External quality control of Pléiades orthoimagery - Part I: Geometric benchmarking and validation of Pléiades - 1A orthorectified data acquired over Maussane test site

The main objective of the present study is to assess whether Pléiades-1A sensor can be qualified for Control with Remote Sensing (CwRS) programs, specifically in Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) Controls image acquisition campaign. The benchmarking presented herein aims at: • evaluating the usability of Pléiades-1A for the CAP checks through an estimation of its geometric (positional) accuracy, • measuring the influence of different factors (angle of view, number of GCPs, orthorectification model) on the above-mentioned accuracy. For that purpose, the External Quality Control of Pléiades-1A orthoimagery conforms to the standard method developed by JRC and follows a procedure already adopted in the validation of previous VHR products.JRC.H.6-Digital Earth and Reference Dat