ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) SYSTEM USING HEIGHT SEED INITIALIZATION FOR EXTRACTION OF DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS (DEMs) AND RELATED METHODS

An artificial intelligence (AI) system for generating a digital surface model (DSM) comprising:

• a memory and a processor cooperating therewith to
• determine an estimated height map from electro-optic (EO) imagery of a geographic area and a plurality of labeled predicted EO image classified objects using a convolutional neural network (CNN),
• generating cost coefficients for a three-dimensional (3D) cost cube based upon stereo-geographic image data and height value seeding using the estimated height map, and
• generate a DSM for the geographic area based upon the 3D cost cube and outputting the DSM to a display.

An artificial intelligence (AI) method for generating a digital surface model (DSM) using a processor and comprising:

• determining an estimated height map from electro-optic (EO) imagery of a geographic area using artificial intelligence;
• generating cost coefficients for a three-dimensional (3D) cost cube based upon stereo-geographic image data and height value seeding using the estimated height map;
• and
• generating a DSM for the geographic area based upon the 3D cost cube and outputting the DSM to a display.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a processor to perform steps comprising:

• determining an estimated height map from electro-optic (EO) imagery of a geographic area using artificial intelligence;
• generating cost coefficients for a three-dimensional (3D) cost cube based upon stereo-geographic image data and height value seeding using the estimated height map;
• and
• generating a DSM for the geographic area based upon the 3D cost cube and outputting the DSM to a display.