ISO 12232:2006). PR 25(131):283
ISPRS International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (International Society for Photogrammetry
(ISP) only until 1980). Publishes ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing plus ISPRS
Annals and ISPRS Archives. Ordinary Members (countries) often represented by national societies, e.g.
ASPRS, CIG/ACSG, CASM, DGPF, RSPSoc and SFPT. Commissions I to V (from July 2016): sensor
systems, photogrammetry, remote sensing, spatial information science (SIS), education and outreach.
ISPRS Annals International Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Introduced
by ISPRS in 2012 and distinguished from the ISPRS Archives by containing only peer-reviewed material.
ISPRS Archives International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. This
series of ISPRS documents has been inconsistent in its use of document titles over the years. Until 1980:
International Archives of Photogrammetry. From 1980 to 2000: International Archives of
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. See also ISPRS Annals.
ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation. Responsible for IRS, Cartosat, RISAT (a SAR satellite). Cf. CNES,
CNSA, DLR, ESA, JAXA, NASA.
ITRF International Terrestrial Reference Frame. Geocentric coordinate system revised periodically (e.g. ITRF97,
ITRF2008) to address plate-tectonic movements. Maintained by French IGN at http://itrf.ensg.ign.fr.
Cf. ETRS89, WGS 84.
iWitness, Close-range photogrammetric software(3) from Australian company Photometrix. iWitnessPRO supports
iWitnessPRO automatic 3D measurement of targeted object points and DSMs via dense image matching.
PR 30(152):387; 29(147):278; 25(132):356; 24(128):351; 21(116):355
Jacobian, First-order partial derivatives in a least squares adjustment. See also condition equations, observation
Jacobian matrix equations, normal equations. PR 28(144):396; 28(143):276; 24(127):246
JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Responsible for ALOS (Daichi) satellites. Cf. CNES, CNSA,
DLR, ESA, ISRO, NASA. PR 27(137):58; 23(123):255, 323
JCGM Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology. Produces GUM and VIM. With ISO and BIPM has adopted
uncertainty rather than geomatics traditional use of error theory. JCGM (2008)
JPEG, Joint Photographic Experts Group. A lossy data compression process. JPEG 2000 is both lossy and
JPEG 2000 lossless. See also Exif. Cf. GeoTIFF, NITF, TIFF. PR 29(146):167, 241; 20(112):351
JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory. US research and development organisation managed by California Institute of
Technology for NASA. Cf. DLR. PR 27(137):94
Julian year, Exactly 36525 days (not Gregorian 3652425). Not a fundamental SI unit but widely used with celestial
J2000 coordinate systems for satellite orbits, including GNSS. J2000 is a common epoch. PR 30(150):211
kB kilobyte(s), nominally 103 bytes. See also MB, GB(2), TB, BIPM, SI.
Kern, Former manufacturer of analogue plotters (e.g. PG2), analytical plotters (e.g. DSR11) and other
Kern Aarau geomatics equipment. Based in Aarau, Switzerland. Founded in 1819; taken over by Wild Heerbrugg in
1988; manufacturing finished in 1992. PR 27(137):36; 4(21):218
kernel 1. A small array of pixels used in image processing. 2. A function which quantifies similarity in two
images, e.g. RBF (CV). PR 28(142):211; 27(139):330; 20(111):285
© 2016 The Author


kernel image A reference image of features common to two images. See also kernel, RBF. PR 30(150):187
keyline One word. Distinctive lines used in image matching and SfM. See also keypoint. PR 31(153):29
keypoint One word. Distinctive points used in image matching and SfM. See also keyline, interest point.
PR 31(153):51; 30(151)279; 30(149):63; 25(132):356
kinematic (GNSS) Non-static GNSS used to provide ground control or direct georeferencing. See also DSO, GNSS/INS,
ISO, mobile mapping, RTK. PR 23(122):148; 23(121):51
k-means CV. Clustering algorithm where observations are partitioned into k clusters based on the cluster with the
nearest mean. Cf. fuzzy c-means, PCA, segmentation. PR 30(152):363; 30(150):166
KOMPSAT All upper case. Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite. Also called Arirang. KOMPSAT-1 (66 m, 1999–2007), -2
(1 m, 2006–), -3 (07 m, 2012–), -3A (055 m, 2015–), using an Electro-Optical Camera (PAN, MSS).
KOMPSAT-5 will use SAR. PR 27(137):58; 22(119):257; 21(114):110
kriging Interpolation technique in geostatistics, terrain modelling (DTM) and remote sensing. Noun, lower case;
in English more common than the verb to krige. PR 30(150):143; 26(136):384
ladar laser detection and ranging. Avoid this alternative term to lidar, generally restricted to the defence
community interested in small point targets, e.g. vehicles or other manmade objects.
land cover Also land-cover classes (e.g. forest). PR 28(144):416; 23(124):387; 21(116):373; 20(110):162
Landsat US satellite(2) and imagery. NOT LANDSAT. Landsat 1 (1972–78), 2 (1975–82) and 3 (1978–83) included
80 m MSS and RBV sensors. Landsat 4 (1982–93) and 5 (1984–2013) included MSS and 30 m TM
sensors. Landsat 6 (1993) failed. Landsat 7 (1999–) has ETM+ (15 m) sensor. Landsat 8 (2013–) has a
9-band Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). Part of EOS programme.
PR 28(143):312; 27(137):58; 21(116):329
land surveying, Specific type of surveying for engineering, mapping, monitoring, determining control points, etc. Uses
land survey, equipment such as laser scanners, total stations, GNSS (historically also tacheometer, theodolite). See
land surveyor also FIG, geodetic surveying, geomatics, RICS, surveying.
large scale map, No hyphens, though rationale unclear. Very much depends on context, but an example is 1:25 000 or
mapping, larger for large scale mapping where walls and fences can be portrayed.
photography Cf. medium scale map, small scale map. PR 28(143):240; 26(134):190; 20(111):274
large format -adj. Mainstay of high-end aerial mapping. Either linear-array cameras (e.g. ADS80) or frame-array
(camera) (e.g. DMC and UltraCam). Cf. medium-format, consumer-grade. PR 22(119):203
LAS LASer file format. From ASPRS for the exchange of 3D (especially ALS and TLS) point-cloud data.
laser light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Lower case (cf. radar, lidar). Intense, coherent
monochromatic light used in laser scanning, range images and structured light.
laser altimetry Similar to ALS, lidar. Cf. radar altimetry, satellite(3). PR 31(153):88; 24(125):23; 21(115):195
laser scanning, NOT Laserscanning (used in German) NOR lasergrammetry (but “lasergrammetrie” in French). Divided into
laser scanner, terrestrial (TLS) and airborne (ALS) (the latter, especially, interchangeable with lidar). Also satellite(3) laser
lasergrammetry altimetry systems, e.g. ICESat. Uses either ToF (pulsed), phase shift or triangulation(1) methods. See also
LAS, lidargrammetry. PR 29(148):402; 28(142):196; 28(141):74; 27(139):253; 26(136):462; 26(135):293
laser scanner The following are major players in manufacturing laser scanning equipment (see also ALS, TLS, LAS):
manufacturers FARO, Hexagon/Leica Geosystems, Optech, Riegl, Topcon, Trimble.
last-return pulse Return from last surface detected by a laser scanner signal such as solid ground. With post-processing can
assist formation of a DEM (not a DSM). One hyphen. Cf. first-return pulse, full waveform. PR 21(116):373
lateral overlap Same as sidelap (mainly US). Across-track overlap between adjacent strips of imagery in a block, often
about 20% for standard topographic mapping but 60% to 80% for UAVs. Cf. fore-and-aft (forward)
overlap. PR 30(150):143; 30(149):63; 28(141):27
latitude Symbol φ. Measured N (+) or S (-) of equator. Cf. longitude. See also WGS 84, ETRS89, ITRF
lawnmower pattern Conventional UAV and flight management where temporally successive strips are adjacent to one
another (albeit flown in the opposite direction) to form a block. Cf. Zamboni pattern.
LE, LE90, LE95 Linear error (1D) (with 90%, 95% probability) but RMSE, standard deviation, standard error generally
preferred. See also uncertainty. Cf. CE. PR 30(150):211; 27(139):293; 21(114):124
least squares, Finds a unique solution to an overdetermined problem by minimising the sum of the squares of the
least squares residuals. Also minimising a cost function (CV). See also collocation, damping, error theory, Gauss–
adjustment Newton, Gauss–Markov, least-squares matching, maximum likelihood, redundancy, RMSE,
observation equations, condition equations, combined model, normal equations. PR 29(148):383;
29(147):278; 28(144):396; 27(137):36; 25(130):105
least-squares LSM. Flexible and accurate image-matching technique based on least squares, combining the advantages
matching of edge- and area-based matching. PR 30(149):63; 27(139):293; 27(137):36
© 2016 The Author


Leica Geosystems, Formerly prominent supplier of photogrammetric hardware and photogrammetric software, with roots back
Leica to Kern and Wild. Formed in 1997; acquired whole of LH Systems in 2001 (but not SOCET SET). Since
2005 part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden where it formed the new division of Hexagon Geosystems with
partner Z/I Imaging. Still a leading manufacturer of airborne sensors including ADSxx and RCD aerial
digital cameras as well as other geomatics products including laser scanners (both ALS and TLS), GNSS
receivers and total stations. See also LPS, IMAGINE Photogrammetry. Cf. FARO, Microsoft/Vexcel
Imaging, Optech, Riegl, Trimble, Topcon. PR 29(147):297; 28(142):145; 28(141):96; 26(135):307
lens distortion Deviation from a central perspective with both radial distortion and tangential distortion. A systematic
error (e.g. producing a dome effect in DEMs). Prominent in consumer-grade cameras. See also
decentring distortion. PR 27(138):210; 23(121):6; 22(118):135; 16(91):51
level, levelling 1. LAND SURVEYING OR GEODESY: Determines heights from bench marks. See also MSL.
2. AMOUNT: Division into layers, e.g. grey level, LoD, image pyramid. See also element, order.
level of confidence In statistics and error theory, percentage (e.g. 95%) probability in the correctness of a result. In
uncertainty, expressed by expanded uncertainty. See also null hypothesis, Student’s t-test.
level of detail See LoD.
level set Tool for numerical analysis of shapes and surfaces that copes well with changing topology, so well suited
to modelling time-varying objects. PR 30(149):46; 29(146):187; 26(134):154
Levenberg– A modification of the Gauss–Newton method of least squares adjustment, switching between methods
Marquardt depending on the search length. Frequently used in bundle adjustment due to easy implementation,
effective damping and rapid convergence. PR 30(149):82; 28(144):396.
LH Systems Former supplier of photogrammetric systems. Formed in 1997 as joint venture between Leica
(Leica Helava) (Switzerland) and BAE Systems (USA) (owner of Helava Associates). In 2001 Leica Geosystems
acquired the whole of LH Systems (but not SOCET SET). See also Hexagon.
lidar light detection and ranging (NOT laser induced), lower case (cf. radar, laser); NOT LiDAR.
Interchangeable with laser scanning, esp. in airborne (ALS) and satellite(3) applications. Note that
imagery is not a direct lidar product. See also ladar, laser altimetry, LAS, strip adjustment. Cf. 3D
imaging. PR 31(153):88; 28(142):196; 27(139):272; 26(133):58
lidargrammetry Simulated image from lidar (McGlone, 2013). Like lasergrammetry, usage not recommended.
line–sample CV. 2D left-handed coordinate system on a digital image in pixel units. Symbol (l, s). Similar to row–
(coordinates) column coordinates. Origin is upper-left corner of image; line is positive down; sample is positive right.
Cf. image coordinates, photo coordinates. PR 29(145):68; 26(135):325
linear array, -adj. Line(s) of CCD or CMOS detectors. Used, e.g. in many satellites. See also pushbroom, line
linear-array camera scanner. Cf. frame array. PR 30(150):211; 29(145):68; 28(142):162; 27(137):58; 22(119):203
line scanner, Widely accepted, despite lack of logic. An example is ADS80 from Leica Geosystems. See also linear
linescan array, pushbroom. Cf. frame array. PR 29(145):10; 27(137):58; 22(119):203
linearisation Forming linear equations to estimate non-linear problems, e.g. in a least squares adjustment.
LIST Lidar Surface Topography. Satellite to be launched by NASA 2017–20. Cf. ICESat, ALS.
local matching Image matching where relative orientation is known. Tight search space for efficient area-based
matching, e.g. NCC, LSM. Cf. global matching, SGM. PR 30(151):279; 21(116):329
LoD, LOD, level of detail. Hierarchical structure, e.g. 5 levels in CityGML: LOD0 regional DEM; LOD1 cuboid
LODx buildings; LOD2 building shapes; LOD3 facßade details; LOD4 building interiors. See also BIM, city
modelling, OGC. PR 21(115):269
longitude k. Measured E (+) or W (-) of Greenwich meridian. Cf. latitude. See also ETRS89, ITRF, WGS 84.
lossless Compression where original image can be exactly reconstructed (see JPEG 2000). Cf. lossy.
lossy Compression where original image cannot be exactly reconstructed, e.g. JPEG. Cf. lossless.
low altitude -adj, e.g. low-altitude photography. Cf. high altitude. See also UAV.
LPS Leica Photogrammetry Suite. Former photogrammetric software(1). Also ERDAS LPS; since 2014
IMAGINE Photogrammetry. See also Leica Geosystems. PR 30(150):143; 30(149):63; 29(147):297;
29(146):167; 28(141):96; 26(136):400; 26(133):16; 25(131):240
LSM See least-squares matching.
LUT lookup table. Data and related functions stored rather than recomputed. PR 24(127):280
LWIR long-wave infrared. Cf. MWIR, NIR, SWIR, thermal infrared, VNIR.
machine learning -adj. CV. Algorithms that can learn from, and make predictions of, data. See also Bayes theorem, data
mining, deep learning, feature extraction, segmentation. PR 25(129):24
machine vision -adj. Similar to computer vision but a greater emphasis on practical or industrial systems.
MAPSAC maximum a posteriori sample consensus. CV. A modification of RANSAC. PR 29(147):278
markerless Without targets. Cf. reflectorless, signalise, target. PR 29(146):167; 29(145):30; 25(132):356
© 2016 The Author


