Initial evaluation of the second-generation Leica ADS40 camera

In late 2006, Leica Geosystems, Heerbrugg Switzerland, announced the availability of the second-generation ADS40 camera, having several new and improved features. The Italian company Compagnia Generale Ripreseaeree (CGR), Parma Italy, a subsidiary of Blom ASA, Norway decided to upgrade both its ADS40 cameras to the second generation. The first modified one came back from the Leica factory in March 2008 and a previously planned test flight was soon performed over the Pavia test site. Noticeably, data from the same test site was acquired several other times: in 2004, jointly by a first generation Leica ADS40 and a Leica RC30, at different altitudes; in 2003 by a RC30 at various flying heights. The newly acquired dataset is constituted by three blocks at the flying heights 800, 2000 and 6000 metres. The paper is an early contribution to the validation of the second-generation ADS40 camera. First of all, it focuses on geometric accuracy of the 2000 m block, showing that direct georeferencing accuracy is within 1 GSD; when aerial triangulation is performed, without camera self calibration, accuracy is below half of the pixel, in all the components; when IMU misalignment re-estimation is additionally performed, RMSE values are between 0.18 and 0.31 of the GSD. The paper also contains some visual checks of the degree of detail of the imagery acquired at 800 m, having a GSD of 8 cm: they are compared with some previously acquired Leica RC30 imagery, having a 7 cm GSD. Some shots of the recently made Siemens star are also shown.