Patent ID: 7751651

Claim:
A method for automatically registering a sensed image with a reference image, comprising: using a sensor mounted on a platform, acquiring an image of a scene and at least one sensor parameter that indicates a perspective of the sensor relative to the scene; determining a footprint of the sensor relative to a coordinate system associated with a reference image database and a digital elevation database, the footprint including at least a portion of the scene in the sensor image; accessing the digital elevation database to obtain a reference digital elevation model geocoded in the coordinate system and whose geographic extent encompasses an area that includes the sensor footprint; accessing the reference image database to obtain a reference image geocoded in the coordinate system and that encompasses an area that includes the sensor footprint; generating a synthetic 3-D model of an area around a center of the scene by combining the geocoded reference digital elevation model and the geocoded reference image such that each pixel of the geocoded reference image is associated with an elevation from the geocoded reference digital elevation model; transforming the synthetic 3-D model into a synthetic perspective image of the scene, the transforming based on a type of the sensor and the at least one sensor parameter; and registering the sensor image of the scene with the synthetic perspective image to geocode the sensor image using a mutual information model; said method performed by one or more processors.