Orientation of Image Sequences in a Point-based Environment Model

In this paper we propose a method to determine the exterior orientation of each frame of an intensity image sequence using prior knowledge of the scene stored in a point-based environment model (PEM). The orientation is performed by tracking landmarks across the image sequence acquired with a calibrated camera. The landmarks are intensity features, which are automatically extracted from the PEM. The PEM can easily be acquired by long range 3D sensors, such as terrestrial laser scanners. The orientation procedure of the imaging sensor is solely based on spatial resection.