Project Area

Introduction

This article offers a general description of how SURE handles the Project Area, the different ways it can be defined, and the benefits of using this functionality.

Because the Project Area demarcates the region of interest, it must be defined in the same coordinate system as the exterior orientation of input images. Selected products will only be generated within the boundaries of the Project Area (e.g. DSM, True Ortho, Point Clouds, Meshes).

Important: Products generated by SURE are georeferenced if a Project Coordinate System is provided in WKT format. See more information in the Georeferencing and Tiling page. page.

Automatic Project Area

If no area is defined by the user, an area of interest (AOI) shapefile is automatically generated during the Analysis step by default. This shapefile delimits the area where high-quality results can be expected based on the input data. This feature can be disabled by unchecking it in the Advanced Configuration dialog.

If no project area is manually defined and the automatic project area feature is disabled, SURE will compute a 3D bounding box, based on the data collected during the Analysis processing step. This bounding box is the most extended domain in which the user can expect results.

Project Area Specified by User

There are two ways to manually define the Project Area, which can be combined:

  1. Specify a 2D area Shapefile (*.shp). Multiple 2D polygons per shapefile are supported. See Shapefiles.

  2. Define a limiting Z-range along the vertical axis. Specify minimum and maximum coordinate values when setting up a project or through the Advance Configuration dialog.

Optionally, an initial terrain height can be given as input in combination with a 2D area shapefile.

See also Region of Interest.

Functionality / Benefits

Selection of Input Images

SURE can automatically select the input images that "see" the Project Area if a bounded volume (2D Area + Z range) or a 2D area coupled with a terrain height is specified. Furthermore, SURE performs an image masking, such that only pixels that cover the Project Area will be matched. This feature ensures only the necessary data is used, minimizing processing time and disk space required.

Tiling of Results

SURE offers customers the option to define a custom tiling scheme, independently of the actual results area. For more information on how to define a custom tiling scheme origin and tile size please refer to Georeferencing and Tiling | Defining the Project's Tiling Scheme.

Best Practice

It is recommended to define the Project Area whenever possible. Thanks to the automatic image selection and image masking feature, a project’s processing time can be significantly reduced. Common use cases include:

  • A manual specification of the Project Area is almost always applicable, as photogrammetric flights usually capture a somewhat extended area around the actual region of interest. This means there will be a processing overhead that can easily be discarded.

  • With the use of Shapefiles, it is possible to follow complex administrative boundaries, specify multiple separate areas of interest, or specify areas with 'holes' to exclude sub-areas within the area of interest.

  • Because the input images will be automatically selected from the full dataset, tests can be performed rapidly on small areas, on full resolution, to find the best parameters and for prompt quality inspection.

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