mash-up Hyphen. Combining datasets, as in conflation, integration, fusion. See also interoperability.
MATLAB All upper case. High-level language and interactive environment by MathWorks for numeric computation,
data analysis, programming and application development. PR 30(150):166, 187
matrix Rectangular array of elements obeying specific rules. Symbol in bold caps, e.g. M. See also essential
matrix, fundamental matrix, homography matrix, identity matrix, null matrix, rotation matrix,
variance–covariance matrix, order(1), row–column. Cf. scalar, vector.
maximum likelihood Most probable solution where redundancy(1) (uncertainty) is present. In a normal distribution a unique
solution uses the Gauss–Markov model (least squares adjustment).
Mb; MB megabit(s); megabyte(s) – nominally 106 bytes. See also kB, GB, TB, BIPM, SI.
mean standard error One-figure precision indicator = (trace C/3n)1/2 where C is covariance matrix of n points.
measurand In uncertainty, description of the quantity to be measured. JCGM (2008).
medium format -adj. Medium-format cameras often complement lidar and used in some UAVs. Manufacturers include
(cameras) Optech, Leica, Intergraph, Microsoft/Vexel, Phase One, Track’Air, Trimble, VisionMap. Cf. large-
format, consumer-grade, prosumer. PR 28(144):416; 25(131):283; 22(119):203
medium scale map, No hyphens. Very much depends on context, but typically 1:25 000 to 1:250 000 for medium scale
photography mapping. See also large scale map, small scale map. PR 22(117):53; 17(99):405
mesh, meshing English version of German Masche, maschen. See also Delaunay triangulation, point cloud, TIN. Cf.
wireframe model. PR 30(149):82; 29(147):278; 29(146):167; 29(145):30
metadata Generic data about datasets (images, point clouds, 3D models, etc.). May use Exif, XML, etc.
metre SI fundamental unit; symbol m; NOT meter (US). See also BIPM, metric system.
metric Concerned with measurement, e.g. scaled geometric properties, 3D coordinates. See also metric camera,
metric system. Cf. non-metric camera, semantic, topology. PR 25(131):283, 266
metric camera Camera with a known and stable interior orientation and known lens distortion characteristics, closely
conforming to central perspective geometry. See also frame array, large format, linear array,
medium format, pushbroom. Cf. non-metric camera, prosumer.
metric system Decimal system of measurement based on metre and kilogram. See also BIPM, SI.
metrology Accurate 3D measurement, e.g. in a scientific, engineering or industrial setting. See also CMM, GUM,
JCGM, metric, uncertainty, VIM, vision metrology. PR 25(130):119; 20(111):241; 16(95):823
MicMac Multi-images correspondences, Methodes automatiques de correlation. Image-matching software (open-
source) produced by IGN France that can be linked to APERO module.
Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 30(151):279; 29(146):144
micrometre Symbol lm; NOT micron, NOT l (BIPM abrogation of earlier decision, 1968). 10-6 m.
Microsoft/Vexcel Manufacturer of the UltraCam series of digital aerial metric cameras. See also large format, medium
Imaging format. Cf. Leica Geosystems, Optech, Trimble. PR 28(144):416; 28(141):96
MILC mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. Camera enabling use of different lenses with through-the-lens
viewfinding but without the mirror reflex optical system of a DSLR. PR 30(151):279
mobile mapping Digital camera or laser scanner system on a moving vehicle, often integrated with GNSS and INS for
direct georeferencing. PR 30(150):187; 30(149):30, 63; 28(143):240; 24(126):122
model, modelling 1. Terms to be used in strong preference to reconstruction or extraction in the context of non-contact
measurement and mapping of real-world objects. See also feature extraction.
2. Model (photogrammetric model or stereoscopic model) is the preferred term for the 3D space in which
photogrammetric measurements are made. See also model coordinates, model space.
3. Also used to describe a 3D model (terrain, photo-realistic, etc.) in BIM, CAD, city modelling,
graphics, virtual reality, visualisation, etc. See also DEM, DHM, DSM, DTM, nDSM.
model base -adj. Line or distance between two perspective centres in a model(2). Cf. base, photo base.
model coordinates -adj. Normally x, y, z (3D, lower case italic); model-space coordinates acceptable in some contexts. See
also model. Cf. ground coordinates, image coordinates, object coordinates.
model point -adj. 3D point in model space. See also model coordinates. Cf. image point, object point.
model space -adj. In a 3D photogrammetric model(2), as opposed to image space or object space. See also model
base, model coordinates, model point.
MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. US (NASA) 36-band instruments on board multinational
Terra and Aqua satellites. See also EOS, hyperspectral, spectroscopy.
moire imaging Note French e. 3D imaging which uses interferometry fringes, especially for deformation studies. See
also structured light. PR 21(115):269; 13(74):217
monochrome, 1. A very narrow range of wavelengths, as used in a laser and lidar. Cf. panchromatic, PAN.
monochromatic 2. More generally, one contrasting colour, often black and white. See also binary image.
© 2016 The Author


monocular Relating to a single eye or image and thus non-stereoscopic; NOT monoscopic. Cf. binocular, trinocular,
multiview. PR 30(150):187; 26(133):58; 23(124):424
Monte Carlo Repeated random sampling to obtain results, using stochastic models, that are difficult by analytical
simulation mathematical methods. PR 29(148):417; 29(147):297; 23(124):424; 23(122):148
mosaic, mosaicked, Noun or verb. Note “c” or “ck”. Combining multiple images (possibly rectified or orthorectified) into a
mosaicking composite image. Cf. (unrelated) demosaicking. PR 30(150):143; 25(130):119
motion blur Blur due to either camera or object movement. See also IMC, FMC. PR 29(148):434
Mpixel megapixel(s). Nominally 106 pixels. Number of elements(1) in a camera’s CCD or CMOS.
MSER maximally stable extremal region (CV). Robust image matching technique using pixels which are much
brighter or darker than their surroundings. PR 30(150):166
MSL mean sea level. Equipotential surface representing a geoid above which heights are measured.
MSS 1. multispectral scanner. See also multi-band, XS. Cf. hyperspectral, PAN, ultraspectral.
2. Specific four-band 80 m imagery from Landsat. PR 16(96):997; 10(59):575; 9(50):157
MTF modulation transfer function. The modulus of the OTF. Preferred measure of resolution of an optical
system. See also spatial resolution. PR 30(149):100; 24(127):217; 21(114):141
multi-band Hyphen. More than one band. Multispectral is well established in English. Multi-bande replaces
multispectral in French on the grounds that only one electromagnetic spectrum exists.
multi-camera, Cameras, including aerial cameras and satellite systems, with more than one camera.
multiple camera 1. PAN AND MSS: Many aerial cameras and satellite systems employ both PAN and MSS.
(array, rig, system) 2. OBLIQUE: Aerial cameras which use 2 to 5 cameras taking oblique (and sometimes nadir) images in
across-track and also (4 or 5 cameras) along-track imagery. See also convergent.
multibeam No hyphen. Term mainly used in bathymetry surveys to form a marine DEM. PR 25(132):382
multidimensional No hyphen. More than one dimension. See also 2D, 25D, 3D, 4D.
multi-lens camera Note hyphen. Examples include DMC and UltraCam. See also multi-camera.
multilinear Family of constraints including epipolar (bilinear), trilinear and quadlinear. PR 27(137):74
multipath No hyphen. Error in GNSS observations due to signal bounce from neighbouring objects.
multimedia One word. Combination of text, image, audio, video, animation, etc. See also augmented reality, virtual
reality, musealisation. Cf. (unrelated) multi-media photogrammetry.
multi-media Note hyphen. Extension of two-media photogrammetry where more than one interface is involved. See
photogrammetry also refraction. Cf. (unrelated) multimedia. PR 24(125):37
multisource Data from more than one system, e.g. aerial photography/lidar, or different satellite imagery. See also
conflation, fusion, registration. PR 30(151):263; 30(150):166; 26(136):462
multispectral Several spectral bands. See also hyperspectral, MSS, multi-band, spectral resolution, XS,
ultraspectral. PR 29(148):383; 26(136):439; 26(134):229; 23(124):424
multistation Multiple camera stations positioned such that most object features appear in several images. See also
bundle adjustment, multiview, SfM, tri-stereoscopic. PR 15(86):277; 10(56):181
multitemporal Multiple epochs, inferring revisits over time (especially satellites). PR 27(140):462; 27(139):311
multiview, CV. Also multi-view, MVS. Three or more images covering each part of an object, often using
multiview stereo, convergent imagery and SfM. See also, bilinear, epipolar, multilinear, multistation, quadlinear,
multiple view trilinear, trinocular, tri-stereoscopic. PR 29(146):144; 27(137):74
musealisation A virtual museum, e.g. digital model(3) of historic site. See also virtual reality. PR 28(144):375
MVS See multiview stereo.
MWIR medium-wave infrared. Cf. LWIR, NIR, SWIR, thermal infrared, VNIR.
nadir image Near-vertical image, not oblique, forward or backward images. See also multi-camera.
nadir point Point where the vertical line through the perspective centre of an aerial camera intersects the plane of the
photograph (where the image of the plumb point is formed). Cf. principal point.
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration. US government agency responsible for EOS civilian
space programme. Cf. CNES, CNSA, DLR, ESA, ISRO, JAXA. PR 29(147):337
NASG National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation of China. Also: State Bureau of
Surveying and Mapping. National mapping agency (NMA) in China. Affiliated to CASM. Cf. IGN, OS,
USGS. Operates ZY-3 satellite.
NAVSTAR Navigation System with Timing and Ranging. Original series of GNSS satellites (also other variants). Like
later GPS and GLONASS, NOT imaging satellites. See also Doppler(2).
© 2016 The Author


NBVP next best view planning. Related to photogrammetric network design. PR 29(147):317
NCC normalised cross correlation. Form of cross correlation scaled between 0 and 1 and used in image
matching, watermarking, etc. PR 31(153):29, 51; 29(146):144
nDSM normalised digital surface model. Obtained by subtracting DEM from the DSM to give the heights(1) of
buildings and vegetation. Cf. DGM, DHM, DTM. PR 29(146):187; 28(142):196
near-vertical image, Camera axis intended to point vertically down (mainly aerial and satellite imagery). See also vertical
photograph photography, nadir image. Cf. oblique photograph, convergent imagery.
network design Optimal photogrammetric set-ups of various orders(4) based on geodetic theory. See also free network,
NBVP. PR 29(147):317; 28(142):178; 22(120):336; 22(117):22; 20(111):205
neural network CV. Connected components for image recognition; based on biologically inspired learning algorithms.
Also feedforward neural network. PR 30(150):187; 28(143):240; 22(120):336
NGA National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Until 1996 National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA);
government agency within the US Department of Defense. See also GeoEye.
NIR near infrared; -adj. As optical (reflectance) should be clearly distinguished from the thermal infrared
(emission). See also ASTER, false colour, infrared; cf. CIR, LWIR, MWIR, RGBN, SWIR, VNIR.
PR 26(134):229; 21(113):16; 20(111):218
NITF National Imagery Transmission Format. US Department of Defense standard for the storage and
transmission of digital imagery. Cf. GeoTIFF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, TIFF
NMA, NMO, national mapping agency, organisation; either form acceptable (be consistent); also national mapping and
NMCA cadastral agency. See also IGN, NASG, OS, USGS. PR 27(137):29; 17(98):291
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. US agency responsible for scientific research
concerning climate, weather, oceans and coasts. Operates a series of meteorological satellites (see also
AVHRR). Also includes the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), formerly the US Coast and Geodetic
Survey (1878–1970). Cf. USGS. PR 21(114):110
nodes 1. CAMERA: Inner and outer (exit and entry) nodes of a lens. Equivalent to perspective centre.
2. TOPOLOGY: Junction of adjoining elements. PR 28(142):130; 27(139):311; 27(137):8
noise Signal deviation from its true value in dB. See also denoising, Gaussian noise, PSNR, random error,
signal-to-noise ratio, systematic error. PR 30(149):100; 26(134):171; 24(127):217
non-metric camera A camera that has an unstable interior orientation and may not conform closely to a central perspective.
Often used in close range photogrammetry and computer vision, e.g. SfM. See also consumer-grade
camera, COTS, off-the-shelf camera, prosumer, self-calibration.
Cf. metric camera. PR 26(133):111; 24(127):264; 17(97):25, 63
non-topographic Non-mapping applications of photogrammetry. Historic term: close range photogrammetry now preferred
photogrammetry (as topography may still be involved). PR 8(46):505; 6(34):357
normal, 1. MATHEMATICS: Line or vector at right angles (othogonal) to another line, curve or surface.
(normalised) 2. GENERAL: The standard or usual situation. See also normal case, normal distribution.
3. NORMALISED: Scaling to a standard range, e.g. -1 to +1 or 0 to 1. See also NCC, nDSM.
normal angle, With an aerial analogue camera (230 mm negative), implies 305 mm focal length. Digital aerial
lens, photography cameras differ. Cf. wide angle, super-wide angle. PR 24(126):157; 17(99):405
normal case Photogrammetric set-up where adjacent camera stations employ (approximately) parallel axes, as in
conventional vertical aerial photography or with UAVs. See also near-vertical photograph, canonical
configuration (CV). Cf. oblique photograph, convergent imagery.
normal distribution Bell-shaped (ogive) distribution of random errors with zero mean and standard deviation r. See also
Gaussian function, Gauss–Markov, precision, stochastic model. PR 28(144):342, 362
normal equations, Solution of condition equations, combined model or observation equations (Ax = l + v) using a least
normal matrix squares adjustment. Matrix symbol N (= ATWA) where A is the Jacobian matrix and W is the
weight matrix. PR 28(142):162; 26(135):339; 26(134):250; 12(71):637
northing Object coordinate in north–south or Y direction. Symbol N as in (E, N, H). Cf. easting.
NSSDA National Standards for Spatial Data Accuracy (US). Cf. OGC. PR 23(122):148; 20(112):335
null hypothesis In statistics, the situation to be tested against an alternative at a particular level of confidence. Symbol H0.
See also Student’s t-test. PR 28(142):211; 12(71):637
null matrix A matrix with every element(3) equal to zero. Also zero matrix. Symbol: 0. PR 13(77):645
NURBS non-uniform rational basis spline; one hyphen. 3D mathematical model that represents a wide variety of
geometric shapes. See also B-spline. Cf. freeform. PR 30(152):339; 27(139):311; 26(136):462
Nyquist frequency Twice the highest spatial frequency: required to maintain signal/image quality during sampling. See also
aliasing, MTF, PSF. PR 30(149):100; 25(129):42; 24(127):217; 21(114):161
© 2016 The Author


