RELIEF & TILT DISPLACEMENT

ROMER BONGBONGA

October 2022
 DISTORTION vs. DISPLACEMENT

13/10/2022 2
Distortion
▪ Shift in the location of an object, which changes the
perspective characteristics of the photo

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Types of Distortion
1. Film and Print Shrinkage – negligible effect*
2. Atmospheric Refraction of Light Rays – negligible effect*
3. Image Motion
4. Lens Distortion

*Except for precise mapping projects

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Lens Distortion
▪ small effects due to the flaws in the optical components (lens) of
camera systems leading to distortions
▪ typically more serious at the edges of photo
▪ radial from the principal point
▪ makes objects appear either closer to, or farther from the
principal point than they actually are
▪ may be corrected using calibration curves
▪ examples: car windows/windshields, carnival mirrors

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Lens Distortion

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Displacement
▪ shift in the location of an object in a photo, which does not
change the perspective characteristics of the photo
▪ fiducial distance between an object's image and it's true plan
position, caused by change in elevation

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Types of Displacement
1. Curvature of the Earth – negligible effect*
2. Relief Displacement – radial from the nadir
3. Tilt Displacement – radial from the isocenter

*Except for precise mapping projects

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Major Causes of Non-uniformity in
Scale within a Single Photograph

1. Relief Displacement
2. Tilt Displacement

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Relief Displacement

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Relief Displacement
▪ Error in the position of the point in a photograph because of relief
▪ The position of a point in the photograph (which has a central
projection) is different from its corresponding position on the map
(which has an orthogonal projection) due to relief
▪ Radial from the nadir (assuming a vertical photograph, therefore,
nadir = center of photo)

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Relief Displacement

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Relief Displacement
The farther a point is from the nadir, the greater the displacement

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Relief Displacement

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Relief Displacement

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 r

Relief Displacement
f
CASE 1:
Point is above the datum plane

Hmge (flying height)

Δh
datum plane

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 r

Relief Displacement d

f
CASE 2:
Point is below the datum plane

Hmge (flying height)

datum plane

Δh

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Relief Displacement

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Relief Displacement

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Formula for Relief Displacement
𝑟′ℎ
∆𝑟 =
𝐻

Where:
r' = radial distance from the center of photo
h = height/elevation of the point above/below the datum plane
H = flying height above the datum plane

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General Conclusion:
Elevation and Relief Displacement
▪ The higher the point is above the datum plane (or lower it is
below the datum plane), the greater the relief displacement
▪ The higher the flying height, the lesser the relief displacement

𝑟′ℎ
∆𝑟 =
𝐻

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Corrected Radial Distance
▪ If the point on the ground is ABOVE the datum, the corrected
position will be towards the center
𝑟 = 𝑟′ − ∆𝑟
▪ Otherwise, if the point is BELOW the datum, the corrected position
will be away from the center
𝑟 = 𝑟 ′ + ∆𝑟

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Occlusion

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Occlusion

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How can we minimize d?
▪ Use only the central part of the photograph (discard the edges)
▪ Fly higher → but this would yield a smaller photoscale
▪ Fly higher, and use a camera with a larger focal length (for
example, use a normal angle camera instead of a wide-angle
camera)

𝑟′ℎ
∆𝑟 =
𝐻
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Example
A 1:15000 aerial photograph was taken using a wide-angle camera. A
point on the photograph was identified and its measured distance
from the center is 5.4 centimeters. If the corresponding point on the
ground is elevated from the datum by 60 meters, determine the
displacement due to relief and the correct radial distance of the point
from the center of the photo.

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Solution
𝑓 = 6 𝑖𝑛
𝐻 = 2286 𝑚

6 𝑖𝑛 2.54 𝑐𝑚ൗ 1 𝑚ൗ
1 1 𝑖𝑛 100 𝑐𝑚
=
15000 𝐻
𝐻 = 2286 𝑚
𝑟′ = 𝑟 − 𝑑
𝑟ℎ 5.4 𝑐𝑚 (60 𝑚) 𝑟 ′ = 5.4 𝑐𝑚 − 0.142 𝑐𝑚
𝑑= =
𝐻 2286 𝑚 𝑟 ′ = 5.258 𝑐𝑚
𝑑 = 0.142 𝑐𝑚
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Tilt Displacement
▪ An error in the position of a point on the photograph due to
indeliberate tilting of the aircraft
▪ Due to instability of aircraft
▪ May be due to tilting of the aircraft along the flight line and/or
perpendicular to the flight line
▪ Increases radially from the isocenter

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Principal Line
▪ Line of maximum tilt
▪ Line connecting the principal point, isocenter and nadir
▪ All lines perpendicular to this line are lines of zero inclination or
zero phototilt
➢ this means that all points along a perpendicular line have
uniform scale

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Phototilt (t)
▪ Amount of tilt of the aircraft (and
thus the camera lens) with respect
to the vertical axis
▪ Angle of tilt between the line
perpendicular to the horizontal
datum and the line perpendicular to
the lens

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Formula for Phototilt
𝑑𝑆 𝑆𝑏 − 𝑆𝑎
sin 𝑡 = 𝐻𝑚𝑔𝑒 = 𝐻𝑚𝑔𝑒
𝑦 𝑦

Where:
t = phototilt
Sa = scale of first point, projected to the principal line
Sb = scale of second point, projected to the principal line
y = distance between a and b along the principal line
Hmge = flying height with respect to the mean ground
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Locating the Nadir and Isocenter
▪ Nadir – radial center of relief displacement
▪ Isocenter – radial center of tilt displacement

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛 𝑝𝑛 = 𝑓 tan 𝑡

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Formula for Tilt
Displacement

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Formula for Tilt
Displacement
𝑦 2 sin 𝑡
∆𝑡 =
𝑓 − 𝑦 sin 𝑡

Where:
i = isocenter
y = projection of erroneous radial distance from the isocenter (i)
to the point along the principal line
f = focal length
t = phototilt
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Corrected Radial Distance

𝑟 = 𝑟 ′ + ∆𝑡 → if the point on the ground is

𝑟 = 𝑟 ′ − ∆𝑡 → if the point on the ground is

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Auxiliary Tilted Photo Coordinate System

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Scale of a Tilted Photograph

𝑓ൗ
cos 𝑡 − 𝑦′ sin 𝑡
𝑆=
𝐻−ℎ

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Tilt Displacement Practical Solution
PROBLEM:
may cause large errors in determining scale and distances

SOLUTION:
use 2 known or measurable ground distances that are:
• About the same elevation
• Equal distances from the photo center
• Diametrically opposite from the center

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END OF PRESENTATION

Questions?

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Assignment (A4 bond paper)
The top and bottom of a utility pole in an image are 129.8 mm and
125.2 mm, respectively, from the principal point of a vertical
photograph. What is the height of the pole if the flying height above
the base of the pole is 875m?

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