Automatic Extrusion of Surface Features from Terrain Aerial/Satellite Imagery

Recent developments in computer scene generation hardware and software have produced an increased demand for high-resolution geo-specific visual terrain databases. The geo-specific visual terrain database is an authoritative computer visual representationof a locality's natural environment together objects representing natural and cultural features. The information can be derived from a variety of imagery sources and other physical data to provide a realistic geo-coded view of the area of interest. Terraindatabases are characterized by several major elements. These include terrain elevation, cultural features, areal features such as lakes and roads, texture, and color. More robust terrain database formats also provide other elements such as materialcharacteristics used in Infrared Scene generation. Databases are also characterized by metrics for resolution and accuracy.Increasing resolution in satellite imagery together with recent developments in desktop photogrammetry hold promise for solving these problems. A process is needed that will solve these problems by utilizing current stereoscopic aerial or satellite imageryto create the DEM, extract the cultural features, and texture the terrain. Additionally, this process should be automated to the maximum extent practicable. Once the data is extracted and properly modeled at geo-specific locations it will be used in a realtime visual simulation. The research proposed for this SBIR Phase I effort fits in a natural progression of technology advances that SimWright has been exploring for the past several years. SimWright originally began as company dedicated to developing tools and technologies toimprove all aspects of computer visualization and simulation. SimWright has most recently been exploring ways of integrating high-resolution aerial imagery with other data sources to create integrated database applications. These technologies haveapplication in the rapidly developing field of geospatial databases. Integration of accurately geo-referenced visual databases for military operational and training applications is a natural extension of these technologies.