object 1. An entity in the real world. 2. A collection of related features or elements within a spatial (object-
based) database, although it is preferable to reserve “object” for the real world and “feature” for its
abstraction or representation. Cf. object oriented, object space.
object based, -adj. “Object oriented” relates to a programming paradigm, not explicitly to spatial data. “Object based”
object oriented also relates to classification during image processing. PR 28(142):145; 25(132):356
object coordinates Normally X, Y, Z (3D, upper case italic) (especially close range); sometimes E, N, H. See also ground
coordinates, world coordinates (CV). Cf. image coordinates, model coordinates.
object plane -adj. A planar surface in object space, sometimes an idealised ground or building surface and often
roughly parallel with the image plane. See also cross ratio. PR 26(133):16; 23(121):6
object pixel Sometimes used in close range photogrammetry as equivalent of (aerial, topographic) GSD; “pixel size
resolution in object-space units” preferred, to avoid confusing this simple concept with the more complex spatial
resolution resulting from the entire optical system. PR 26(134):212
object point 3D point in object space. See also object coordinates. Cf. image point, model point.
object space In the 3D real world. See also object coordinates, object point. Cf. model space, image space.
objective function In optimisation, minimiser of a mathematical function. See also clustering. Cf. least squares.
PR 30(152):363; 30(151):263; 28(144):396; 28(142):130; 23(124):405; 23(122):170
oblique photograph, Aerial photography with camera axis intentionally not close to the vertical. The horizon is visible on high-
image, oblique photography, but not on low-oblique photography. Often combined with near-vertical (nadir)
camera images in multi-camera systems. See also convergent imagery. Cf. vertical aerial photograph,
panoramic. PR 31(153):9; 26(133):16; 25(131):240; 23(124):353, 372
observation Overdetermined equations Ax = l + v directly relating unknowns x and observations l (Jacobian A,
equations residuals v). Unique least squares adjustment via normal equations. Cf. condition equations,
combined model. PR 28(142):162; 27(139):272, 330; 12(71):637
occlusion Part of the ground or object obscured by another feature (e.g. tree, vehicle) on one or more images. See
also self-occlusion. PR 30(149):46; 29(145):49; 22(118):151; 22(117):39
octocopter Type of UAV/UAS (RPAS, RPV, sUAS) with eight rotors. Cf. quadrotor. PR 30(151):279
octree Tree-like data structure where each node has eight branches. PR 27(138):175; 26(133):32
OEEPE Organisation Europeenne d’Etudes Photogrammetriques Experimentales. From 2003 EuroSDR.
offline One word. Not connected to the Internet, intranet or other networked system. Cf. online.
off-the-shelf Two hyphens. Non-specialist, readily purchased SLR, DSLR, MILC. See also consumer-grade, COTS,
(camera, system) non-metric camera, prosumer. Cf. metric camera. PR 29(146):206; 21(116):357
OGC Open Geospatial Consortium. Global standards organisation. See also ISO, JCGM, NSSDA.
omission error Incorrect data rejection (false negative). Cf. commission error. PR 31(153):29; 12(72):787
one-to-one (correspondence, mapping, transformation) Two hyphens as adjectival. Avoid numerals 1–1.
online One word. Connected to the Internet, intranet or other networked system. Cf. offline.
on the fly -adj. While moving or in flight, e.g. GNSS. Cf. real time. PR 30(149):100; 24(127):280
OpenCV Open-source software library for computer vision. PR 30(149):82; 29(145):10
OpenGL Open graphics library. Interacts with a GPU for rendering 2D and 3D graphics. PR 31(153):29
open-source One hyphen. Software whose source code is available to users for modification and is usually free. See
also photogrammetric software(5). PR 30(149):82; 29(146):144
Optech Canadian company owned by Teledyne, founded in 1974. Important manufacturer of laser scanners (both ALS and
TLS). Acquired DiMAC (Belgium) in 2010 to also provide large-format (D-) and medium-format (T-) FMC
aerial cameras and mobile mapping systems. Cf. FARO, Leica Geosystems, Riegl, Topcon, Trimble.
PR 30(149):8; 28(144):416; 27(139):272; 26(135):361; 26(133):32; 24(126):122; 23(122):148; 21(116):312
opto-electronic Hyphen except in “modular optoelectronic multispectral scanner” (MOMS) from DLR.
ORB Oriented BRIEF. A feature-based matching method that is faster than SIFT or SURF.
ORBIMAGE Orbital Imaging Corporation. Owner (1992–) of OrbView satellites; became GeoEye in 2006.
orbit Satellite track; note in orbit, NEVER on orbit. PR 30(150):211; 29(145):68
orbit–attitude En-rule, NOT hyphen. A satellite sensor model to determine the satellite’s exterior orientation
model parameters. Cf. position–rotation model. PR 22(119):257; 21(114):110; 14(84):973
orbital altitude Spaceborne equivalent of flying height or camera-to-object distance. PR 29(148):383
OrbView US commercial imaging satellites from ORBIMAGE. Orbview-2 (1997–2010) was for ocean monitoring,
OrbView-3 (2003–2007) took 4 m MSS and 1 m PAN imagery. OrbView-5 became GeoEye-1 before its
launch in 2008. PR 28(144):362; 27(137):58
© 2016 The Author


order, 1. MATRICES: The size (rows 9 columns) of a matrix or vector, e.g. 394, sometimes written M3,4. A
higher order, vector has only one column, so has order n91. PR 30(150):187
lower order, 2. ACCURACY: Higher-order accuracy methods used for control points and check points to reference or
zero order, analyse lower-order methods. PR 29(146):144
first order, 3. POLYNOMIALS: Lower-order polynomials may not model sufficiently accurately. Higher orders may suffer
second order, from overparameterisation (e.g. RPC). PR 30(150):143, 211; 27(137):58
third order, etc. 4. NETWORK DESIGN: Photogrammetric adaption of geodetic network design hierarchies. PR 29(147):317
ordinate y axis (vertical axis) on a graph. Cf. abscissa.
ORFEO Optical and Radar Federated Earth Observation. Franco-Italian satellite collaboration with Pleiades
(French, optical) and COSMO-SkyMed (Italian, radar).
orientation 1. PHOTOGRAMMETRY: Determination of camera pose. Translation and rotation between image
coordinates and object coordinates. See also interior orientation, exterior orientation, relative
orientation, absolute orientation, DSO, ISO(2).
2. GENERAL: Attitude, direction, rotation (rather than full pose which also includes position).
ORIMA Orientation and block triangulation software used in IMAGINE Photogrammetry and (previously)
LPS and SOCET SET. See also aerial triangulation, self-calibration.
Cf. BINGO, BLUH, inBLOCK, SSBA. PR 28(142):145; 26(134):229; 20(111):241
orthogonal At right angles (90°, 100g or p/2 rad). See also normal, orthographic, ortho-image, PCA.
orthographic 3D to 2D projection of points orthogonally (at right angles) to a reference surface, as in a map, ortho-
(transformation) image (or true ortho-image) and some 3D graphics. Cf. perspective transformation.
ortho-image Hyphen. Differentially rectified image (perspective transformation to an orthographic one), correcting
for most distortions including photo tilt and ground relief, though residual distortion (e.g. from buildings)
may remain. See also DOM, geocoded image, orthophotograph, orthophotomap. Cf. rectification,
true ortho-image. PR 29(145):49; 27(140):401; 27(137):94; 23(124):387
orthometric height Height measured above the geoid (MSL) as used on maps and contours(1). Cf. ellipsoid height.
orthophotograph Also orthophoto. See ortho-image. PR 29(148):383, 29(145):49; 27(140):401; 18(102):156
orthophotomap Map with its base from an orthophotograph or ortho-image. See also DOM. PR 29(148):383
orthophotoprojector Historic instrument for producing orthophotographs. PR 11(64):371; 10(57):297
orthorectification No hyphen. Process of producing an ortho-image or orthophotograph, also termed differential
rectification. Cf. rectification. PR 29(145):49; 27(140):401; 27(137):94
OS, OSGB, OSNI, Ordnance Survey. NMAs of: Great Britain (OSGB) PR 17(98):291; Northern Ireland (OSNI)
OSi PR 10(58):447; and Republic of Ireland (OSi) PR 15(90):843. Cf. IGN, NASG, USGS.
OTF optical transfer function (ISO 12233). The most rigorous measure of the resolution of an optical system.
Its magnitude is the MTF. See also spatial resolution. PR 30(149):100; 7(42):687
out-of-plane Two hyphens. The lack of flatness in an image plane, especially the CCD array in a digital camera (CV).
distortion See also in-plane distortion, camera calibration. PR 22(118):135
outlier Measurement beyond expected range, considered a gross error. Detection by data snooping, GTM,
MAPSAC, RANSAC. See also commission error, false positive, robust estimation.
PR 30(151):263; 30(150):166; 28(143):261; 26(136):422; 26(134):190; 25(132):339
overdetermined More observations than the minimum necessary, thus possessing redundancy. Desirable to assess
precision; unique solution determined by least squares. PR 23(121):90; 21(116):355
overlap Areas common to two or more images, e.g. endlap, forward overlap, lateral overlap, sidelap.
overparameterised Solution contains too many parameters that cannot be accurately determined due to strong correlations
between them (e.g. decentring distortion parameters and principal point offsets in camera calibration
or self-calibration). See also additional parameters, RPC, systematic error. PR 30(151):279;
29(147):297; 29(145):68; 28(144):396; 29(141):86
paddle target Tilt-and-turn target used for registration of overlapping laser scanner images. PR 29(145):30
PAN, pan Short for panchromatic, e.g. pan-sharpened. Caps. PAN often with satellites. Cf. MSS, XS.
panchromatic Black-and-white image usually consisting of one visible-light band. See also PAN, pan-sharpened,
satellite(1). Cf. monochrome, MSS.
panoramic, Camera or image with a wide field of view (up to 360°). See also cylindrical panorama, image
panoramic camera stitching, spherical panorama. PR 29(147):278; 28(143):293; 26(134):212; 26(133):111
pan-sharpened Multispectral image combined with a panchromatic image of higher resolution. PR 21(113):44
parallax See x parallax, y parallax, vertical parallax. PR 29(148):417; 27(139):293; 27(137):36
parallax bar Instrument for determining heights from x parallax. PR 12(70):485; 12(69):323; 6(35):459
parallel axis, -adj. Camera axes (approximately) parallel; the normal case with vertical aerial photography and UAVs.
parallel axes Cf. convergent imagery, oblique. PR 30(151):279; 29(146):144; 23(122):228
© 2016 The Author


