BOOK REVIEWS

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY: THEORYAND APPLICATIONS. ByW. Linder.Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, 2003. ISBN 3 540 00810 1. 163 · 240 mm.xi + 189 pages. 44 figures, a CD-ROM and 3D glasses. Price £54 hardback.

The preface to this book states that it is written specifically for those without aphotogrammetric education but with the need to use the capabilities of, mainly, aerialphotogrammetry, such as ‘‘geographers, geologists, cartographers, forest engineers’’.Through inclusion of software (LISA and BLUH) and data on the CD-ROM, the bookguides the reader through the subject, using the learning-by-doing technique.

The Introduction chapter familiarises the reader with the very basic definitions ofphotogrammetry. However, if the reader has no knowledge of coordinate referencesystems or transformations, this information may not be enough. The reader is,however, referred to other textbooks for more background information. Strangely, inthis chapter, although the author specifies that this book and the accompanyingsoftware are designed for aerial applications, some examples from terrestrialphotogrammetry are used to illustrate concepts such as flying height.

Chapter 2 describes the Included software and data, with reference to PCrequirements, and gives a full installation procedure for LISA FOTO and LISABASIC. Chapter 3 describes, in overview, the Scanning of photos. Some leaps inunderstanding occur in this chapter. For example, the importance of including allfiducial marks in the scan is emphasised, but this is the first time that fiducial markshave been mentioned: a description of their function should logically have fitted intoChapter 1.

Chapter 4 steps the user through Single model orientation, stereo-viewing andplotting, digital terrain model (DTM) correlation and orthophoto production. With theexception of the equations for the plane affine transformation and the second-orderpolynomials, no photogrammetric algorithms or mathematics are presented. Perhapsthis is to avoid scaring the less mathematically-minded user, but inclusion of somemore of the science of photogrammetry in an appendix would inform a curious userwithout recourse to referenced sources.

Chapter 5 leads the user through the full Aerial triangulation of a block ofthree strips with seven images each. If one follows the steps through frombeginning to end, this chapter gives the user a good idea of the workflow frominterior orientation through to DTM and orthophoto production, including the basicusage of BLUH and analysis of results. However, as some of the stages are veryrepetitive, it would be extremely useful to be able to skip some parts. For instance,the CD-ROM does not include measurements of the Gruber points or all of theoutputs from BLUH that would allow DTM production. Other outputs, such as theorthoimage and the tie point measurements, are included and these enable someshort cuts to be taken.

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Chapter 6 details some Special cases, but it is stressed that the software isdesigned for aerial imagery rather than these terrestrial uses. In Chapter 7, a fullProgram description provides more information on each function within the software.Much of this chapter is included in the text files on the accompanying CD-ROM.

A small but complete digital photogrammetric workstation can be created usingthe LISA and BLUH software from the CD-ROM. The BLUH part is a ‘‘light’’ versionof the well-known bundle block adjustment software developed by Jacobsen.

In LISA version 3.0, the software can handle up to 200 images per block, up to50Mb in size, in a maximum of 10 strips. 900 image points can be measured permodel, to a maximum of 10 000 in the entire block. Installation is easy and can becompleted in English, German or Spanish. All tutorials in the book are included on theCD but are not installed as part of the program installation; they can be added by theuser when needed. Updates of the program are available online, although much ofthe information on the update website is in German.

The software is very useful, in that it allows users to utilise the functionality ofdigital photogrammetry on a desktop PC, including stereo-viewing and plotting usinganaglyph glasses, at a fraction of the cost of commercially available products. Thebook is particularly useful for its stated target audience, ‘‘non-photogrammetrists’’,but would also be useful for other purposes, particularly for photogrammetriceducation. It would be advisable, however, for this book to be used in combinationwith a standard photogrammetric text. This would ensure that results could be properlyinterpreted and required accuracies achieved, as well as enabling troubleshooting whenproblems arise.

A. Behan

UNCERTAINTY IN REMOTE SENSING AND GIS. Edited by G. M. Foody andP. M. Atkinson. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, 2002. ISBN 0 470 84408 6.174 · 252 mm. xviii + 307 pages, plus 4 pages of colour plates. Illustrated. Price£65 hardback.

Uncertainty in the fields of remote sensing and GIS is currently perceived to be a‘‘hot’’ topic. It is an area of research that has been attracting considerable funding atboth national and European levels, resulting in a number of recent publications. Mostof those publications have been deficient in various ways and so there is considerablescope for a text that addresses the issues successfully. The present text is the result of aconference, most chapters being developed from the conference presentations. Inaddition, the editors have supplied introductory and concluding chapters. Paul Curranhas also supplied a foreword.

In common with many edited books that are derived from conferences, theindividual chapters are of mixed quality, some very good and others, frankly, quitepoor. This is in spite of the editors’ claims for a rigorous approach to refereeing andediting. Unfortunately, the editors’ introductory chapter, an introduction to geostatis-tics, is not one to inspire confidence. In defining an error, they make a fairly basic errorin the example cited. They write, omitting mathematical notation, ‘‘if we measure thesoil pH at a point in a two-dimensional space and obtain a value of 5Æ6, where the truevalue is 5Æ62, the error is )0Æ02’’. This statement would only be true if the measuredvalue is actually 5Æ60. As stated by Foody and Atkinson, we have no way of knowing

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