System and method for automatically registering an image to a three-dimensional point set

A system for producing a synthetic image from three-dimensional data set that includes a plurality of three-dimensional data points, the system comprising processing circuitry arranged to:

• input a three-dimensional data set that includes a plurality of three-dimensional data points;
• generate a rasterized elevation map from the three-dimensional data points;
• generate a rasterized surface shaded relief from the rasterized elevation map, for a sun elevation and azimuth at a time of collection for an electro-optical image;
• project the rasterized surface shaded relief into a space of the electro-optical image;
• tile the rasterized surface shaded relief into a grid;
• register each tile independently;
• retain tiles having correlating quality metrics that exceed respective specified thresholds;
• for each retained tile, extract a ground control point;
• and
• perform a geometric bundle adjustment of a geometry of the electro-optical image using the extracted ground control points.

A system for producing a synthetic image from three-dimensional data set that includes a plurality of three-dimensional data points, the system comprising processing circuitry arranged to:

• input a three-dimensional data set that includes a plurality of three-dimensional data points;
• remove outliers from the three-dimensional data points;
• generate a rasterized elevation map from the three-dimensional data points;
• fill in voids in the rasterized elevation map using interpolation and hole filling;
• generate a rasterized surface shaded relief from the rasterized elevation map, for a sun elevation and azimuth at a time of collection for an electro-optical image;
• project the rasterized surface shaded relief into a space of the electro-optical image using the three-dimensional data points and rational polynomial coefficients from the electro-optical image;
• tile the rasterized surface shaded relief into a grid;
• register each tile independently by correlating edges extracted from the projected surface shaded relief with the electro-optical image;
• retain tiles having correlating quality metrics that exceed respective specified thresholds;
• for each retained tile, extract a ground control point using a three-dimensional data point closest to a center of the tile and a corresponding electro-optical image location derived from the edge correlation;
• and
• perform a geometric bundle adjustment of a geometry of the electro-optical image using the extracted ground control points.