language: en

Using a DEM to Determine Geospatial Object Trajectories

Robert T. Collins, Yanghai Tsin, J. Ryan Miller and Alan J. Lipton
The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, PA. 15213
Email: frcollins,ytsin,jmce,ajlgcs.cmu.edu

Abstract This paper addresses the estimation of moving object trajectories within a geospatial coordinate system, using a network of video sensors. A high-resolution (0.5m grid spacing) digital elevation map (DEM) has been constructed using a helicopter-based laser range-finder. Object locations are estimated by intersecting viewing rays from a calibrated sensor platform with the DEM. Continuous object trajectories can then be assembled from sequences of single-frame location estimates using spatio-temporal filtering and domain knowledge.

1 Introduction