Accurate geometric correction of ATSR images

An accurate geometric correction algorithm of raw ATSR images is proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithm is divided into two modules: pre-correction and precision correction. In the pre-correction algorithm, the scanning geometry of the ATSR, ephemeris data and the Earth's shape and rotation were modeled mathematically. It corrected elliptically-distorted raw ATSR images and resulted in a mean collocation error of 1 pixel between the nadir and forward images. The proposed navigation model showed a better geolocation performance than ATSR image geometric correction algorithms currently in operation. The geometric errors in the pre-corrected images were reduced further by the precision correction algorithm. Coastlines were detected from the pre-corrected nadir and forward images and matched with map coastline data. The matched coastline pixels, GCPs, were combined with the pre-correction model to estimate the errors of the position, velocity and attitude of the satellite. An extended Kalman filter was used for the optimal estimation. The corrected images showed the collocation error of 0.4 pixel and the geolocation error of 0.7 pixel. The results were compared with those from a polynomial warping technique. It proved that the proposed precision correction algorithm gave better geometric correction performance than collocation algorithms based on a polynomial warping technique.