The structure from motion (SfM) method has achieved great success in 3D sparse reconstruction, but it still faces serious challenges in large-scale scenes. Existing hybrid SfM methods usually do not fully consider the compactness between images and the connectivity between subclusters, resulting in a loose spatial distribution of images within subclusters, unbalanced connectivity between subclusters, and poor robustness in the merging stage. In this paper, an efficient and robust hybrid SfM method is proposed. First, the multifactor joint scene partition measure and the preassignment balanced image expansion algorithm among subclusters are constructed, which effectively solves the loose spatial distribution of images in subclusters problem and improves the degree of connection among subclusters. Second, the global GlobalACSfM method is used to complete the local sparse reconstruction of the subclusters under the cluster parallel framework. Then, a decentralized dynamic merging rule considering the connectivity of subclusters is proposed to realize robust merging among subclusters. Finally, public datasets and oblique photography datasets are used for experimental verification. The results show that the method proposed in this paper is superior to the state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy and robustness and has good feasibility and advancement prospects.

Mesh simplification is an effective way to solve the contradiction between 3D models and limited transmission bandwidth and smooth model rendering. The existing mesh simplification algorithms usually have problems of texture distortion, deformation of different degrees, and no texture simplification. In this paper, a model simplification algorithm suitable for 3D reconstruction is proposed by taking full advantage of the recovered 3D scene structure and calibrated images. First, the reference 3D model scene is constructed on the basis of the original mesh; second, the images are collected on the basis of the reference 3D model scene; then, the mesh and texture are simplified by using the reference image set combined with the QEM algorithm. Lastly, the 3D model data of a town in Tengzhou are used for experimental verification. The results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper basically has no texture distortion and deformation problems in texture simplification and can effectively reduce the amount of texture data, with good feasibility.

Common methods of filling open holes first reaggregate them into closed holes and then use a closed hole filling method to repair them. These methods have problems such as long calculation times, high memory consumption, and difficulties in filling large-area open holes. Hence, this paper proposes a parallel method for open hole filling in large-scale 3D automatic modeling. First, open holes are automatically identified and divided into two categories (internal and external). Second, the hierarchical relationships between the open holes are calculated in accordance with the adjacency relationships between partitioning cells, and the open holes are filled through propagation from the outer level to the inner level with topological closure and height projection transformation. Finally, the common boundaries between adjacent open holes are smoothed based on the Laplacian algorithm to achieve natural transitions between partitioning cells. Oblique photography data from an area of 28 km² in Dongying, Shandong, were used for validation. The experimental results reveal the following: (i) Compared to the Han method, the proposed approach has a 12.4% higher filling success rate for internal open holes and increases the filling success rate for external open holes from 0% to 100%. (ii) Concerning filling efficiency, the Han method can achieve hole filling only in a small area, whereas with the proposed method, the size of the reconstruction area is not restricted. The time and memory consumption are improved by factors of approximately 4–5 and 7–21, respectively. (iii) In terms of filling accuracy, the two methods are basically the same.

Feature matching plays a crucial role in the process of 3D reconstruction based on the structure from motion (SfM) technique. For a large collection of oblique images, feature matching is one of the most time-consuming steps, and the matching result directly affects the accuracy of subsequent tasks. Therefore, how to extract the reasonable feature points robustly and efficiently to improve the matching speed and quality has received extensive attention from scholars worldwide. Most studies perform quantitative feature point selection based on image Difference-of-Gaussian (DoG) pyramids in practice. However, the stability and spatial distribution of feature points are not considered enough, resulting in selected feature points that may not adequately reflect the scene structures and cannot guarantee the matching rate and the aerial triangulation accuracy. To address these issues, an improved method for stable feature point selection in SfM considering image semantic and structural characteristics is proposed. First, the visible-band difference vegetation index is used to identify the vegetation areas from oblique images, and the line feature in the image is extracted by the optimized line segment detector algorithm. Second, the feature point two-tuple classification model is established, in which the vegetation area recognition result is used as the semantic constraint, the line feature extraction result is used as the structural constraint, and the feature points are divided into three types. Finally, a progressive selection algorithm for feature points is proposed, in which feature points in the DoG pyramid are selected by classes and levels until the number of feature points is satisfied. Oblique images of a 40-km² area in Dongying city, China, were used for validation. The experimental results show that compared to the state-of-the-art method, the method proposed in this paper not only effectively reduces the number of feature points but also better reflects the scene structure. At the same time, the average reprojection error of the aerial triangulation decrease by 20%, the feature point matching rate increase by 3%, the selected feature points are more stable and reasonable.

Common methods of texture reconstruction first build a visual list for each triangular face, and then select the best image for each triangular face based on the graph-cut method. These methods have problems such as high memory consumption, and difficulties in large-area texture reconstruction. Hence, this paper proposes a parallel method for texture reconstruction in large-scale 3D automatic modeling. First, the hierarchical relationships between the texture reconstruction are calculated in accordance with the adjacency relationships between partitioning cells. Second, building contours are extracted based on the 3D mesh model, the tiles are divided into two categories (occlusion and non-occlusion), and the incorrect occlusion relationship is restored based on the occluded tiles. Then, the graph-cut algorithm is constructed to select the best-view label. Finally, the jagged labels between adjacent labels are smoothed to alleviate the problem of texture seams. Oblique photography data from an area of 10 km² in Dongying, Shandong were used for validation. The experimental results reveal the following: (i) concerning reconstruction efficiency, the Waechter method can perform texture reconstruction only in a small area, whereas with the proposed method, the size of the reconstruction area is not restricted. The memory consumption is improved by factors of approximately 2–13. (ii) Concerning reconstruction results, the Waechter method incorrectly reconstructs the textures of partially occluded regions at the tile edges, while the proposed method can reconstruct the textures correctly. (iii) Compared to the Waechter method, the proposed approach has a 30% lower reduction in the number of texture fragments.