Assessment of the mapping potential of Pléiades stereo and triplet data

Abstract. The Pléiades satellites provide very high resolution optical data at a swath width of 20 km and a ground sampling distance of about 0.7 m at nadir direction. The sensors are remarkable agile as their pointing angle can be changed in a range of ±47 degrees. Thus, they are able to collect three images in one over flight representing tri-stereo data. In the presented work the mapping potential of Pléiades stereo and tri-stereo data is assessed in detail. The assessment is performed on two test sites and contains discussions on 2D initial geo-location accuracy, sensor model optimization, 3D geo-location accuracy, and a novel workflow for dense reconstruction of digital surface models (DSMs). The main outcomes are that the sensor accuracy is within the range as defined by Astrium, however a sensor model optimization is obligatory when it comes to highly accurate 3D mapping. The derived DSMs show a high level of detail thus enabling varying applications on a large scale, like change detection or forest assessment.