parameter space Set of all possible values in a mathematical model. PR 28(144):396; 23(122):170, 208; 23(121):90
particle swarm A search technique motivated by animal group behaviour (e.g. bird flocks) where the closeness of a
optimisation component to a global optimum is measured using a cost function. PR 30(152):363
pass point Point common to adjacent stereoscopic pairs on the same strip of aerial photography, often positioned at
(von) Gruber points, as used in a bundle adjustment. Two words. Normally distinguished from tie
point. German Verknupfungspunkt = both pass point and tie point; note false friend Passpunkt.
Cf. check point, ground control, tie strip. PR 23(124):353
PAT-B, PAT-M Former aerial triangulation software. PAT-B now developed as inBLOCK in Inpho software.
patch, patches See blob, image patch. Also patch-based methods. PR 30(149):63; 29(146):144; 28(144):342
pattern recognition Identifying and classifying structures, relations or patterns in data. PR 22(117):97; 11(63):322
PAZ Spanish SAR satellite (2015–). Similar to German TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X radar satellites with
which it forms a constellation. See also spotlight, stripmap.
PC personal computer (occasionally perspective centre). See also intranet, Internet, World Wide Web.
PCA, principal components analysis. Orthogonal transformation for converting correlated data to reduce
PCA-SIFT redundancy. May use eigenvalue, eigenvector. Cf. covariance matrix, k-means, SIFT. Also used with
multi-band images in remote sensing. PR 31(153):29; 30(150):166; 30(149):46; 20(111):218
PCI Geomatics Canadian company, founded 1982. Developer of Geomatica (photogrammetric software(6)).
PE&RS Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (NOT and). Official journal of ASPRS.
persistent scatterer, dominant scatterer over a long period; “permanent scatterer” has also been in common use but
permanent scatterer “persistent” is now preferred, as in PSInSAR. See also InSAR, DInSAR, SAR, scatterer.
perspective centre In a central perspective projection, the point through which all rays from object to image are assumed to
pass. Optical centre of a lens in theory, sometimes also called the projection centre, especially in
computer vision; in practical cameras this becomes two points, the outer and inner perspective centres
(or nodes). See also camera station. Cf. principal point(2).
PR 30(149):82; 29(148):417; 29(147):278; 27(137):74; 26(136):439; 25(130):159; 7(41):582.
perspective Function that transforms a 3D object point into a 2D image point. See also central perspective,
transformation projective geometry. Cf. orthographic. PR 30(151):263; 30(149):46; 21(115):211
perspective view 1. As seen by the eye or a camera (central perspective), e.g. with vanishing points.
2. Computer-generated view from a given position. Cf. rectification, ortho-image.
PFG Photogrammetrie – Fernerkundung – Geoinformation. Official journal of DGPF.
Phase One Danish manufacturer of medium-format cameras, including aerial cameras, e.g. iXA, iXR.
phase shift, Method of determining range (distance) using the signal shift between transmitted and received
phase difference continuous waves. Used in EDM, SAR and some laser scanners. Cf. ToF, triangulation.
phasor Also phase vector. Used in ToF range cameras. PR 27(138):155; 26(135):325
photo base Symbol b. Distance between camera stations on a single photograph of a stereopair, often estimated by
the distance between the conjugate principal points. Cf. base, model base.
photo control Occasionally photocontrol. See also control, ground control, signalise. PR 12(71):605
photo coordinates Image coordinates with origin at principal point. Normally x, y (sometimes u, v) (2D only, lower case
italic). See also line–sample, row–column. Cf. coordinate systems(1).
photogrammetry, Noun, adjective. Deriving accurate and reliable 3D measurements from images. Topographic and close-
photogrammetric range applications. Also name of ISPRS Commission II. Cf. 3D imaging, computer vision.
photogrammetric In the eras of analogue photogrammetry and analytical photogrammetry hardware included
hardware stereoplotters, comparators, rectifiers, orthophotoprojectors, etc. Today even DPWs are disappearing
leaving sensor systems as the only photogrammetric hardware. See also digital camera, laser scanner
manufacturers, photogrammetric software.
photogrammetric The following are examples (only) of software used in photogrammetry:
software 1. HIGH-END: ImageStation, IMAGINE Photogrammetry (LPS), Inpho, SOCET GXP.
2. MID-RANGE: Australis, ImageMaster (PI-3000), VirtuoZo, SURE.
3. LOW-COST: iWitness, PHOTOMOD, PhotoModeler.
4. SFM (not free): Bundler, iWitnessPRO, PhotoModeler, PhotoScan, Pix4D.
5. FREE AND OPEN-SOURCE (including SfM): 123DCatch, APERO, CMVS, MicMac, PhotoSynth, PMVS,
VisualSFM. See also OpenCV, OpenGL.
6. GIS, IMAGE ANALYSIS AND REMOTE SENSING SOFTWARE: These often have photogrammetric components,
e.g. ArcGIS, ERDAS IMAGINE, ENVI, Geomatica, TerrSet, TNTmips, etc.
7. SELF-CALIBRATING BUNDLE ADJUSTMENT: BINGO, BLUH, inBLOCK, ORIMA, SSBA.
photograph, Picture taken with a camera. Traditionally recorded on film or a glass diapositive. Often simply photo.
photography Modern digital pictures tend to use the more general term image, though not essential.
© 2016 The Author


photo-interpretation Non-metric identification of features on an image. See also semantic, terrain analysis.
PHOTOMOD Photogrammetry software(3) from Russian company Racurs. PR 31(153):9; 29(145):108
PhotoModeler Cap “M”, one “l”. Low-cost commercial 3D modelling, SfM and image matching software from Eos
Systems (Canada). Accommodates coded targets. Cf. photogrammetric software(3–5).
PR 30(150):227; 29(148):434; 28(144):375; 28(142):211; 26(133):73; 20(112):335
photo-realistic Hyphen. Visualisation with fidelity of an equivalent photograph. PR 30(152):339; 28(141):27
photo scale Equivalent to image scale, e.g. 1:15 000, though approximate as varies with tilt and terrain.
PhotoScan Commercial SfM and image matching software from Russian company Agisoft. Can incorporate GCPs.
Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 29(147):297; 29(146):144
PhotoSynth Free Microsoft (US) cloud service, based on image matching using Bundler. Can create either SfM
“synths” or spherical panoramas. Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5).
PR 29(145):30; 27(137):36; 26(136):462
phototheodolite Historically, camera mounted on a theodolite to measure camera axis/base. PR 16(91):97
PI-3000 Forerunner of ImageMaster from Topcon. PR 26(136):462; 22(117):10; 20(112):335
piecewise One word. Applied to a function that has multiple sub-functions relating to different intervals.
pinhole image CV. Computer-vision term for central perspective image. PR 29(147):278; 28(141):27
pitch φ, Φ. Rotation about Y axis (nose/tail up/down in an aircraft). Cf. Euler angles, roll, yaw.
Pix4D Image matching and SfM software company based in Switzerland, focusing on UAV applications. Can
incorporate GCPs. Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 30(151):279
pixel picture element. Today applies to any digital imagery including CCD or CMOS sensors, SAR and ToF
range cameras. Cf. edgel, groundel, surfel, voxel. See also resolution element.
pixel count The number of pixels in a sensor or display, e.g. 1024 9 768; NOT pixel resolution. Cf. pixel size,
resolution, spatial resolution. PR 28(143):261; 27(138):227; 26(134):263; 25(131):283
pixel resolution Ambiguous term to be avoided. Instead use GSD, pixel count or pixel size as appropriate.
pixel size The size of the individual radiation-sensitive elements (e.g. CCD or CMOS) of a digital camera or
scanner, e.g. 59 lm or 4 lm 9 4 lm. Cf. GSD, resolution, spatial resolution.
planimetric 2D coordinates (object coordinates) (X, Y), (E, N) or (φ, k), in 3D object space, so no height (vertical)
coordinates component. Also plan coordinates. See also easting, northing, latitude, longitude.
Pleiades French (CNES and Airbus) high-resolution (07 m) optical satellites, Pleiades-1A (2011–) and Pleiades-
1B (2012–). Part of Franco-Italian ORFEO collaboration. Similar architecture to SPOT-6 and -7, with
which its forms a 4-satellite constellation (90° apart). PR 27(137):58
plumb, plumb line, -adj. “Plumb” implies vertical. Also plumb bob. Plumb point only be coincident with the principal point
plumb point on a truly vertical photograph. See also nadir point, height displacement.
plumb-line Hyphen as adjectival. Method of camera calibration using (vertical) plumb lines in a laboratory. PR 25
calibration (130):140; 22(118):135; 16(91):51
PMVS CV. Patch-based Multi-View Stereo. Multiview (open-source) software by Furukawa and Ponce (2010).
A cross-correlation method used in image matching. Follows a multi-step approach that does not need
any initial approximation solution of the surface. Extended by CMVS. Cf. photogrammetric
software(4, 5). PR 30(151):279; 29(146):144; 26(136):462
point cloud, Separate words. Large number of X, Y, Z data points produced by laser scanning or dense image
point cloud data, matching. Can be converted to a TIN (mesh) by Delaunay triangulation to form a DSM.
dense point cloud PR 31(153):71; 29(148):402; 29(147):297; 29(146):144; 29(145):10, 30; 28(144):342
polar coordinates 2D (r, h) or 3D (r, h, φ) radial coordinates(1, 2). Cf. Cartesian coordinates. PR 29(147):337
polyline String of topologically connected straight lines used in CAD etc. PR 29(148):402
polynomial time The time for a computer to solve a problem, expressed as a simple polynomial function of the size of the
input. Such algorithms are generally reasonable to compute. PR 29(146):144
polynomial A 2D–2D transformation (rubber-sheet transformation) or 3D–3D transformation that uses polynomials
transformation of a given order(3). Can suffer from overparametrisation. See also RFM, RSM.
pose CV. Translation and rotation of an object/sensor (thus exterior orientation). PR 30(149):46
position–rotation En-rule, NOT hyphen. A satellite sensor model to determine the satellite’s exterior orientation
model parameters. Cf. orbit–attitude model. PR 22(119):257; 21(114):110; 14(84):973
post-processing Hyphen. Not real time; data manipulation subsequent to data collection. Cf. preprocessing.
precision The repeatability of a result, including the number of significant figures quoted, regardless of its
correctness. Can be computed from a variance–covariance matrix and indicative of random errors
following a normal distribution. See also Gaussian noise, precision. Cf. accuracy, ground truth.
PR 29(148):417; 29(147):278; 26(134):171; 12(71):637
© 2016 The Author


premark, pre-mark Noun and verb, respectively. See also pre-signalise, target. Cf. markerless.
preprocessing No hyphen. Initial manipulation prior to main processing. Cf. post-processing.
pre-signalise Verb equivalent to pre-mark; to place markers on the ground or object at survey stations, prior to
photography or laser scanning. See also signalise, target, coded target. PR 28(143):275
prime lens A camera lens with a single focal length (e.g. 50 mm). However, focusing alters the principal distance
(calibrated focal length) which is not fixed. Cf. zoom lens. PR 27(138):175
primitive CV. Basic shape (e.g. line, plane, cylinder, edge, corner) derived from a complex scene, often used in
image matching. PR 30(151):263; 29(146):144; 28(144):342; 28(143):276
principal distance The length of the normal from the perspective centre (strictly the inner node) of a camera’s lens to the
image plane; symbol f or c. Known as camera constant in German-speaking countries, although not a
constant. Identical to calibrated focal length (US). See also focal length. Some CV usage involves
x and y components fx and fy. PR 29(147):297; 25(130):180
principal plane Plane through perspective centre orthogonal to optical axis. See also Scheimpflug condition.
principal point 1. PHOTOGRAMMETRY: The point at which the normal from the perspective centre (inner node) intersects
the image plane. In a perfect camera this will be identical to the (principal) point of autocollimation.
Not identical to nadir point unless the camera is perfectly free of tilt.
2. OPTICS: Equivalent of the photogrammetric term perspective centre.
PR 29(148):434; 29(147):297; 29(145):68; 28(141):86; 16(92):165; 16(92):293
program, Program used in both UK and US English for computer program (programmable; programmed;
programme programming). Non-computer usage (e.g. conference . . .): programme (UK); program (US).
projective coupling, High correlations causing overparametrisation (e.g. between principal point offsets and decentring
compensation distortion or camera station). PR 29(147):297; 26(135):339; 21(116):355
projective space, Provides theoretical basis for central perspective geometry of a camera using homogeneous coordinates.
geometry See also collineation, cross ratio, DLT, homography. Cf. Euclidean space.
PR 30(150):166; 29(148):417; 23(122):208; 21(115):211; 17(100):615; 7(37):39
projective A homography; 8 parameters (393 homography matrix) in 2D; 15 parameters (494 matrix) in 3D.
transformation Most general of the straight-line preserving transformations(1). See also rectification.
prosumer Part way between consumer-grade and specialist professional. Often applied to high-end DSLRs from
common manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony (e.g. for UAVs).
PSF point spread function. A measure of image degradation. See also blur, convolution, GSD, ISF, MTF.
PR 30(149):100; 27(138):155; 23(123):290
PSInSAR InSAR using persistent scatterer. See also DInSAR, interferometry, scatterer.
PSNR peak signal-to-noise ratio. Maximum signal relative to noise in dB. PR 31(153):51; 20(112):351
pushbroom One word. Linear array of CCD detectors imaged simultaneously; adjacent lines from the forward
motion of sensor or sometimes by sensor rotation. PR 28(142):145; 26(134):212; 25(130):159;
27(137):58; 23(123):255; 22(119):203; 21(115):198
quadlinear Multiview (multilinear) constraint with four photos. Cf. bilinear constraint, epipolar constraint,
(constraint) coplanarity condition, trilinear constraint. PR 27(137):74
quadrotor Type of UAV/UAS with four rotors (also quadrocopter). Cf. octocopter. PR 26(136):400
quaternions Complex numbers of the form w + xi + yj +zk used to perform large 3D rotations independent of initial
values. See also dual quaternion, homogeneous coordinates. Cf. Euler angles. PR 30(151):300;
23(121):69; 22(120):309; 20(110):109
QuickBird Satellite owned by DigitalGlobe, capturing VHRI. QuickBird-1 (2000) failed; -2 (2001–15); 06 m.
PR 30(152):363; 30(150):166; 27(137):58; 23(123):255; 22(117):39, 75; 19(106):128
radar radio detection and ranging. All lower case; a word in its own right (cf. laser and lidar). See also InSAR,
radargrammetry, SAR, ToF. Cf. 3D imaging. PR 29(146):167; 26(135):325
radar altimeter Measures the altitude of an aircraft or spacecraft above the terrain. Cf. laser altimetry.
radargrammetry Radar photogrammetry, though usage waning. Cf. lasergrammetry, photogrammetry, videogrammetry.
See also SAR, InSAR. PR 21(114):124; 21(113):61; 18(104):308
RADARSAT Canadian SAR satellites. RADARSAT-1 (1995–2013) and -2 (2007–). 3-satellite constellation planned
for 2018. Part of EOS programme. PR 28(143):312; 21(114):124; 16(91):111
radial distortion Lens distortion where image points are displaced radially from the principal point. Symbols k1, k2, k3, . . .
(lens) (also K1, K2, K3, . . .). See also additional parameters. Cf. tangential distortion, decentring distortion,
in-plane distortion. PR 29(147):297; 29(145):68; 28(141):86; 27(138):210
radian Angular measure; symbol rad or c. 2p rad = 360° = 400g. Dimensionless (as a ratio of circular arc to
radius) and often the preferred angular measure in mathematics. Cf. degree, gon.
© 2016 The Author


