Object Extraction at Airport Sites Using DTMs/DSMs and Multipectral Image Analysis

Abstract

The automatic detection and 3D modeling of objects at airports is an important issue for the EU FP6 project PEGASE. PEGASE is a feasibility study of a new 24/7 navigation system, which could either replace or complement existing systems and would allow a three dimensional truly autonomous aircraft landing and take-off primarily for airplanes and secondary for helicopters. This new navigation system relies on three key technologies: • The specification and acquisition of a reliable geospatial reference database of the airports. • Various sensors onboard the aircraft that perform a real-time extraction of relevant features from the data. • Innovative correlation techniques between the above features and the onboard reference database to determine the location of the aircraft and plan its future trajectory for safe landing or take-off. In this work, we focus on the first topic. Since often existing data for airports have not the necessary accuracy, resolution and/or currency, we need to develop automated methods for generating them.