Geo-referencing of IKONOS imagery: Precise results by straightforward empirical models

High resolution satellite imagery became a reality after IKONOS and QUICKBIRD satellites were launched having, respectively, 1.0m and 0.61m resolution in panchromatic mode. In the absence of sensor calibration and satellite orbit information for IKONOS imagery, empirical methods had to be adopted for the geometric correction of the images. The authors demonstrate that ground points determination can indeed be enhanced using 2D image to object space transformation and 3D ground point determination as rectification methods. A half-metre in planimetric position and about one metre in elevation accuracy may be achieved.