radiation 1. MEASUREMENT: Both angle and distance from a single station, rather than (solely angular) intersection
or triangulation methods. Used by total station, range camera, ToF, SAR.
2. REMOTE SENSING: Energy reflected or emitted by an object and measured by a sensor.
radiometric Number n of grey-level values (2n), e.g. 6 bit (64), 8 bit (256), 10 bit (1024). See also bit depth,
resolution resolution. Cf. spatial resolution, spectral resolution, temporal resolution. PR 28(141):96
random error Small errors following a normal distribution which are inevitable in precision measurement. See also
uncertainty, Gaussian noise. Cf. systematic errors, gross errors. PR 30(150):143; 12(71):637
range, ranging 1. Synonymous with distance, e.g. in radar and lidar. See also rangefinder. PR 26(134):171
2. Difference between highest and lowest values as, e.g. in depth of field. PR 29(145):30
range camera, Array of pixel values measuring the sensor-to-object distance based on ToF, combining the advantages of
range image, range digital cameras and laser scanning. To be clearly distinguished from a rangefinder. See also CCD,
imaging CMOS, depth map, point cloud, ToF range camera. Cf. 3D imaging. PR 29(145):30, 89; 27
(138):155; 26(134):171; 23(122):228
rangefinder One word. Simple instrument that measures single distance (range) to an object. PR 28(141):74
range sensor Generic term for laser scanners and ToF range cameras. PR 29(146):144; 29(136):439
rank 1. MATRIX: Number of linearly independent variables in a matrix. See also rank-deficient.
2. STATISTICS: Position in a hierarchy, e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, . . . See also order(2, 4). Cf. LoD.
rank-deficient One hyphen. A (matrix) solution containing dependent parameters (rank is less than its order), giving a
singular solution. See also datum problem. Cf. overparameterised. PR 13(77):645
RANSAC random sample consensus, as introduced by Fischler and Bolles (1981) (CV). Upper case. Robust image
matching estimator that counters the effect of outliers and large gross errors.
PR 31(153):29; 30(151):279; 30(150):166; 28(144):342; 28(143):240; 27(138):137; 25(129):5.
RapidEye 5-satellite constellation launched in 2008 by RapidEye AG (Germany), taking 5 m MSS imagery. 2011–
15 owned by BlackBridge Group (Canada); 2015– by Planet Labs (US).
raster, rasterised Formed by area elements or pixels, rather than vectors (lines). PR 30(150):143; 26(136):488
RBF radial basis function (CV). Depends solely on radial distance. See also kernel. PR 30(150):187
RCxx (e.g. RC10, Aerial analogue cameras produced by Wild then Leica Geosystems. RCD is digital. See also ADSxx,
RC30, RCD30) archival imagery. Cf. RMK, DMC, UltraCam. PR 24(126):157; 23(121):19
real time -adj. Current, simultaneous, e.g. RTK, videogrammetry. Cf. on the fly, post-processing.
real world -adj. Actual, not simulated or virtual. See also augmented reality. Cf. virtual reality.
reconstruction, Widely used, though deprecated by purists who avoid this term in the context of the non-contact
reconstruction measurement of real-world objects which remain unaltered after information about them is extracted in
order to model them. See also feature extraction, modelling.
rectification 1. Forming truly normal case (parallel axes or canonical configuration) from tilted images. This
projective transformation is a 2D homography such that all epipolar lines are parallel to the base. In
near-vertical photography removes tilt (but not relief), historically using a rectifier. Cf. differential
rectification, orthorectification. PR 16(93):399; 5(27):181.
2. Often used more generally for “correcting” an image in some way. PR 29(146):241
rectifier Historic instrument for rectification conforming to Scheimpflug condition. PR 19(105):22
redundancy 1. Difference between number of observations and the minimum necessary (degrees of freedom). Inherent
in spatial intersection and especially multiview, providing a measure of precision. See also
overdetermined, least squares. PR 28(142):162; 27(139):293; 20(111):205
2. Caused during sampling of a surface, e.g. by a laser scanner or in dense image matching where the
choice of point spacing produces oversampling. PR 28(142):196; 27(139):293
reference point Point whose coordinates are known in two (or more) coordinate systems and used to assist the similarity
transformation between systems. In photogrammetric contexts control point is preferred, although
“reference point” is used in set-up procedures for the digitisation of graphic maps or plans. In German
Passpunkt. Cf. check point, pass point, tie point.
reflectorless EDM without reflectors (targets). See also total station, markerless. Cf. retrotarget, signalise.
refraction Ray deflection at a change of media (e.g. air/water interface) or changes of density within a medium
(e.g. atmospheric refraction) according to Snell’s Law. See also two-media photogrammetry, multi-
media photogrammetry. PR 28(143):261; 14(79):99
region 1. CV: A connected part of an image with common characteristics used in image matching. See also
corners, edges, blobs, MSER. 2. GEOGRAPHY: Part of a country or continent.
region growing Aggregation of neighbouring pixels or cloud points with similar properties. See also Hough transform,
patch, RANSAC, region. Cf. segmentation. PR 28(144):342; 26(133):32, 91; 25(129):5; 23(124):441;
22(117):53; 20(109):69
© 2016 The Author


registration 1. Fitting of two or more datasets to a common coordinate system. See also conflation, co-registration,
fusion, ICP, integration, multisource, surface matching. PR 30(151):263; 29(149):46; 29(146):167;
29(145):10; 28(142):130; 28(141):7; 25(130):105
2. Colloquial photogrammetric use: general process of block triangulation and orientation(1).
3. CV. Linear methods of image transformation (similarity, affine, projective, polynomial).
relational matching Image-matching method based on associative properties (e.g. adjacency, connections, inclusion, relative
areas) using tree-search techniques (e.g. octree). PR 28(143):276; 27(137):36; 25(132):437
relative aperture f-number, f/ (NOT italic). A dimensionless scalar: the ratio of the focal length of a lens to the diameter
of its entrance pupil (e.g. f/8 is larger than f/16). This is the effective aperture but strictly NOT the same
as aperture. Avoid f/stop, stop, because of the risk of confusion between the aperture stop and the field
stop. See also speed. PR 26(134):229; 25(131):240
relative orientation CV. Formation of a 3D model from two (or more) images, often using the coplanarity condition. 5
parameters. Also fundamental-matrix or essential-matrix method (CV). Part of exterior orientation.
See also dual quaternion, (von) Gruber points. Different use of this term in CV (see registration(3)).
PR 30(151):300; 13(78):893; 10(57):343; 9(53):669
remote sensing Obtaining information about an object from a device not in contact with that object. Frequently partnered
with photogrammetry through societies such as ASPRS, CASM, DGPF, ISPRS, RSPSoc, SFPT.
Concerned with understanding the nature of features rather than the photogrammetric emphasis on
metric properties. Name of ISPRS Commission III.
resample Also resampling, resampled. Sampling more than once. Also a MATLAB function.
reseau No longer reseau. Grid of reference marks, especially in analogue photogrammetry.
residual Symbol v. Difference between an observation and its adjusted value, e.g. in least squares.
resolution Measure of image quality resulting from an entire optical system. If unqualified, generally means spatial resolution.
Avoid pixel resolution of an imaging or display system, which refers only to the total number of pixels (pixel
count). Cf. GSD, MTF, OTF, pixel size, radiometric resolution, spectral resolution, temporal resolution.
resolution element, In SAR imagery and other non-photographic situations (e.g. a DEM) the equivalent of pixel, although
resolution cell “pixel” is also often used in such contexts. PR 29(146):167; 27(137):94; 21(113):61
Resurs Russian satellites. Resurs-DK (2006–), -P1 (2013–), -P2 (2014–), -P3 (2016?–). Operates in route, areal
and stereo modes with 1 m PAN and 4 m 5-band MSS imagery.
retrotarget, Signal-returning target. Also retroreflector. No hyphen. See also target, coded target, signalise.
retroreflective Cf. reflectorless. PR 30(152):387; 29(148):417; 29(143):261; 27(139):253; 27(138):195
reverse engineering Disassembling an object (or software etc.) to form a copy or CAD model. Can use a CMM, laser
scanning or photogrammetric images, etc. PR 28(144):342; 26(133):73; 16(93):457
RFM rational function model. Relates image coordinates to object coordinates in spaceborne imagery, using
RPC or RSM(1). PR 31(153):88; 28(143):312; 27(137):58; 22(120):309
RGB red/green/blue. Two solidi. An additive colour model. Cf. CMY, HSI. PR 30(150):166
RGBA red/green/blue/alpha. Three solidi. See also alpha matting, alpha compositing, RGB, RGBN.
RGBN, RGBI red/green/blue/NIR. See also RGB, VNIR. 4-band mode used by many multispectral sensors.
RICS Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (NOT Institute). UK-based organisation for worldwide
professional standards in surveying (including digital aerial photography). Cf. FIG, NSSDA.
Riegl Important manufacturer of laser scanners (both ALS and TLS). Austrian company founded in 1978.
Cf. other laser scanner manufacturers. PR 30(151):279; 29(145):10; 27(139):272; 26(134):212;
25(131):225; 21(115):255; 20(111):218
right angle -adj. 90°, 100g or p/2 rad. See also degree, gon, normal, orthogonal, orthographic, radian.
RMK Series of aerial analogue cameras by Zeiss and Z/I Imaging. RMK-D digital (Intergraph). See also
archival imagery, DMC. Cf. RCxx. PR 28(144):416; 28(141):96; 23(121):51; 20(112):335; 12(68):167
RMSE, RMS root mean square error, root mean square. No stops; symbol m. Determined at check points.
See also error theory, standard error. Cf. standard deviation, variance. PR 30(150):143
robust estimation Techniques less sensitive to gross errors, outliers and noise, e.g. clustering, maximum likelihood,
RANSAC. See also SIFT, Canny operator, Hough transform, data snooping, GTM. PR 26(136):439;
25(132):356; 23(122):208
roll x, Ω. Rotation about X axis (wings up/down in an aircraft). Cf. Euler angles, pitch, yaw.
rotation Orientation of a camera, model or (3D) coordinate system. Can use omega (x, Ω), phi (φ, Φ), kappa
(j, Κ) Euler angles about X, Y, Z axes. Also a single 2D rotation about x, y axes. See also exterior
orientation, pose, rotation matrix. Cf. quaternion, translation.
rotation matrix Rotations in 3D – 393 matrix R (or M) with elements rij (mij) related to Euler angles x, φ, j.
Also rotations in 2D (292 matrix). PR 30(151):300; 26(135):339; 23(123):255; 21(115):211
© 2016 The Author


row–column CV. 2D left-handed coordinate system(1) in pixel units. Symbol (r, c). Similar to line–sample coordinates
(coordinates) and a matrix. Origin is upper-left corner of digital image; row is positive down; column is positive right.
Cf. image coordinates, photo coordinates. PR 31(153):88
RPAS remotely piloted aircraft system. UAV preferred. See also blimp, drone, RPV, UAS, sUAS.
RPC rational polynomial coefficient. RFM using ratios of third-order polynomials (especially for satellites).
See also bias compensation, overparameterisation, RSM(1). PR 28(143):312; 27(137):9, 26(135):325
RPV remotely piloted vehicle. UAV preferred. See also drone, RPAS, UAS, sUAS. PR 26(136):400
RSM 1. replacement sensor model. Substitute for (2) using RPC or grid interpolation/PCA. See also
polynomial transformation, photogrammetric software(1). PR 22(120):309; 20(112):366
2. rigorous sensor model. Less frequent use for the specific, physical sensor model, especially
spaceborne. “Original sensor model” preferred. PR 27(137):94; 26(135):325; 22(120):309
RSPSoc Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (UK). Official publications include The Photogrammetric
Record, International Journal of Remote Sensing and Remote Sensing Letters. Cf. ASPRS, CIG/ACSG,
CASM, DGPF, ISPRS, SFPT.
RTK real-time kinematic. One hyphen. GNSS method that uses reference base station(s) to provide real-time
(simultaneous) corrections to rovers. PR 28(142):145; 26(135):307; 25(132):382
rubber-sheet Image warping function. Sometimes used to resolve differences between disparate coordinate reference
transformation frames. See also geocorrection, polynomial transformation. PR 20(110):109
SAR synthetic aperture radar. SLAR with artificial antenna size. See also spotlight, stripmap, InSAR,
DInSAR, PSInSAR, satellite(4). PR 28(143):312; 27(139):311; 27(137):94
satellite Platform for sensor systems or GNSS. www.itc.nl/research/products/sensordb/searchsen.aspx and https://
directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions provide detailed information.
1. HIGH RESOLUTION: (PAN, MSS): ALOS (PRISM), Cartosat, EROS, FormoSat, GeoEye,
IKONOS, KOMPSAT 2–3A, OrbView, Pleiades, QuickBird, Resurs, SkySat,
SPOT 6–7, THEOS, WorldView, ZY-3.
2. OTHER OPTICAL: VNIR: IRS, Landsat, NOAA, RapidEye, Sentinel-2, SPOT 1–5, Aqua, Terra.
3. LIDAR: ICESat, LIST, Sentinel-3.
4. SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (SAR): ALOS (PALSAR), COSMO-SkyMed, Envisat, ERS,
KOMPSAT 5, PAZ, RADARSAT, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-3, TanDEM-X, TerraSAR-X.
5. GNSS (NON-IMAGING): BeiDou-2, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS. See also Doppler, NAVSTAR.
satellite-borne Hyphen. See also satellite, spaceborne. Cf. airborne. PR 28(141):43; 27(137):94
scalar A number (often unitless) or symbol, e.g. correlation coefficient, f-number, scale factor, sigma zero.
Cf. matrix, vector. PR 28(144):396; 27(138):175
scale Of an image, model, map, etc. Examples are 1:50 000 or 1/1627. Cf. scale factor.
scale factor A scalar in the form of a number or symbol k, e.g. 216 or kR. Cf. scale, rotation, translation.
scatterer Ground feature contributing to a SAR image or lidar data. Cf. dominant scatterer, persistent scatterer.
See also InSAR, DInSAR, PSInSAR. PR 30(149):30; 29(146):167
scene One satellite image, especially with arbitrary line count of pushbroom sensors. PR 22(119):257
Scheimpflug To yield a sharp image, the plane of a tilted or oblique image, the object plane and the principal plane
condition of the lens must intersect in a common line. See also rectifier. PR 25(131):283
segmentation Division of an image or point cloud into pixels or clusters with similar properties; subsequent grouping
into connected structures, e.g. blobs or edges. See also superpixels. PR 30(150):187; 30(149):46;
29(146):187; 28(144):342; 27(139):272, 330; 27(138):137, 175; 27(137):8
self-calibration Method of camera calibration where the inner orientation and lens distortion parameters are
determined during an actual photogrammetric project, rather than a priori, especially in close range
photogrammetry, in-flight calibration and pushbroom satellite imagery. Can be incorporated into a
bundle adjustment and SfM. See also additional parameters. PR 28(142):145; 28(141):86, 96;
27(137):58; 26(135):339; 25(130):140; 24(127):217; 23(123):323
self-occlusion One hyphen. A feature on one or more images obscured by part of the same feature, e.g. roof section
obscured by an adjacent chimney. See also occlusion. PR 29(147):317; 29(145):49
semantic Non-metric attributes about an object, allowing it to be (possibly automatically) identified and categorised.
information See also photo interpretation. PR 30(150):187; 27(139):293; 23(124):424
sensor model Mathematical model defining image geometry, e.g. orbit–attitude model, position–rotation model, RSM,
collinearity equations, coplanarity condition. PR 23(123):255; 22(119):257
sensor systems Photogrammetric hardware includes digital cameras and laser scanners plus thermal, hyperspectral
and radar sensors. Also the name of ISPRS Commission I. See also satellites.
© 2016 The Author


