ATOMI - automated reconstruction of topographic objects from aerial images using vectorized map information

The project ATOMI is a co-operation between the Federal Office of Topography (L+T) and ETH Zurich. The aim of ATOMI is to update vector data of road centerlines and building roof outlines from 1:25,000 maps, fitting it to the real landscape, improve the planimetric accuracy to 1m and derive height information (one representative height for each building) with 1-2 m accuracy. This update should be achieved by using image analysis techniques developed at ETH Zurich and digital aerial imagery. The whole procedure should be implemented as a stand-alone software package, able to import and export data as used at L+T. It should be quasi operational, fast, and the most important reliable. We do not aim at full automation (ca. 80% completeness is a plausible target). The paper will present in detail the aims, input data, strategy and general methods used in ATOMI. We will also present an overview of the results achieved up to now, and problems faced in building and road reconstruction. More de...