Towards standardized evaluation of image quality for airborne camera systems

Digital airborne camera systems and their high geometric resolution demand for new algorithms and procedures of image data analysis and interpretation. Parameters describing image quality are necessary for various fields of application (e.g. sensor and mission design, sensor comparison, algorithm development, in-orbit-behaviour of instruments). The effective sensor resolution is one important parameter which comprehensively estimates the optical quality of a given imaging sensor-lens combination. Although determination of resolving power is a well-studied field of research, there are still some scientific questions to be answered when it comes to a standardized (eventually absolute) determination. This is also research object of a committee of the “German Institute for Standardization” and the given contribution outlines the current state of investigation concerning effective resolving power for airborne camera systems. Therefore an approach using signal processing techniques to calculate the effective image resolution will be described. The open scientific issues will be introduced, explained and answered to some extend