title: Vision-Based Georeferencing of GPR in Urban Areas.
abstract: Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveying is widely used to gather accurate knowledge about the geometry and position of underground utilities. The sensor arrays need to be coupled to an accurate positioning system, like a geodetic-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) device. However, in urban areas this approach is not always feasible because GNSS accuracy can be substantially degraded due to the presence of buildings, trees, tunnels, etc. In this work, a photogrammetric (vision-based) method for GPR georeferencing is presented. The method can be summarized in three main steps: tie point extraction from the images acquired during the survey, computation of approximate camera extrinsic parameters and finally a refinement of the parameter estimation using a rigorous implementation of the collinearity equations. A test under operational conditions is described, where accuracy of a few centimeters has been achieved. The results demonstrate that the solution was robust enough for recovering vehicle trajectories even in critical situations, such as poorly textured framed surfaces, short baselines, and low intersection angles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA)-Geodesy and Geomatics Section, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. riccardo.barzaghi@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barzaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA)-Geodesy and Geomatics Section, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. noemi.cazzaniga@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Noemi Emanuela
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Cazzaniga
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA)-Geodesy and Geomatics Section, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. diana.pagliari@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pagliari
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DICA)-Geodesy and Geomatics Section, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. livio.pinto@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Livio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinto
keywords: global positioning system; ground penetrating radar; image processing; photogrammetric positioning