Bundle Adjustment of a Time-Sequential Spectral Camera Using Polynomial Models

Lightweight hyperspectral cameras based on frame geometry have been used for several applications in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The camera used in this investigation is based on a tunable FabryProt interferometer (FPI) and works on the time-sequential principle for band acquisition. Due to this feature, when collecting images in movement, hypercubes are generated with unregistered bands, and consequently, the individual bands in each hypercube have different exterior orientation parameters (EOPs), which must be estimated by an image orientation procedure. The objective of this paper was to develop an approach for bundle block adjustment (BBA) using time-dependent polynomial models for simultaneous image orientation of all bands. The procedure consists of using a minimum number of bands to estimate the polynomial parameters. From the estimated polynomial parameters, the EOPs (position and attitude) of all bands can be determined. In tests with backprojecting ground points to interpolated bands, the average error was smaller than 1 pixel, which indicates excellent potential for orthomosaic generation. The polynomial technique was also compared to the conventional BBA. The discrepancies assessed at checkpoints indicated a similar error for both techniques, which were approximately less than the pixel size in planimetry and less than 2.8 times the pixel size in height. Therefore, the results show that the spectral band orientation can be performed with the proposed technique, assuming that the trajectory during the cube can be modeled with the polynomial model, which reduces the workload while achieving the same accuracy as conventional BBA for all bands.