Dense multi-view stereo from satellite imagery

Abstract

Digital surface models can be efficiently generated with automatic image matching from optical stereo images. Modern satellites, such as WorldView-1 and 2 can acquire multiple views of an area in the same orbit. These datasets offer high redundancy and thus allow higher quality 3D reconstructions than previously possible. This paper evaluates multiple DSM generation algorithms based on dense image matching on a 25 view dataset acquired by the WorldView-2 satellite. Fusion of the images is performed at different stages of image matching and results are compared to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of each method.