Robust rectification of aerial photographs in an open source environment

Aerial photographs provide the basis for developing indices of landscape composition and structure as sensitive measures of large-scale environmental change over relatively long periods of time. In view of this, proper image rectification is needed to enable geometrically unbiased application of landscape metrics in order to obtain meaningful results. It is also particularly important to provide researchers with image rectification tools within an open source environment, in order to: (i) guarantee free and robust tools for processing remote sensing data, (ii) facilitate customization, and (iii) provide useful support via forums and email lists. In this paper we provide a complete description of a robust and freely licensed toolchain for orthorectifying images, which is available in the open source software GRASS GIS. We will first sketch the theoretical background behind rectification and then illustrate the workflow of the orthorectification procedure in GRASS GIS. ► Aerial photos can be used for studying environmental change over long time periods. ► Proper image rectification is needed to enable geometrically unbiased results. ► An Open Source environment guarantees free and robust processing of such data. ► We describe a freely licensed toolchain for orthorectifying images into GRASS GIS.