Geometric Calibration and Accuracy Assessment of ZiYuan-3 Multispectral Images

The ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) remote sensing satellite is China´s first civilian high-resolution stereo mapping satellite. Because the interior orientation parameters measured before launch are biased, the multispectral (four-band) images collected by ZY-3 exhibit low-accuracy band-to-band registration, which affects their subsequent applications. This paper presents a valid method for interior orientation determination of the ZY-3 multispectral sensor by determining the look angles of the charge-coupled device arrays for all bands. One band is chosen as the benchmark band, and its interior orientation is determined using the relevant ZY-3 image collected over the calibration field and the corresponding digital orthoimage map and digital elevation model. The remaining bands are then calibrated using the benchmark band as control data. The quality of the calibration is further enhanced by shortening the calibration period and by combining images collected over different calibration fields, which decreases the negative effects of errors in the satellite´s attitude and position data. The interior orientation of the multispectral sensor in ZY-3 was determined using data sets taken over two calibration fields, namely, Dengfeng (Henan Province) and Tianjin. Evaluation experiments were performed using ZY-3 multispectral images and ground control points (GCPs) collected over several different periods and areas. The positioning accuracy of the ZY-3 multispectral images with a limited number of GCPs after calibration of the interior orientation was better than 0.3 pixels, and the band-to-band registration accuracy was up to 0.15 pixels.