Automated satellite image navigation

• Main Author: Bassett, Robert M.
• Other Authors: Wash, Carlyle H., Naval Postgraduate School, Meteorology, Durkee, Philip A.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 1992
• Subjects: Image navigation; Binary correlation; Automated landmarking; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10945/23552

This study investigated the automated satellite image navigation method (Auto-Avian) developed and tested by Spaulding (1990) at the Naval Postgraduate School. The Auto-Avian method replaced the manual procedure of selecting Ground Control Points (GCPs) with an autocorrelation process that utilizes the World Vector Shoreline (WVS) provided by the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) as a "string" of GCPs to rectify satellite images. The automatic cross-correlation of binary references (WVS) and search (image) windows eliminated the subjective error associated with the manual selection of GCPs and produced accuracies comparable to the manual method. This study expanded the scope of Spaulding's (1990) research. The worldwide application of the Auto-Avian method was demonstrated in three world regions (eastern North Pacific Ocean, eastern North Atlantic Ocean, and Persian Gulf). Using five case studies, the performance of the Auto-Avian method on "less than optimum" images (i.e., islands, coastlines affected by lateral distortion and/or cloud cover) was investigated. The result indicated that utilizing the Auto-Avian method on these "less than optimum images" could achieve navigational accuracies approaching those obtained by Spaulding (1990). Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy http://archive.org/details/automatedsatelli1094523552