Sentinel 1. Sentinel-1 from ESA is a constellation of two satellites using SAR, as a continuation of ERS and
Envisat. Sentinel-1A (2014–), Sentinel-1B (2016–).
2. Sentinel-2 is also a two-satellite constellation from ESA, but using 10/20/60 m MSS imagery in 13
bands. Sentinel-2A (2015–), Sentinel-2B (2016–).
3. Sentinel-3A (2016–), -3B (2017–) from ESA. Multiple instruments including SAR and lidar.
set-up, set up Noun and verb, respectively, e.g. experimental set-up; set up an experiment. Cf. mash-up.
SfM structure from motion; -adj. Not SFM nor sfm. Solves the camera self-calibration and scene geometry
simultaneously and automatically, using image matching and a highly redundant bundle adjustment.
Determines 3D coordinates (structure) by the motion of the camera to several (multiview) positions
around an object. See also photogrammetric software(4, 5).
1. DETECTOR-BASED image matching for initial point correspondence and visualisation, e.g. PhotoScan,
iWitnessPRO, PhotoModeler, VisualSFM. Generally adopt linear formulations from computer vision
rather than rigorous non-linear photogrammetric orientation models.
2. FULL NETWORK ORIENTATION based on projective geometry and self-calibration. Packages with metric
rigour revert to standard photogrammetric orientation and camera calibration models. PR 30
(151):279; 29(147):297, 317; 29(146):144, 167; 29(145):30; 25(132):356
SFPT Societe Francßaise de Photogrammetrie et de Teledetection (French Society of Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing). Official publication is Revue Francßaise de Photogrammetrie et de Teledetection. Cf. ASPRS,
CIG/ACSG, CASM, DGPF, ISPRS, RSPSoc.
SGM semi-global matching. Combines the characteristics of local matching and global matching. Uses
pixelwise, mutual information-based matching for compensating radiometric differences in images.
Developed by Hirschm€uller (2005) and DLR. PR 30(151):279; 29(146):144
shape prior Previous knowledge of shape to constrain new searches (CV). PR 30(149):46; 25(132):356, 437
SI Systeme International d’Unites. Decimal metric system of units based on ampere, kilogram, metre,
second, Kelvin, mole and candela, whose worldwide uniformity is ensured by BIPM.
sidelap (Mainly US). Same as lateral overlap. Across-track overlap between adjacent strips of images. Cf.
forward overlap (endlap). PR 30(150):143; 29(148):434; 28(141):27; 26(134):190
Siemens star Upper case “S”. Circular target with multiple black-and-white radial sectors used for evaluating image
spatial resolution. See also blur. PR 30(149):100; 29(148):434; 25(132):402
SIFT scale-invariant feature transform (CV), introduced by Lowe (1999). One hyphen. Enables scale- and
rotation-invariant image matching; a robust estimator against affine distortion. See also SURF.
PR 30(150):166; 30(149):63; 29(145):10; 27(140):423; 26(134):190; 25(132):356
SIGGRAPH Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. Annual North American and
Asian computer-graphics conferences and proceedings, organised by ACM.
sigma naught, standard error of unit weight; r0 (r02 is variance factor). A posteriori measure of a least squares
sigma zero adjustment. 1 if (a priori) standard deviations are correct. PR 28(141):86; 6(31):3
signalise Target marking, normally at control points, for photography or laser scanning. See also pre-signalise,
coded target, paddle target, retrotarget. PR 29(147):337; 26(133):58
signal-to-noise ratio Two hyphens. Also SNR. Signal relative to unwanted errors (in dB). See also denoising, noise,
Gaussian noise, PSNR. PR 30(149):100; 29(146):224; 29(145):89; 27(138):155; 26(136):422
significant figures Ignores placement zeros: 342 9 10-6 has 3; 00049 has 2; 134 200 has 4; 213150 has 6 (not 5).
silhouette CV. Outline of an object as seen by a particular observer or camera position (not its full shape). See also
contour(2). PR 31(153):29; 30(150):227; 30(149):46; 29(146):144; 26(133):73
similarity 7-parameter 3D, or 4-parameter 2D, transformation (rotation; translation; scale factor) that preserves
transformation shape. See also Helmert transformation, conformal transformation, absolute orientation. Cf. affine
transformation. PR 29(146):206; 28(141):74; 27(139):311
singular A rank-deficient solution whose variables are linearly dependent. Cf. overparameterisation.
SIS spatial information science (also spatial information system). Broader discipline than geomatics that also
encompasses information management. Since 2000 this term has been added to the title of the ISPRS
Archives and ISPRS Annals (2012-). Name of ISPRS Commission IV. See also geospatial, GIS.
SkySat Commercial (micro)satellites from Skybox Imaging (US); acquired by Google in 2014. SkySat-1 (2013–),
-2 (2014–). Takes 09 m PAN and 20 m MSS imagery, plus 11 m PAN video.
SLAM simultaneous localisation and mapping. Used in robotics for autonomous vehicle navigation.
SLAR side-looking airborne radar. Hyphen. See also SAR, InSAR, DInSAR, PSInSAR, satellite(4).
SLR single-lens reflex; one hyphen. Type of non-metric camera (analogue camera or digital camera
(DSLR)) where photographer views the area to be captured through a viewfinder, usually with an
interchangeable prime lens or zoom lens. See also consumer-grade camera, COTS. Cf. metric
camera, MILC. PR 29(148):417; 29(148):278; 26(133):58
© 2016 The Author


small format -adj, e.g. small-format camera. PR 28(144):416; 26(135):339; 22(119):203; 13(74):225
small scale map, No hyphens. Very much depends on context, but perhaps smaller than 1:250 000 for small scale mapping.
photography See also large scale map, medium scale map. PR 10(60):669; 8(46):458
snake CV. An energy-minimising spline pulled by image forces towards primitives such as lines and edges. See
also active contours, balloon snake. PR 29(146):187; 23(124):405; 21(113):44
SNR See signal-to-noise ratio.
SOCET SET, SOftCopy Exploitation Toolkit. First commercial high-end photogrammetric software(1) for DPWs from
SOCET GXP US subsidiary of BAE Systems with origins back to Helava Associates. Current generation is SOCET
GXP (Geospatial eXploitation). PR 28(141):96; 26(134):229; 20(112):335
space 1. Beyond the earth’s atmosphere, as in aerospace, spaceborne, spacecraft (also ESA, NASA).
2. A specific area or extent, as in image space, model space, object space, space intersection, space
resection. See also Euclidean space, parameter space, projective space.
spaceborne Cf. airborne; see also satellite, satellite-borne, orbit. PR 28(143):312; 28(142):162; 27(137):94
space intersection Determination of object points using corresponding rays (homologous rays) from two or more images.
See also intersection, triangulation. Cf. laser scanning, radar, radiation(1), ToF, total station. PR 29
(148):417; 29(147):317; 24(125):37; 23(123):290
space resection Determination of the exterior orientation parameters of an image from three or more control points.
Can use dual quaternions. PR 30(149):63; 19(105):38; 18(103):244; 13(75):433
spatial resolution A measure of the finest detail perceptible in an image, resulting from the performance of the entire
imaging system (not merely the characteristics of the sensor itself). May be expressed in a variety of
ways, from “lines per mm” to a full optical transfer function (OTF). See also resolution, Siemens star.
Cf. GSD, MTF, OTF, pixel count, pixel size, spectral resolution, radiometric resolution, temporal
resolution. PR 30(149):100; 29(145):10; 27(137):58; 25(129):42
spectral resolution, Ability of a sensor to define fine wavelength intervals. Number of spectral bands varies from 1 (PAN)
spectral band through 3 (XS), 4 (MSS), 7(TM) to tens or hundreds (hyperspectral) or even more (ultraspectral). See
also multi-band, multispectral, spectroscopy. Cf. FWHM, radiometric resolution, spatial resolution,
temporal resolution. PR 29(145):10; 26(134):212
spectrometry Using spectrometers to acquire quantitative measurements for spectroscopy. When combined with
photogrammetry forms “spectrophotogrammetry” (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute).
spectroscopy Science examining detailed spectral-band data. Imaging spectroscopy implies hyperspectral.
speed 1. LENS SPEED: The maximum available relative aperture (lowest f-number, e.g. f/2).
2. SHUTTER SPEED: Length of time a camera’s shutter is open (e.g. 1/200 s). See also ISO speed.
spherical panorama 360° panoramic view from multiple cameras or image stitching. See also panoramic, panoramic
camera. Cf. cylindrical panorama, oblique. PR 29(147):278; 28(143):293
SPIE Founded in 1955 as the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers but known simply as SPIE.
International Society for Optics and Photonics, based in Bellingham, USA. Publishes 10 journals and
Proceedings in the disciplines of optics, photonics and imaging engineering.
SPOT Satellite pour Observation de la Terre. Series of French satellites and imagery. SPOT-1 (1986–90), -2
(1990–2009), -3 (1993–97), -4 (1998–2013), -5 (2002–) operated by CNES, with PAN and XS images
(HRV sensors). SPOT-6 (2012–), -7 (2014–) operated by Airbus (15 m PAN and 6 m 4-band MSS)
with a similar architecture to Pleiades-1 and -2, forming a 4-satellite constellation. PR 28(142):130;
27(137):36, 58; 20(110):130; 12(72):781–846
spotlight A SAR mode where the antenna is steered onto a small area rather than a strip(4), offering better
resolution than stripmap. See also satellite(4). PR 29(146):224; 27(137):94
SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Part of EOS programme. PR 29(148):383; 20(110):130
SSBA Simple Sparse Bundle Adjustment. Open source software based on Levenberg–Marquardt.
standard uncertainty In uncertainty, equivalent to standard deviation. PR 31(154):121; 25(130):119; JCGM (2008)
standard deviation, Standard deviation is the rigorous statistical quantity, the square root of the variance, symbol r. Standard
standard error; error (equivalent to RMSE) is an approximation where the number of observations is sufficiently large.
standard error of For ‘standard error of unit weight’ see sigma zero. See also error theory, mean standard error,
unit weight standard uncertainty. Cf. CE, LE. PR 26(135):339; 12(71):637
stereo, Stereo implies solid or 3D, achievable with two or more images. Most other compounds not listed below
stereoscopic will be left as two or more words (-adj). See also binocular.
stereo stereocomparator, stereodigitising, stereogram, stereomatching, stereomate, stereomodel, stereopair,
(compound words) stereoplotter, stereoplotting, stereoscope, stereoscopic, stereoscopy, stereoviewing.
stereo -adj. stereo overlap, stereo photograph, stereo photogrammetry, stereo scene, stereo view (but
(separate words) stereoviewing), multiview stereo. See also CMVS, PMVS.
© 2016 The Author


