Method and apparatus for capturing, geolocating and measuring oblique images

A computerized method for taking measurements within a displayed oblique image, comprising:

• selecting with an input device a starting point and an end point on the displayed image;
• retrieving from a data file positional data corresponding to said starting point and said end point;
• referencing a ground plane data file corresponding to a tessellated ground plane having a plurality of facets, each of said facets having a respective pitch and slope, said tessellated ground plane closely matching a terrain of said displayed oblique image;
• connecting said starting and end points with line segments, said line segments conforming to said pitch and slope of said facets to thereby follow said terrain;
• and
• calculating the linear distance along said line segments between said starting and end points thereby taking into account said pitch and slope of said facets.

A computerized method for taking measurements from an oblique image displayed on a computer system, at least one input device connected to said computer system, an image data file accessible by said computer system, said image data file including captured images and positional data corresponding thereto, said computerized method comprising:

• placing the computer system into a desired one of a plurality of measurement modes, the desired measurement mode configured for calculating a desired measurement;
• selecting a starting point on the displayed image;
• retrieving the positional data corresponding to said starting point;
• selecting an end point on the displayed image;
• retrieving the positional data corresponding to said end point;
• and
• calculating the desired measurement dependent at least in part upon said positional data of said starting and end points;
• wherein said plurality of measurement modes comprise a distance measuring mode calculating a distance between two or more selected points, a height measuring mode calculating a height difference between two or more selected points, a relative elevation measurement mode calculating the difference in elevation of two or more selected points, and an area measurement mode calculating the area encompassed by at least three points.

A method of capturing oblique images of an area of interest with an image-capturing device carried by a platform, each oblique image captured at a respective image-capturing event, said method comprising:

• subdividing the area of interest into a plurality of sectors;
• guiding the platform along a first path to thereby target one or more target sectors with the image-capturing device;
• capturing with the image-capturing device one or more oblique images to thereby cover an entirety of each said target sector in oblique images captured from a first perspective;
• guiding the platform along a second path to thereby target said target sectors;
• capturing with the image-capturing device one or more oblique images to thereby cover an entirety of each said target sector in oblique images captured from a second perspective;
• repeating said guiding and capturing steps along paths substantially parallel to and spaced apart from said first and second paths and capturing one or more oblique images to thereby cover an entirety of each of said plurality of sectors in oblique images captured from each of said first and second perspectives;
• and
• recording positional data indicative of a geo-location of said image-capturing device at each image-capturing event.