Do Aerial Metric Cameras Rely Significantly on IMU Orientation?

Woolpert Vice President and Chief Scientist Qassim Abdullah answers readers' questions for his monthly Mapping Matters column, published in the Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (PE&RS) journal.

For the April 2021 edition, Abdullah responds to the question: Do frame-based remote sensing systems, such as metric cameras, rely significantly on accurate inertial measurement unit (IMU) data with OPK (omega, phi, cappa) parameters for the creation of high-accuracy geospatial products? Or is position (XYZ) alone more important, as long as aerotriangulation can solve frame rotation during post-processing?

PE&RS is the official journal of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS).

The PDF of this article is below. For previous Mapping Matters columns, visit the ASPRS website at https://www.asprs.org/asprs-publications/mapping-matters