The paper presents the results of testing a proposed image-based point clouds measuring method for geometric parameters determination of a railway track. The study was performed based on a configuration of digital images and reference control network. A DSLR (digital Single-Lens-Reflex) Nikon D5100 camera was used to acquire six digital images of the tested section of railway tracks. The dense point clouds and the 3D mesh model were generated with the use of two software systems, RealityCapture and PhotoScan, which have implemented different matching and 3D object reconstruction techniques: Multi-View Stereo and Semi-Global Matching, respectively. The study found that both applications could generate appropriate 3D models. Final meshes of 3D models were filtered with the MeshLab software. The CloudCompare application was used to determine the track gauge and cant for defined cross-sections, and the results obtained from point clouds by dense image matching techniques were compared with results of direct geodetic measurements. The obtained RMS difference in the horizontal (gauge) and vertical (cant) plane was RMS∆ < 0.45 mm. The achieved accuracy meets the accuracy condition of measurements and inspection of the rail tracks (error m < 1 mm), specified in the Polish branch railway instruction Id-14 (D-75) and the European technical norm EN 13848-4:2011.

The main focus of the presented study is a multi-variant accuracy assessment of a photogrammetric 2D and 3D data collection, whose accuracy meets the appropriate technical requirements, based on the block of 858 digital images (4.6 cm ground sample distance) acquired by Trimble^® UX5 unmanned aircraft system equipped with Sony NEX-5T compact system camera. All 1418 well-defined ground control and check points were a posteriori measured applying Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) using the real-time network method. High accuracy of photogrammetric products was obtained by the computations performed according to the proposed methodology, which assumes multi-variant images processing and extended error analysis. The detection of blurred images was preprocessed applying Laplacian operator and Fourier transform implemented in Python using the Open Source Computer Vision library. The data collection was performed in Pix4Dmapper suite supported by additional software: in the bundle block adjustment (results verified using RealityCapure and PhotoScan applications), on the digital surface model (CloudCompare), and georeferenced orthomosaic in GeoTIFF format (AutoCAD Civil 3D). The study proved the high accuracy and significant statistical reliability of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging 2D and 3D surveys. The accuracy fulfills Polish and US technical requirements of planimetric and vertical accuracy (root mean square error less than or equal to 0.10 m and 0.05 m).

This paper presents the CRBeDaSet—a new benchmark dataset designed for evaluating close range, image-based 3D modeling and reconstruction techniques, and the first empirical experiences of its use. The test object is a medium-sized building. Diverse textures characterize the surface of elevations. The dataset contains: the geodetic spatial control network (12 stabilized ground points determined using iterative multi-observation parametric adjustment) and the photogrammetric network (32 artificial signalized and 18 defined natural control points), measured using Leica TS30 total station and 36 terrestrial, mainly convergent photos, acquired from elevated camera standpoints with non-metric digital single-lens reflex Nikon D5100 camera (ground sample distance approx. 3 mm), the complex results of the bundle block adjustment with simultaneous camera calibration performed in the Pictran software package, and the colored point clouds (ca. 250 million points) from terrestrial laser scanning acquired using the Leica ScanStation C10 and post-processed in the Leica Cyclone™ SCAN software (ver. 2022.1.1) which were denoized, filtered, and classified using LoD3 standard (ca. 62 million points). The existing datasets and benchmarks were also described and evaluated in the paper. The proposed photogrammetric dataset was experimentally tested in the open-source application GRAPHOS and the commercial suites ContextCapture, Metashape, PhotoScan, Pix4Dmapper, and RealityCapture. As the first experience in its evaluation, the difficulties and errors that occurred in the software used during dataset digital processing were shown and discussed. The proposed CRBeDaSet benchmark dataset allows obtaining high accuracy (“mm” range) of the photogrammetric 3D object reconstruction in close range, based on a multi-image view uncalibrated imagery, dense image matching techniques, and generated dense point clouds.

The paper presents the results of multi-view imagery 3D reconstruction of the close range building using the geodetic and photogrammetric networks and image based point clouds. DSLR camera was used to acquire the block of 28 terrestrial multiple convergent photos. To create the benchmark data set, the bundle block adjustment with camera self calibration in the Pictran software package was performed. For the 3D reconstruction the RealityCapture, Photoscan and Pix4D software were used. Software comparison was performed using mesh models. The analysis was concerned the comparison of processing parameters, checking the visual quality of the outputs and the evaluation of the 3D models accuracy. The study proved the highest usefulness of the RealityCapture application. The tested software allowed to the point matching on the control points with mean standard deviation lower than 0.5 pixel, mean adjustment RMS deviation lower than 3 mm and average points position error lower than 4 mm.

The paper presents the results of the accuracy assessment of UAV/UAS imagery and digital processing for inventory mapping. The test object was an industrial estate in the Stryków municipality. The photo block (581 photos, GSD was 4.6 cm) registration was performed using Trimble®UX5 UAS equipped with Sony NEX-5T 16 MP digital system camera. The automatic aerial triangulation with self-calibration using the bundle block adjustment was performed and dense point clouds, digital surface model (DSM) and finally an orthomosaic were generated in Agisoft Photoscan and in Pix4Dmapper Pro software. The results of photogrammetric 3D data collection with an existing base map, which was elaborated using direct geodetic detailed surveys, were compared in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2017 suite. The generated DSM's were additionally analyzed using CloudCompare application. The obtained accuracy of photogrammetric 2D vectorization fulfils the accuracy requirements of the 1 st survey group of terrain details, specified in Polish geodetic technical norm.

The continuous development of sensors, methods and technologies in the modern digital photogrammetry requires testing the quality and accuracy of software, processing workflow and products. The paper presents a new test field for performance analysis of software processing and accuracy assessment of photogrammetric 2D and 3D data collection, mapping, 3D object reconstruction and modeling based on low-altitude imagery with particular regard to unmanned aerial vehicles imagery. The first experiment was carried out using images captured by Phase One iXU-RS 1000 medium format aerial digital camera and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point cloud acquired by RIEGL LMS-Q680i airborne laser scanner. The process of complex digital processing was performed in Agisoft Metashape packages. The subblock of 169 images and 16 signalized ground points measured by Global Navigation Satellite Systems in the WGS 84 coordinate system using the Real-Time Network method were adopted in the preliminary investigations. The root mean square error RMSEXYZ on check points in the bundle block adjustment was equal to 0.032 m. Vertical deviations between digital elevation model and LiDAR point clouds belong to the range from −0.020 m to 0.020 m which is related to RIEGL LMS-Q680i accuracy and precision. Georeferenced orthomosaic was generated with ground sampling distance (GSD) equal to 0.020 m, which was the same as the GSD of input images. The high accuracy of obtained processing results is related to accuracy of initial data, and it proves the usefulness of Kortowo test field.