stereo Hyphen here because of succession of vowels or preceding qualifier: stereo-image, stereo-orthophotograph,
(hyphenated words) stereo-orthophotography, tri-stereoscopic.
stereo CV. Matching of corresponding (homologous or conjugate) rays or features in two or more images.
correspondence Stereo correspondence problem is the computer-vision term for image matching.
stereoplotter See analogue stereoplotter, analytical stereoplotter, DPW, photogrammetric hardware.
stitching See image stitching.
stochastic, Measurement model embracing random errors; assigns unbiased estimates of the expectation and
stochastic model variance. See also Monte Carlo. PR 29(147):278; 28(144):396; 27(139):272; 12(71):637
straight-line- A partially calibrated camera where lens distortion is known but inner orientation is unknown. Thus
preserving camera straight lines transform to straight lines. CV = uncalibrated camera. McGlone (2013)
strip 1. PHOTOGRAPHY: A series of overlapping images (forward overlap) taken without significant change of
direction; NOT stripe. Several strips form a block of photography (imagery). See also cross strip,
lawnmower pattern, tie strip, Zamboni pattern. Cf. swath, stripmap.
2. SATELLITE: An image strip is termed a swath, e.g. by a satellite in a pushbroom mode.
3. LIDAR: Airborne laser scanning is normally performed in overlapping strips.
4. RADAR: A SAR strip parallel to the aircraft/satellite in stripmap mode. Cf. spotlight.
strip adjustment 1. PHOTOGRAPHY: Historic method of adjusting strips of stereomodels to control points, prior to block
adjustment. Today a direct bundle adjustment of all photos in the block is usual.
2. LIDAR: Adjustment to improve the compatibility of overlapping laser scanning strips from, e.g.
boresight errors. See also ISO(2). PR 27(139):272; 24(126):171
3. SATELLITE: Adjustment of a continuous image swath to control points. PR 26(134):250
stripmap A SAR mode where the antenna orientation is constant, imaging a strip(4) parallel to the aircraft or
satellite. See also satellite(5). Cf. spotlight. PR 29(146):224; 27(137):94; 23(124):424
structured light Projection of a pattern of light onto a 3D object to allow its modelling (reconstruction).
Cf. 3D imaging. PR 30(149):82; 26(136):488; 26(133):91; 15(86):197
Student’s t-test Test for statistical significance if an experiment’s null hypothesis is supported. PR 22(119):238
sUAS small UAS; implies portability by one person. UAV preferred. See also drone, RPAS, RPV.
sub-pixel One hyphen. Smaller than a pixel. PR 30(149):46, 63, 82; 29(146):167; 26(134):154
superpixel CV. Cluster of pixels with similar properties to form primitives. Cf. k-means, segmentation.
super-wide angle With digital cameras relates to close-range and fisheye lenses. With aerial analogue cameras (230 mm
format) implies 88 mm focal length. Cf. normal angle, wide angle. PR 21(115):198
SURE Photogrammetric SUrface REconstruction from Imagery. Dense image-matching software (MVS) from
nFrames/University of Stuttgart, using SGM or classical approaches. Restricted and full commercial
versions. Cf. photogrammetric software, SIFT, ORB. PR 29(146):144
SURF speeded-up robust features (CV). One hyphen. Faster and more robust development of SIFT by Bay et al.
(2008). Cf. ORB. PR 31(151):29; 29(147):278, 297; 26(136):439; 25(132):356
surface matching Alignment and registration of two or more datasets of a surface, possibly using a conformal
transformation. Cf. (unrelated) image matching. PR 25(132):339; 25(130):105; 20(110):147
surfel surface element. Cf. edgel, groundel, pixel, surfel, voxel. PR 29(146):144
surveying Wide profession including (within, e.g. RICS) not only the geomatics disciplines of geodesy, land
surveying and hydrographic surveying but also building, quantity and property surveying.
swath, NOT swathe. The width of the strip(2) (swath) imaged by a (pushbroom) sensor or ALS; swath width is
swath width clearer and more acceptable. PR 31(153):88; 29(146):224; 29(145):68; 27(137):58
SWIR short-wave infrared. Cf. LWIR, MWIR, NIR, thermal infrared, VNIR. PR 26(134):212
synthetic imagery Artificial (simulated) image data (e.g. from collinearity equations) for testing. PR 30(149):82
systematic error Unwanted error due to unmodelled content producing biased, non-random errors. Major source of
difference between precision and accuracy. See also uncertainty. Cf. gross error, overparameterisation.
PR 30(151):279; 26(133):16; 24(127):217; 23(124):353; 23(121):6; 12(71):637
tacheometer, Historic land survey instruments and methods using optical distance measurement, superseded by total
tacheometry station. Tachymeter, tachymetry (US) also widely accepted. PR 26(136):400
TanDEM-X German DLR/Astrium SAR satellite (2010–). Twin of TerraSAR-X in same orbit and under 1 km apart
to produce DEMs. See also PAZ, constellation, spotlight, stripmap.
tangential distortion Lens distortion where image points are displaced concentrically about the principal point. Major cause is
decentring distortion. Cf. radial distortion. PR 27(138):210; 22(118):135
target Provides an identifiable point for control or image matching. See also coded target, paddle target,
retrotarget, signalise. Cf. markerless. PR 29(148):417; 29(147):337; 26(134):263
© 2016 The Author


TB terabyte(s). NOT terrabyte. Nominally 1012 bytes. See also kB, GB, MB, BIPM, SI.
template matching Image-matching method where image patches are compared with a template. PR 27(137):36
temporal resolution Time interval, including satellite revisit time. See also resolution. Cf. radiometric resolution, spatial
resolution, spectral resolution, epoch. PR 27(140):462; 27(139):311; 21(114):124
Terra NASA satellite (1999–), including ASTER and MODIS sensors. Also called EOS AM-1. First major
component of EOS programme. See also Aqua (EOS PM-1). PR 27(140):462
terrain analysis Interpretation of surface data, e.g. using DEMs or TINs. See also photo-interpretation.
TerraSAR-X German DLR/Astrium SAR satellite (2007–). Has stripmap and spotlight systems. Forms constellation
with similar TanDEM-X and PAZ radar satellites. PR 29(146):224
terrestrial Implies a sensor on the ground, as with TLS and some aspects of close range photogrammetry.
TerrSet Formerly IDRISI. Clark Labs GIS/remote sensing software. See photogrammetric software(6).
test site, testfield Two- and one-word difference historic; no hyphen. Area for imaging experiments. PR 30(151):279;
30(149):82, 100; 29(146):206; 28(142):145; 27(138):210, 227; 26(134):229, 250
theodolite Historic land surveying instrument used to measure horizontal and vertical angles, superseded by total
station. See also phototheodolite, tacheometer. PR 29(147):278; 28(143):293
THEOS Thailand Earth Observation System (2008–). Satellite (2 m PAN; 15 m MSS). PR 26(134):250
thermal camera Thermal infrared sensor using a single wavelength band. Cf. thermal-infrared spectroscopy
thermal infrared -adj. Detection of emission (heat) energy and thus to be clearly distinguished from near infrared (NIR).
See also ASTER, CIR, infrared, LWIR, MWIR, SWIR, VNIR. PR 25(130):140
thermal-infrared Thermal-infrared sensor using a range of emitted wavelengths, and thus multispectral, hyperspectral
spectroscopy (or ultraspectral). See also spectroscopy, spectrometry. Cf. thermal camera.
tie point Point common to two or more stereoscopic pairs of photographs within the lateral overlap (sidelap) of
adjacent strips of photography, used to establish connections between strips(1) in block triangulation.
Usually distinguished from pass point. Also close-range equivalents. Two words. Cf. check point,
control point, reference point, tie strip. PR 29(147):287; 28(142):162; 25(132):356; 25(131):240; 22
(119):238; 21(115):232; 18(102):131
tie strip Also cross strip. Historically, an additional strip usually flown orthogonally (at right angles) to the main
block of strips of aerial photography, in order to strengthen aerial triangulation and/or reduce the
amount of ground control required; two words; cf. tie point. PR 5(29):327
TIFF tagged image file format. For storing raster graphics images. Cf. GeoTIFF, JPEG, NITF.
time of flight See ToF. Two hyphens when adjectival, e.g. time-of-flight range camera.
TIN triangulated (triangular) irregular network. See also Delaunay triangulation, mesh, wireframe.
TLS terrestrial laser scanner, scanning. See also lidar. Cf. ALS, LAS. PR 29(148):417; 29(146):144;
29(145):10, 30; 28(143):276; 28(141):74; 29(138):137; 26(135):307; 25(131):225
TM 1. Thematic Mapper: Multispectral (7-band) 30 m imagery from Landsat. PR 21(116):329
2. Transverse Mercator: In various forms (e.g. UTM) a widely used conformal map projection.
TNTmips Geospatial/GIS software from MicroImages. See also other photogrammetric software(6).
ToF, time of flight. Methods that measure the time taken by an electromagnetic wave to reach a surface, e.g.
ToF range camera by range cameras and some lidar systems. Real-time applications, e.g. mobile mapping. Cf. phase
shift, triangulation(1), continuous wave. PR 28(143):261; 27(138):155; 20(110):109
tomography A 3D imaging technique based on multiple 2D slices (cross sections), commonly used in medical
applications of photogrammetry. PR 27(139):253; 27(138):175; 16(92):259
Topcon Major player in geomatics instrumentation. Japanese company founded in 1932. In 2007 acquired Sokkia.
More widely known for total station, GNSS and TLS equipment than photogrammetry. Nevertheless it
markets several photogrammetric software(2) products including ImageMaster. Cf. FARO, Leica
Geosystems, Optech, Riegl, Trimble.
topography, The collective surface features of part of the earth. Topographic mapping involves many geomatics
topographic disciplines, including photogrammetry. Cf. non-topographic, cadastral.
topology Non-metric properties preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching and bending (NOT
tearing or cut-and-paste), thus maintaining relationships. See also nodes(2). PR 28(141):7
total station Preferred term for electronic tacheometer. Determines 3D coordinates (control) by measuring horizontal
and vertical angles (superseding theodolites) and distances (using EDM) with target, retrotarget and
reflectorless capabilities. PR 29(148):402; 28(144):375; 26(136):462
trace Sum of diagonal elements of covariance matrix. PR 28(141):74; 24(127):217; 20(111):205, 218
Track’Air Dutch company producing aerial cameras, including MIDAS using COTS Canon cameras.
© 2016 The Author


transformation 1. 2D TO 2D OR 3D TO 3D TRANSFORMATIONS (in order of generality): rotation, translation, similarity
(conformal), affine, projective (homography), polynomial.
2. 3D to 2D TRANSFORMATIONS: central perspective, DLT, orthographic, perspective.
translation Movement of a camera, model, image, etc. in 3D (X, Y, Z) or 2D (x, y). Cf. rotation.
triangulation Intersection by angles alone rather than combined angle and distances (latter is radiation(1)):
1. LASER SCANNING: Optical method (especially for close objects) in TLS. Cf. ToF, phase shift.
2. DEM: Methods for forming a TIN, e.g. Delaunay triangulation. See also mesh, wireframe.
3. COMPUTER VISION: Term for intersection.
4. GEODESY: Historic method (before EDM) using theodolites for acquiring control points.
5. BLOCK ADJUSTMENT: See aerial triangulation, block triangulation, bundle adjustment.
trifocal tensor CV. Relative orientation using an image triplet. See also trilinear constraint, tri-stereoscopic.
trilinear array Three-line CCD detectors for RGB or optical butting (e.g. ZY-3). PR 29(145):68; 22(119):203
trilinear constraint CV. Multiview (multilinear) constraint with 3 photos (image triplet). Cf. bilinear constraint, epipolar
constraint, coplanarity condition, quadlinear constraint. PR 27(137):74
Trimble, Major competitor to Hexagon in geomatics instrumentation. US company founded in 1978. More widely
Trimble Geospatial known for total station, GNSS and laser-scanning equipment. To develop its photogrammetry division
it acquired: Applanix in 2003 to provide GNSS/INS capabilities and DSS medium-format camera;
Inpho in 2007 which provides Trimble’s main photogrammetric software(1); RolleiMetric in 2008 to
provide its medium-format Aerial Camera; and many others. Cf. FARO, Leica Geosystems, Microsoft/
Vexcel Imaging, Optech, Riegl, Topcon.
trinocular stereo Multiview stereo using three cameras. See also tri-stereoscopic. Cf. binocular, monocular.
tri-stereoscopic Hyphen. 3D view or model formed by an image triplet. Provides greater redundancy and fewer
occlusions than two-image stereoscopy. See also multiview, multistation, trifocal tensor, trinocular
stereo. PR 27(139):293
true negative Correct rejection result (- for -). Cf. true positive, false positive, false negative. PR 22(117):53
true ortho-image Whereas a conventional ortho-image corrects photo tilt and ground relief (only), a true ortho-image
orthographically corrects all displacements including buildings and other surface objects, requiring, e.g.
a DSM. PR 29(145):49; 24(126):171; 22(118):151; 22(117):39
true positive Correct inclusion of a result (+ for +). Cf. true negative, false positive, false negative.
PR 30(150):166; 27(139):330; 22(117):53
two-media One hyphen. For example, air/water interface or air/glass. See also multi-media photogrammetry,
photogrammetry refraction. PR 24(125):37; 17(99):420; 14(84):993; 11(66):745
UAV, UAS unmanned aerial vehicle (preferred), unmanned aerial system. Occasionally unpiloted aerial vehicle,
unmanned aircraft system. Can use medium-format, prosumer or consumer-grade cameras and employ
a GNSS/INS. Flight patterns include lawnmower pattern and Zamboni pattern. Much
photogrammetric software includes UAV versions. May use RSM(1).
See also RPAS, RPV, UVS, sUAS, blimp, drone, octocopter, quadrotor.
PR 29(148):434; 26(136):400; 26(134):190
UltraCam Various Microsoft/Vexcel Imaging aerial digital cameras (large format; medium format). Competitor
to ADSxx and DMC. PR 30(150):143, 166; 30(149):100; 28(144):416; 22(119):203
ultraspectral Even greater spectral resolution than hyperspectral or multispectral. Not yet widespread.
uncertainty, BIPM, ISO and JCGM have developed the uncertainty approach to scientific measurement in metrology
uncertainty without reference to surveying and mapping or organisations such as ISPRS or FIG. In geomatics,
error theory and analysis of error sources are so well established that the language of uncertainty has
traditionally been avoided. However, some geomatics organisations (e.g. ICSM [Australia], Lantm€ateriet
[Sweden]) are now adopting uncertainty, whose terms include coverage factor, expanded uncertainty,
measurand, standard uncertainty. Embodies random and systematic (but NOT gross) errors. See also
GUM, NSSDA, OGC. PR 31(154):121; 29(147):297; 28(142):196, 211; JCGM (2008)
UN-GGIM United Nations – Global Geospatial Information Management. Cooperates with ISPRS on SIS.
upsampling One word. In signal processing, increasing the sampling rate from the original signal, which requires
interpolation. See also downsampling, aliasing, anti-aliasing. PR 30(151):263
USGS United States Geological Survey; government agency (NMA; Department of the Interior) also responsible
for national topographic mapping of USA. Cf. NOAA, IGN, NASG, OS.
UTM Universal Transverse Mercator. Widely used TM(2) map projection; sixty 6° zones cover the earth.
UVS unmanned vehicle system. Alternative term for RPAS, RPV, UAS, UAV (preferred). See also blimp,
drone, sUAS. PR 26(136):400
vanishing point Point at infinity in a perspective view where parallel lines in object space meet. See also generalised
point photogrammetry. PR 31(153):29; 28(143):240; 24(127):246
© 2016 The Author


