Geometric correction accuracy of different satellite sensor images: Application of figure condition

In this study, the figure condition method was introduced to analyse the accuracy of geometric correction. Figure condition denotes the transformation ability of estimated model parameters for a given transformation model, and it can be used in a geometric correction procedure. To study the figure condition, multisensor satellite images were geometrically corrected using ground control points obtained by different methods. The accuracy of each geometric model was analysed by means of the root mean square error of unit weight and variance-covariance matrix of unknown parameters. Then, an error propagation law was applied to the geometric model in order to investigate the transformation ability of the model parameters and estimate error values of geometric correction for the whole image surface. The results of the research demonstrated that the figure condition can be applied to geometric correction, and error values of the whole study area can be obtained with this new approach without using check points.