Due to the regulation of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), which requires the provision of electronic
terrain data with a certain quality by each contracting state for its territory, the demand for terrain data for aviation
purposes increases. This regulation poses a problem particularly for developing and newly industrialising countries,
which have not the financial resources for the generation of terrain data meeting the required specifications.
Studies performed at the Institute of Flight Systems and Automatic Control at the Technische Universitaet Darmstadt
show that a promising and cost-effective method to encounter this challenge is the use of high resolution optical satellite
imagery with a stereoscopic coverage. This method can be performed without the acquisition of ground control points
and leads by this to cost reductions. To validate this method, the accuracy of terrain data generated from satellite imagery
is analysed. Due to the various available very high resolution satellites, the accuracy is not limited by the spatial
resolution of the imagery, but principally by the accuracy of the geolocation. This is why furthermore methods are
proposed that may help to increase the accuracy, to eliminate blunders as well as systematic errors and thus to enhance
the reliability of the acquired terrain information in order to achieve applicability in aviation.
Due to upcoming new data driven technologies in the aviation the impact of digital terrain data is growing
conspicuously. Especially for ground near operations reliable terrain information is necessarily demanded. Based on
modern earth observation technologies a new generation of elevation data is obtainable. However, it shall be analysed
how far data derived from remote sensing techniques like INSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) or LIDAR
(Light Detection And Ranging) can be applied to aviation purposes.
Typically, terrain data were represented in relation to the bare earth to obtain a "Digital Terrain Model" (DTM). For
aviation purposes a "Digital Surface Model" (DSM) representing the real surface of the earth including all cover like
vegetation and buildings is recommended (see Fig. 4). But due to the characteristics of active remote sensors the derived
model always describes an in between of the two elevation representations.
To satisfy these special requirements of the aviation the Institute of Flight Systems and Automatic Control (FSR) at the
Technische Universität Darmstadt is dealing with the determination of the influencing factors which affect the quality of
the terrain models being appropriate to be used as a DSM. Intention of this study is to identify how far the reflux
intensity of LIDAR and radar beams affects the quality of the associated elevation model. By knowing the cause and the
impact of the deviations a "Safety Buffer" will be determined in order to increase the integrity of the terrain data to
allow the applicability for dedicated applications (Fig. 3).
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