variance Mean of the squares of the deviations of a variable from its mean value; square of standard deviation, so
r2. See also error theory, RMSE, standard error, standard uncertainty. PR 12(71):637
variance–covariance En-rule (–) preferred to hyphen. Often simply covariance matrix. With variance factor or sigma zero,
matrix related to inverse of the weight matrix in a least squares adjustment. Variances on leading diagonal,
covariances elsewhere. PR 31(153):71; 13(77):645; 12(71):637
variance factor Square of sigma zero; symbol r02. With variance–covariance matrix can form weight matrix. Also
termed “reference variance”, “unit variance”, “variance of unit weight”. PR 12(71):637
VDI/VDE Verband der Elektrotechnik, Elektronik und Informationstechnik. German industrial engineering standards.
See also ISO, BIPM. PR 29(146):144; 25(131):283; 24(125):5
vector 1. MATRIX MATHEMATICS: A special type of matrix, obeying the same rules as matrices, but containing only
one column. Symbolised by a bold lower-case letter, e.g. m. PR 12(71):637
2. GEOMETRY AND GRAPHICS: Both direction and magnitude. PR 29(146):167
3. GEOSPATIAL: Formed by lines rather than area elements. Cf. raster, pixel. PR 21(116):329
vertical parallax Identical to y parallax. See also want of correspondence. PR 25(132):422; 24(126):139
vertical photography Aerial image intended to point vertically down. See also canonical configuration, nadir image, near-
vertical photograph, normal case, parallel axis. Cf. oblique photograph, convergent imagery.
PR 27(139):293; 26(133):16; 23(124):372; 23(121):51, 69; 21(115):198; 20(111):285
Vexcel Now Microsoft/Vexcel Imaging. Former provider of VX film scanners and SAR software.
VHRI very high resolution imagery. No hyphens. Applied to certain satellite(1) imagery (e.g. 1 m GSD), though
aerial HRI usually has a better spatial resolution (c.4 cm GSD).
VHRR very high resolution radiometer (no hyphens); usually AVHRR. See also HRI.
videogrammetry, Use videogrammetry, NOT videometry. Measurement using successive images of dynamic objects,
videometry, generally using video cameras and in real time. Sometimes synonymous with vision metrology.
videogrammetric, Videometrics is part of SPIE conference series. Cf. 3D imaging, lasergrammetry, photogrammetry,
videometric radargrammetry. PR 27(138):227; 24(125):37; 23(122):128; 15(89):673
VIM Vocabulaire international de metrologie (International Vocabulary of Metrology). Produced by JCGM on
behalf of BIPM, ISO and six other scientific organisations. See also GUM.
virtual reality, User interacts with a simulated environment using multimedia, e.g. in city modelling. Cf. augmented
environment reality, musealisation. PR 28(141):27; 25(131):225; 24(128):316; 24(125):51
VirtuoZo Photogrammetric software(2) and DPW from Supresoft, China. PR 31(153):29; 27(137):36; 26(134):190;
24(126):139; 20(110):147; 16(93):457
VisionMap Israeli company producing A3 (large-format) and MIST (medium-format) aerial cameras.
vision metrology High-accuracy image-based 3D metrology, often using coded targets. Cf. videogrammetry, CMM.
PR 29(147):337; 22(120):336; 22(117):22; 19(107):219; 21(116):355; 16(94):625
visualisation Image/graphics/video/animation for communication. PR 29(146):167; 29(145):30; 28(144):375
VisualSFM (F NOT f). Non-commercial SfM software using a simple camera model and with interfaces to PMVS and
CMVS. Cf. photogrammetric software(4, 5). PR 30(151):279; 29(145):30
VNIR visible and near infrared. One hyphen when adjectival (e.g. visible and near-infrared image).
See also ASTER, false colour, infrared, RGBN, NIR, SWIR. Cf. thermal infrared.
voting (procedure, CV. Determines the “best” solution in probabilistic sampling schemes, e.g. Hough transform, RANSAC.
scheme, etc.) See also cost function. PR 30(149):63; 27(139):330; 23(124):441; 23(122):208
voxel volume element (a cuboid). Cf. edgel, groundel, pixel, surfel. PR 27(138):175; 26(136):422
Wallis filter A locally adaptive contrast enhancement to a greyscale image with both bright and dark tones.
PR 31(153):29; 27(139):293; 25(129):24; 23(123):305; 20(112):366; 20(110):162
want of Two hyphens when adjectival. Lack of intersection of corresponding rays, e.g. during relative
correspondence orientation, expressed as y parallax (vertical parallax). See also space intersection.
watermarking Digital means of copyright protection for imagery and geospatial data. PR 31(153):51
wavelet, Weighted sum of a signal’s basis functions, localised in both frequency and space. See also Fourier
wavelet transform transform, denoising. PR 27(139):330; 26(134):171; 22(119):238; 20(112):351
weight matrix Used in least squares (normal equations) to reflect different precisions in observations. Symbol W or P.
Inverse of variance–covariance matrix multiplied by the variance factor.
WGMS World Glacier Monitoring Service. Collects global glacier data annually. PR 17(98):243
WGS 84 Thin space; World Geodetic System 1984. Widely used GNSS-based (ECEF, ECI) geodetic datum.
Cf. ETRS89, ITRF. PR 31(153):88; 30(150):211; 29(145):68; 25(132):382
wide angle -adj. Type of camera lens on a DSLR, MILC or SLR. With aerial analogue cameras (230 mm negative),
implies 152 mm focal length. Cf. normal angle, super-wide angle.
© 2016 The Author


Wild, Former manufacturer of analogue plotters (e.g. A8), analytical plotters (e.g. BC2) and other geomatics
Wild Heerbrugg equipment (e.g. RC20). Based in Heerbrugg, Switzerland; formed 1921. Acquired Kern in 1988.
Became part of Leica in 1990, Leica Geosystems in 1997, Hexagon in 2005.
wireframe, One word. Graphical means of displaying a 3D model so that only component geometry (e.g. grid or TIN
wireframe model triangle edges) is visible. Cf. mesh. PR 31(153):29; 30(149):82; 28(144):375
world coordinates Computer-vision term. Instead use photogrammetric ground coordinates or object coordinates.
WorldView DigitalGlobe satellites(1). WorldView-1 (2007–), -2 (2008–), -3 (2014–) and -4 (2016–) (WV-4 is a
renamed GeoEye-2). 03 m PAN and 13 m MSS. PR 30(150):166; 28(144):362; 27(137):58
World Wide Web Upper case Ws. Colloquially simply the Web. One part of the Internet using the HTTP protocol.
x axis, x coordinate 2D horizontal axis or coordinate orthogonal to y axis or y coordinate. See also abscissa.
X axis, X coordinate 3D horizontal axis or coordinate. Cf. easting, Y axis, Y coordinate, Z axis, Z coordinate.
x parallax No hyphen. Measurement of height displacement; can be used to estimate heights using a parallax bar.
Cf. y parallax. PR 29(148):417; 12(69):323; 9(54):797; 6(32):202; 1(4):38
XML Extensible Markup Language. Rules for encoding documents. Cf. GML. PR 27(137):29, 58
XS Multispectral mode, especially in French. Also 3- or 4-band sensor on SPOT. Cf. PAN.
X, Y, Z Object coordinates that are NOT georeferenced. See also X axis, Y axis, Z axis. Cf. E, N, H
y axis, y coordinate 2D vertical axis or coordinate orthogonal to x axis or x coordinate. See also ordinate.
Y axis, Y coordinate 3D axis/coordinate orthogonal to X axis, X coordinate and Z axis, Z coordinate. Cf. northing.
yaw j, Κ. Rotation about Z axis (deviation of heading in an aircraft). Cf. Euler angles, pitch, roll.
y parallax No hyphen. Lack of intersection of corresponding rays, e.g. during relative orientation. See also want
of correspondence, vertical parallax. Cf. x parallax. PR 27(137):36; 2(10):293
Zamboni pattern UAV flight lines with wide turns where temporally successive strips are not adjacent but, e.g. separated
by half the block width. Subsequent paths offset one strip. Cf. lawnmower pattern.
Z axis, Z coordinate 3D vertical axis or coordinate. Cf. height, X axis, X coordinate, Y axis, Y coordinate.
Zeiss, Former manufacturers of analogue plotters (e.g. Stereoplanigraph C8), analytical plotters (e.g.
Carl Zeiss, Planicomp C100) and other geomatics equipment (e.g. RMK 15/23). Formed 1846 in Jena, Germany.
Zeiss (Jena), Oberkochen plant created after WWII in West Germany, with Jena plant in East Germany. In 1999
Zeiss (Oberkochen) photogrammetry division merged with Intergraph to form Z/I Imaging; now part of Hexagon Group.
The Jena plant became Jenoptik in 1991. Cf. Kern, Wild. PR 14(81):419
Z/I Imaging Formed in 1999 from combined photogrammetry divisions of Carl Zeiss (Germany) and Intergraph
(USA). Wholly owned by Intergraph in 2002, developing ImageStation. Since 2010 part of Hexagon
and now in Hexagon Geosystems with partner Leica Geosystems, manufacturing the DMC series of
aerial digital cameras. PR 17(97):157; 16(96):929
zoom lens Camera lens used with a DSLR, MILC or SLR, with a variable focal length (e.g. 80–200 mm), thus
prone to metric instability in its interior orientation. Cf. prime lens.
ZY-3 ZiYuan-3. China’s first civilian high-resolution stereo-mapping satellite (2012–). Three PAN (nadir
(21 m), forward, backward (35 m)) and one MSS (58 m) sensor. Uses a pushbroom three-line linear
array and RPCs. PR 31(153):88; 30(150):211; 29(148):383; 29(145):68
listing references
Abdel-Aziz, Y. I. and Karara, H. M., 1971. Direct linear transformation from comparator coordinates into
object-space coordinates in close-range photogrammetry. American Society of Photogrammetry, Symposium
on Close-Range Photogrammetry, Falls Church, Virginia, USA. 433 pages: 1–18.
Bay, H., Ess, A., Tuytelaars, T. and van Gool, L., 2008. Speeded-up robust features (SURF). Computer
Vision and Image Understanding, 110(3): 346–359.
Besl, P. J. and McKay, H. D., 1992. A method for registration of 3-D shapes. IEEE Transactions on Pattern
Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 14(2): 239–256.
Brown, D. C., 1966. Decentring distortion of lenses. Photogrammetric Engineering, 32(3): 444–462.
Brown, D. C., 1971. Close-range camera calibration. Photogrammetric Engineering, 37(8): 855–866.
Canny, J., 1986. A computational approach to edge detection. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and
Machine Intelligence, 8(6): 679–698.
Fischler, M. A. and Bolles, R. C., 1981. Random sample consensus: a paradigm for model fitting with
applications to image analysis and automated cartography. Communications of the ACM, 24(6): 381–395.
© 2016 The Author

€rstner, W. and G€
Fo ulch, E., 1987. A fast operator for detection and precise location of distinct points,
corners and centres of circular features. Proceedings of ISPRS Intercommission Conference on Fast
Processing of Photogrammetric Data, Interlaken, Switzerland. 437 pages: 281–305.
Furukawa, Y. and Ponce, J., 2010. Accurate, dense, and robust multiview stereopsis. IEEE Transactions on
Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 32(8): 1362–1376.
Harris, C. and Stephens, M., 1988. A combined corner and edge detector. Proceedings of the 4th Alvey
Vision Conference, University of Manchester, UK. 302 pages: 147–151. http://www.bmva.org/bmvc/1988/
avc-88-023.pdf
Hirschm€ uller, H., 2005. Accurate and efficient stereo processing by semi-global matching and mutual
information. IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2: 807–814.
Hough, P. V. C., 1962. Method and means for recognizing complex patterns. US Patent 3 069 654.
JCGM, 2008. Evaluation of measurement data – guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement. Joint
Committee for Guides in Metrology (WG 1). 120 pages. www.bipm.org/utils/common/documents/jcgm/
JCGM_100_2008_E.pdf
Lowe, D., 1999. Object recognition from local scale-invariant features. Proceedings of the International
Conference on Computer Vision, 2: 1150–1157.
McGlone, J. C. (Ed.), 2013. Manual of Photogrammetry. Sixth edition. American Society for Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 1318 pages.
Resume
Cette contribution offre une edition considerablement etendue et actualisee de la deuxieme edition du
lexique photogrammetrique (“Photogrammetric Terminology: Second Edition”, 2012), adoptee comme
document officiel par la Societe internationale de photogrammetrie et de teledetection (ISPRS). L’objectif est
d’apporter une aide aux auteurs et aux editeurs dans la preparation de leurs publications, et aux lecteurs d’une
large communaute geomatique pour la comprehension des termes et abreviations couramment utilises en
photogrammetrie.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Beitrag umfasst eine deutlich erweiterte und aktualisierte Version von “Photogrammetric
Terminology: Second Edition” (2012), das als offizielles Dokument der Internationalen Gesellschaft f€ur
Photogrammetrie und Fernerkundung (ISPRS) verabschiedet wurde. Das Ziel ist es Autoren und Schriftleiter bei
der Vorbereitung von Publikationen und Leser aus dem weiten Umfeld der Geomatik beim Verstehen aktueller
photogrammetrischer Ausdr€ucke und Abk€urzungen zu unterst€utzen.
Resumen
Esta contribucion ofrece una edicion actualizada y extendida de “Terminologıa Fotogrametrica: Segunda
on” (2012), que ha sido adoptado como documento oficial de la Sociedad Internacional de Fotogrametrıa
Edici
y Teledetecci
on (ISPRS). El objetivo es asistir a los autores y editores en la preparacion de contribuciones en
publicaciones y asistir a los lectores de la amplia comunidad geomatica en la comprension de los terminos y
abreviaturas.
摘要
摄影测量术语(第三版)作为国际摄影测量与遥感学会(ISPRS)的官方文件,对摄影测量术语(第二版
2012)进行了非常大的扩展和更新。其目的是帮助作者和编辑在地球空间信息领域更好的理解和使用快速
发展的的摄影测量术语和缩写。
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Photogrammetric Terminology: Third Edition

Article in The Photogrammetric Record · June 2016

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PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TERMINOLOGY: THIRD EDITION

Keywords: editing, English, geomatics, language, photogrammetry, terminology

Introduction and Background

Progress Towards the Third Edition

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New Terms, including those from Computer Vision

Abbreviations and Acronyms as the Primary Entry

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Commercial Products and Organisations

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PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TERMINOLOGY: THIRD EDITION (2016) LISTING

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