3D super resolution scene depth reconstruction based on SkySat video image sequences

Traditional DEM (Digital Elevation Model) generation from satellite imagery is based on stereo pair or triple images using wide baseline. These days, a number of low-cost microsatellites, such as SkySat, have been launched. The high resolution video image sequences they provided result in large number of image frames and more flexible selection of baseline, which allows us to design a 3D super resolution scene reconstruction approach based on multiple narrow baseline stereo pairs. The multiple disparity maps, generated using Phase Correlation (PC) based sub-pixel stereo matching algorithm, are co-registered pixel by pixel and up-sampled and then stacked to produce a super resolution scene depth map. The scene depth image constructed in this way has three advantages: i) “pixel locking” error typical for sub-pixel image matching is minimized; ii) super resolution is achieved; and iii) occlusion problem is minimized by multiple narrow baseline stereo pairs. A 3D scene super resolution reconstruction example is demonstrated using a SkySat video image of Usak, Western Turkey.