Patent ID: 7508972

Claim:
A topographic data processor comprising: frame selecting means for selecting a pair of frames from a plurality of candidate picture frames of a target area captured from high-altitude positions, said selected pair of frames constituting a stereoscopic image of said target area; scheduling means for selecting at least one airborne image sensor if an appropriate frame is not available in said plurality of candidate frames, sensing picture frames from the selected image sensor, whereby said frame selecting means uses the sensed frames to select a pair of frames; means for determining a parallax between the frames selected by the frame selecting means and producing therefrom a first plurality of line-of-sight vectors and a second plurality of line-of-sight vectors; and means for converting said first and second pluralities of line-of-sight vectors to topographic data, a plurality of received picture frames being combined to form a plurality of pairs of sensed frames, each of said plurality of pairs of sensed frames constituting a stereoscopic image of said target area, each of said plurality of pairs of sensed frames being evaluated with a fitness value indicative of fitness of each of said pairs of sensed frames for topographic measurement of said target area, said selected pair of frames having a highest fitness value of said plurality of pairs of sensed frames.